A Critical Review of Emerging Pedagogical Perspectives on Mobile Learning

In recent years, a significant level of interest has developed in the potential of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones for learning. Mobile learning is an approach that aims to exploit the particular features and characteristics of portable, personal computational devices for pedagogical purposes. This chapter outlines a critique of some current thinking about mobile learning as a contribution to an “appropriate theory of education for the mobile age”:

“We are in an age of personal and technical mobility, where mobile devices, … are carried everywhere. We have the opportunity to design learning differently: linking people in real and virtual worlds, creating learning communities between people on the move, providing expertise on demand, and supporting a lifetime of learning. In order to understand how people learn through a mobile, pervasive and lifelong interaction with technology, we need to understand the implications of learning with mobile technology and build an appropriate theory of education for the mobile age.” (Sharples. et al 2009)

This critical review of the literature analyses some of the pedagogical claims underlying mobile learning and argues that expectations are not based on robust foundations of theory or experiment. Mobile educational technology and associated mobile learning practices are a dynamic domain of constant change, enlivened by developments of new devices, services and software and, alongside possible benefits, streams of significant social and educational dilemmas. This is the challenge for mobile learning and the aim to describe and develop sustainable, well-integrated pedagogical practices and theoretical foundations that exploit the potential of mobile technology for educational goals. The peer-reviewed literature included in this chapter covers the period up to 2017 and is rich with ‘proof-of-concept’ educational activities that demonstrate aspects of practical viability but do not yet provide a foundation on which to build a systemic pedagogy because there is little evidence of systematic benefits or repeatable outcomes, either positive or negative, for the educational role of mobile educational technology.

For this chapter peer-reviewed articles were selectively retrieved using broad keywords: ‘mobile learning’; ‘m-learning’; ‘education’; and ‘pedagogy’.

Keywords: mobile learning; research review; pedagogy; educational technology.