Designing Effective Mobile

Learning Activities

Sandra Sawaya

1

action plan

• introducing you to different strategies to

design effective mobile learning

activities

the mobile device is ________

the mobile device is a

communication* device

talking

texting

uploading

downloading

emailing

sharingsurfing

browsing

design considerations

1. promote enriching conversations

– collaborating with others

– constructing common knowledge

– carrying conversations across context

(Sharples, Taylor, & Vavoula, 2007)

design considerations

2. decide on using apps or built-in features

3. create micro-interactions

4. prepare flexible materials

5. develop a seamless flow of learning

6. facilitate learning

7. produse

(Herrington, Herrington, & Mantei, 2009; Naismith & Corlett, 2006)

Questions?

example: math learning activity

• While you’re at school, at home, at the

mall, and so on, look around you and

identify five different polygons you see.

Take a picture of these shapes and share

them with your group members to create a

presentation showing the different looks

the same polygons can have.

example: language arts

• Classroom vocabulary scavenger hunt

using Aurasma.

• Note cards with vocab words on them

placed on corresponding objects

throughout the room.

• Students scan the cards to reveal an audio

file of the correct pronunciation of the

words.

other examples

design challenges

• enriching learning conversations and

enhance learning experiences without

interference

• evaluating mobile learning activities

– using a fixed technology to achieve a fixed

learning goal in changing and varying

contexts

(Beale, 2007)

implementation considerations

implementation challenges