Mobile Learning

The world is changing.  Learning is no longer limited to a specific location or time. Today, students can access learning whenever and wherever they want.  Mobile learning allows flexibility that has been unprecedented.With mobile networks accessible to 90+% of the world population,  and 37+% of college students using a cell phone for learning, it is time we embraced and utilized this trend rather than try to suppress it.

Mobile learning has some unique features that makes it different than other web-based learning.  Since mobile learning typically occurs on a smaller screen, the material has to be presented in a concise way with very simple, user-friendly tools.  Designers must optimize the space, limit the need to scroll, and make sure buttons for features are very clear and intuitive.

Because of this, mobile learning naturally utilizes many good pedagogical practices as it allows for smaller chunks of information to be given at a time, calls upon a diversity of presentation methods and media to be included such as sound and images, and includes regular interactivity such as self-tests.  All of these practices have been well researched as brain-friendly.

Here are a few mobile apps that will help any educator get started using mobile learning with his or her students!

1.  Evernote:  https://evernote.com and Skitch: https://evernote.com/products/skitch

Evernote is a cloud-based note taking app that is optimized for mobile use.  It stores and syncs across devices allowing users to save notes that not only include text but media as well.

Skitch is an extension of Evernote that allows the user to annotate on a photo and save it to their  Evernote account.

Both of these apps could run the gamut of Blooms taxonomy.  They could be used for your first-tier, remembering levels of learning all the way up to the top-tier, creating levels.  It's all dependent on how the user chooses to apply the features of these apps and for what purposes.  They are very flexible tools.


For me, I liked being able to create notes with different media, and organize them into a notebook/folder structure allowing me to group multiple notes around a topic together.  For example, I created two notebooks; one for personal notes, and one to start keeping notes on cloud-based tools I discover.  In the first, I used Skitch to annotate on a picture of my fireplace as I start to plan a makeover for it. As I move forward, I could add pictures of materials I find, measurements, calculations, cost estimations, etc.  In the second notebook, I can add a fresh note for every helpful tool I find to remind myself of possible uses for the tool.  Each of these pages and/or notebooks could be shared as needed - I could share the fireplace page with my husband who will help with the project.  I could share the cloud tools notebook with fellow teachers looking to expand their toolbox. 


2. Edmodo:  www.edmodo.com

Edmodo is a free learning management platform.  It calls itself a "global education networking tool" and it accomplishes this task very well.  It allows teachers to connect with each other not only within a school or district, but across it's entire user base.  Teachers can create classrooms to connect with students to illicit feedback, collect work, share files, and inform students and parents alike of the goings-on in the classroom.  Basically, it combines some of the best features of social networking with file sharing management and class webpages.

Edmodo has a lot of useful features for a free tool.  It can be used for all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.  Simple, quick quizzes and polls can take formative data on a student's remembering and understanding levels.  Assignments can be given that require students to apply their knowledge by drawing diagrams and upload them to the teacher.  Students can collect data through Excel and analyze it by making charts and graphs.  Students can create slideshow presentations through PowerPoint.  And the upload tool seems to offer endless opportunities to use other third party apps and upload the content as pictures, docs, or other file types.

Other useful features includes a built-in parental notification (students can't use the platform without the parents being notified via email or text), OneDrive and Google Drive connections (making file sharing even easier) and the ability for a teacher to share and customize the library of files across all of their classes (meaning you only have to upload the file once rather than for each class you want the file shared with). 

I was able to create a demo class and demo student, post a poll, and create an introduction assignment in a matter of minutes.  Then, I logged in as my demo student, took the poll, and submitted the assignment which included posting a picture and stating 2 things I wanted my teacher to know about me.  I did this by creating a Word document right from the assignment submission tool in the platform.  It was very easy to do.




3.  Duolingo:  https://www.duolingo.com/

Duolingo is a language-learning app.  It capitalizes on the gamification trend as users work their way through lesson units earning badges and "health" points along the way.  Each advance opens new features or lessons for the users to guide them as they progress.







This app is very similar to Rosetta Stone; it uses an immersive approach intermingling audio and images to help learners acquire the language similar to the way babies and toddlers do - by hearing and seeing the language in context.  The interactive nature switches up the approach often.  Sometimes it will be a simple multiple choice question, other times the user has to repeat a phrase using the voice recording option.  All along the way, users can check their answers for immediate feedback.  

The approach to learning seems to be on the lower-levels of Blooms (Remembering, Understanding, and Applying), but are very important for language acquisition.


4.  Quizlet:  https://quizlet.com

Years ago, I found and used Quizlet with my biology students.  Back then, it was simply a digital flashcard app.  It has always been optimized for mobile learning and allowed my students to use their devices to review complex vocabulary whenever they wanted.  Knowing it had been a few years since I've used it, I decided to take a peek and see if anything had changed.

I was pleased to see that they have added self-quizzing tools, have created games for practicing, and added the ability to add images to the flashcards.  I was also please to see that the things that I loved as a teacher (the ease of making and sharing flashcard sets, the ability to organize in a folder structure, and the ability to create and assign classes) were still there.


Quizlet capitalizes on the Remembering and Understanding levels of Bloom's taxonomy, which are important foundational levels for tier-three content vocabulary.  Teachers could kick it up to the Application level asking students to create diagrams, classify, or translate the terms, but none of that can be done within the application itself.

5.  Educreations:  https://www.educreations.com and Explain Everything  https://explaineverything.com/

Both are interactive White Board apps that allows users to record their screen as they create on the board.  These tools can be used to show higher-level learning with respect to Bloom's taxonomy.  Starting with the Application level, students can diagram, solve, and illustrate their learning.  Students can compare and contrast, categorize, and explain broad concepts at the analysis level.  Moving even higher, students can use the tools to invent, compose and design to show what they know at the highest creating level.

Both tools offer easy ways to share creations through a link or embed code.  Educreations has the simplest, most user-friendly interface, but does so at the cost of some features.  Users can still record both screen and voice, but are limited on annotation colors and shapes.  You can also upload an images to your presentation.

Click here to view my sample Educreation lesson.




If you are looking for more options, then Explain Everything is the way to go.  With more annotation features, the ability to upload existing audio, clip art, and files as well as images, and the ability to collaborate with others easily through a code or invitation, this tool adds important 21st century skills on top of the higher level learning.