Among the numerous upheavals accompanying the global health pandemic of 2020, the changes to schools and universities at every level have been some of the greatest. Aspects of educational technology that have been discussed in mobile learning circles for years – like one-to-one computing, bring your own device, mobile first design – have been thrust into the mainstream as school systems struggle to reach every student. What the mobile learning community has argued for years is now plain fact: online learning (remote learning) is mobile learning.
The chapters in Advancing Mobile Learning in Contemporary Educational Spaces offer an impressive look at the current state of the art of mobile learning. The immediacy of some chapters; like the ones on mobile health education, assessment strategies, and Universal Design for Learning will be apparent to all readers. Consider chapter 5, “Mobile Phones for Assessment: Anywhere, Anytime, by Anyone,” where Sahin and Mentor write:
By exploring the role of mobile technology in this unbounded learning space, this chapter provides an intellectually rigorous framework and theory of mobile assessment which is also highly useful for practitioners.
Other chapters offer a deep look at the intersection of mobile learning and specialized fields like film studies, informal learning, and gamification. The volume, as a whole, delivers both breadth and depth of the field of mobile learning, at exactly the time we need it.
– Prof. Matthew Curinga, Adelphi University
It is indisputable that our society has shifted in the vast and immediate access to information and technology via our mobile devices. For those of us who struggle with the speed with which we got to this stage and wonder how to see this as an opportunity rather than a challenge, the content of Dominic Mentor’s edited book is a refreshing read. Advancing Mobile Learning in Cotemporary Educational SpacesSpaces covers a variety of topics related to mobile learning across a broad range of learning spaces from K-16 and multiple disciplines, from assessment and film studies, to cooking, language learning, and healthcare. The author notes in the preface that mobile devices are potentially a means of “pushing the democratizing of education” as “users are not just being the receivers of education, but rather the drivers, contributors to, and owners of their education” then proceeds to demonstrate throughout each of the book chapters how this is achievable in a variety of ways. Targeting readers who are users as well as potential users of mobile technologies, the book is successful in its appeal. Educators in the classroom will find the book useful in developing learning engagements as well as formative and summative assessments that are convenient and immediate thus offering the learner contextual feedback, while those in film studies will appreciate ways mobile technologies can offer opportunities to explore identity, empathy, compassion, and perspective. The consideration of critical theory, equity, and change in developing a mobile app prototype is much needed and pushes readers to consider the context as well as broader needs of the society we live in as we advance our use of technology. Chapters like; Mobile Phones for Assessment, Electronic and Mobile Learning for Workforce Development, A Case for Leveraging Mobile Learning in Action Learning Teams, showcases the wide range of contexts and relevance of this book. The areas covered in the chapters, truly showcases the ubiquity of the mobile phone as a tool to pull from the educational toolbelt and utilize either just in time, or pre-planned and integrated as we work to meet educational goals and objectives. As a further example, the chapter Power up Learning with Mobile Games: The Educational Arcade not only lists theories, but also practical applications. The chapters also offer innovative approaches to learning that will help with rejuvenating teaching approaches and engage learners in a stimulated fashion. Meeting people where they already at in terms of the intersection of technology in hand, and the yearning to learn.
This book stands out from other books in its accessibility to people who are not experts in the field of technology yet are interested in utilizing the mobile device that is in our hands and the hands of populations we seek to access and engage in positive learning experiences. It is evident that the editor and authors’ intentions are to make the content of the book comprehensible to people who are not in technology fields and this, in itself, is evidence of the author’s critical approach to technology. Ultimately, the book is impressive in highlighting the use of mobile technologies to enhance learning in a multitude of contexts. Highly recommend.
– Prof. Rhina Williams, Georgia State University