Examine data from students about smartphone usage and consider how this affects the place of smartphones inside and outside the physical classroom space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a previous post, I advocated for taking a \u201cmobile-first\u201d approach to course design<\/a>, offering 10 teaching practices that benefit students accessing your course from mobile devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this post, I want to take a step back and ask a broader question about mobile devices in teaching and learning: What role should smartphones play in our courses?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s break this question down into two parts: Outside the Classroom and Inside the Classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll start here, because evidence is clear that students are using mobile devices to access course content. Educause has been conducting student surveys about mobile devices in learning for more than a decade, and their recent findings are stark<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 91% of students say that they regularly access the Canvas mobile app, and 81% use their smartphone at least once a week for learning activities. The #1 reason students cite for using mobile devices is to make it \u201ceasier to access coursework\u201d (77%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, students will be using the mobile version of your course site \u2013 to access homework, find readings, check their schedule, take quizzes, and more. This is why I encourage all faculty to think about the mobile design of their courses, such as considering the teaching practices I outlined in that article about mobile-first course design<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to recognize, though, that students generally use mobile devices as secondary screens when completing coursework. This can range from checking assignment requirements to searching for term definitions to verifying a due date. As the authors of the Educause report say, \u201cstudents are content with small tasks via mobile rather than large ones.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ease of access being the #1 reason for using mobile devices for learning also points to a key consideration: How can you help students fit their education into their lives?<\/a> Smartphones can help students learn in situations where they can\u2019t sit down at a desk and open a laptop. Whether it\u2019s offering audio recordings of readings or splitting essay questions into a separate quiz, reflect on how you can enable students who are \u201con the go\u201d to complete coursework directly on their phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat role should smartphones play outside the physical classroom space?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n