NCBRIDGE REFERENCE MANUAL
1 TAPPING THE MOTIVATIONAL POTENTIAL OF MOBILE HANDHELDS DEFINING THE RESEARCH AGENDA 1 2 USING SOCIAL NETWORK SITES AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO SCAFFOLD EQUITY OF ACCESS TO CULTURAL RESOURCES 31 3 A MOBILE WEB 2 0 FRAMEWORK RECONCEPTUALISING TEACHING AND LEARNING 57 4 FACING UP TO IT BLENDING FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXTS 93 5 NETWORKED LIVES FOR LEARNING DIGITAL MEDIA AND YOUNG PEOPLE ACROSS FORMAL AND INFORMAL CONTEXTS 119 6 NETWORK AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION A CALL FOR E TEACHERS 153 7 NETWORKED INFORMAL LEARNING AND CONTINUING TEACHER EDUCATION 183 8 A CONCLUSIVE THOUGHT THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE EDUCATION IS LITERALLY AT HAND 209 CONTENTS 1 1 TAPPING THE MOTIVATIONAL POTENTIAL OF MOBILE HANDHELDS DEFINING THE RESEARCH AGENDA ABSTRACT AS MOBILE TECHNOLOGY BECOMES INCREASINGLY PREVALENT EDUCATORS ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO TAP ITS EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL THIS CHAPTER ARGUES THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST STRENGTHS OF HANDHELD MOBILE DEVICES IS THEIR POTENTIAL TO INCREASE MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ELEMENTS SUCH AS THEIR SMALL SIZE GEOLOCATION AWARENESS INSTANT INFORMATION ACCESS AND TACTILE FEATURES CONTRIBUTE TO A PORTABLE AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MOTIVATE LEARNERS THE CHAPTER MAKES THE LINK BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY BY RST REVIEWING EXISTING LITERATURE ON THE MOTIVATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN GENERAL AND THEN DISCUSSING HOW THE UNIQUE FEATURES OF MOBILE HANDHELDS MAY FURTHER INCREASE MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING IN DE NING HANDHELDS WE EXCLUDE LAPTOPS AND REFER TO SMALLER DEVICES SUCH AS SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS KEEPING WITH THE THEME OF THIS VOLUME THE CHAPTER THEN CONSIDERS BOTH FORMAL AND INFORMAL ENVIRONMENTS AS IT DISCUSSES A RESEARCH AGENDA AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR EMPIRICALLY EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOBILE USE AND LEARNER MOTIVATION KEYWORDS MOTIVATION HANDHELD TECHNOLOGY SELF DETERMINATION THEORY EMBODIED COGNITION SITUATED LEARNING 2 INTRODUCTION THIS CHAPTER SETS FORTH A PROPOSITION THAT THERE IS PROMISING UNTAPPED POTENTIAL FOR APPLYING MOTIVATION THEORIES TO LEARNING WITH HANDHELDS PART OF THIS OPTIMISM STEMS FROM THE GROWING LITERATURE ON HOW GAMES MOTIVATE GOAL DIRECTED BEHAVIOUR SEE DISCUSSION IN GEE 2003 PRZYBYLSKI ET AL 2010 EVERY DAY ABOUT 30 MILLION PLAYERS OF THE MOBILE APP ANGRY BIRDS INVEST 5 MILLION HOURS IN LAUNCHING BIRDS AT TOWERS OF BRICKS AND ROCKS IN AN EFFORT TO DESTROY PIGS ROVIO 2011 AND MORE THAN 30 MILLION PLAYERS HARVEST THEIR CROPS IN THE SOCIAL NETWORK GAME FARMVILLE CASHMORE 2010 WHEN PEOPLE ARE ASKED WHY THEY SACRIFICE OTHER LEISURE AND PERHAPS NON LEISURE ACTIVITIES TO ENGAGE IN SUCH GAMES THE IMMEDIATE AND MOST OBVIOUS RESPONSE IS SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE FUN UNPACKING WHAT MAKES GAMES FUN CAN HELP IN THE DESIGN OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY THAT FOSTERS HIGHLY MOTIVATED LEARNING THE INCREASING PREVALENCE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IS EVIDENT IN THE STATISTICS AMONG 8 TO 18 YEAR OLDS BETWEEN 2004 AND 2009 CELL PHONE OWNERSHIP INCREASED FROM 39 PER CENT TO 66 PER CENT RIDEOUT ET AL 2010 NINE OUT OF TEN 18 TO 29 YEAR OLDS IN THE USA OWN A CELL PHONE AND AMONG THOSE OWNERS 65 PER CENT ACCESS THE INTERNET ON THEIR MOBILE DEVICES SMITH 2010 CELL PHONES HAVE EVOLVED TO BE MORE THAN JUST A TOOL TO TALK AS YOUNG PEOPLE NOW SPEND MORE TIME LISTENING TO MUSIC WATCHING TELEVISION AND PLAYING GAMES ON THEIR CELL PHONES THAN THEY SPEND TALKING ON THEM RIDEOUT ET AL 2010 WITH THE SURGE IN OWNERSHIP OF TABLETS EDUCATORS ARE MORE THAN EVER LOOKING FOR WAYS TO INTEGRATE MOBILE DEVICES IN THE DESIGN OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS WHAT IS MISSING FROM THIS INTEGRATION HOWEVER IS A LEARNING THEORY THAT IS SPECIFIC TO MOBILE NCBRIDGE REFERENCE MANUAL 3 TECHNOLOGIES AND WILL ALLOW FOR THE EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS WITH MOBILE HANDHELDS THE POTENTIAL FOR MOBILE HANDHELDS TO CONTRIBUTE TO LIFELONG CONTEXTUALISED LEARNING RESTS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRINCIPLES THAT HIGHLIGHT AND EXPLOIT THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THOSE DEVICES YET THE FORMATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY SHULER 2009 A THEORETICAL MODEL OF MOTIVATION AND MOBILES CAN DRAW HEAVILY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF MOTIVATION WHILE THERE ARE CLEAR DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON COMPONENTS AND PROCESSES THAT ARE RELEVANT ACROSS THE LIFESPAN IN DEFINING MOBILE HANDHELDS WE EXCLUDE LAPTOPS AND REFER TO DEVICES THAT CAN BE USED ON THE GO WITHOUT SITTING DOWN SUCH AS SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS THEIR SMALL SIZE CORDLESS NATURE GEOLOCATION AWARENESS INSTANT INFORMATION ACCESS AND TACTILE FEATURES E G TOUCHSCREENS VIBRATIONS CONTRIBUTE TO A PORTABLE AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MOTIVATE LEARNERS AND ALLOW THEM TO BUILD THEIR KNOWLEDGE ACROSS FORMAL AND INFORMAL SETTINGS MOTIVATION IS A WORTHWHILE CONSTRUCT TO TARGET AS SOME SCHOLARS ARGUE THAT MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS PLAY A LARGER ROLE THAN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PREDICTING CONTINUED LEARNING FOR INSTANCE MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING PSYCHOLOGY WAS MORE PREDICTIVE OF SUBSEQUENT COURSE TAKING AND MAJORING IN PSYCHOLOGY OVER A SEVEN YEAR SPAN THAN WERE GRADES FROM AN INTRODUCTORY COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY COURSE HARACKIEWICZ ET AL 2002 SIMILAR PATTERNS HAVE BEEN FOUND FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS HARACKIEWICZ ET AL 2002 HIDI 1990 HIDI AND HARACKIEWICZ 2000 HIDI AND RENNINGER 2006 ALTHOUGH RESEARCH ON MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS TO CLASSROOM EDUCATION HAS GENERATED THOUSANDS OF JOURNAL ARTICLES THERE IS LIMITED EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ABOUT WHETHER THESE THEORIES APPLY EQUALLY WELL IN THE CONTEXT OF LEARNING WITH HANDHELDS NCBRIDGE REFERENCE MANUAL