Developing mobile teaching practice : a collaborative exploration process

Abstract

The goal of this research was to design a process to support the development of mobile teaching practice, embedded within the teaching and research activities in a Faculty of Education at a research-intensive university. Continuous developments in mobile learning create opportunities for teaching and learning, but also present challenges for educators to harness the possibilities of the medium and for the safe and accountable use of new technologies. This article describes the development of a collaborative exploration process by an interdisciplinary group of education researchers in the mobile teaching and learning field. The process was developed within an Education Living Lab, and was based on the knowledge utilisation theory of action that guides collaborating researchers and practitioners. Education researchers and pre-service student teachers participated in the research, described here as the case study of a project, during which the collaborative exploration process was designed and refined. The elements of the resulting collaborative exploration process are: a relevant driver for the project, and the four phases ‘explore’, ‘learn’, ‘adapt’ and ‘apply’. The driver is the focus topic of the research, and the phases in the process allow for collaborative activities during which the topic is investigated, while at the same time influencing the teaching, learning and research activities in the Faculty. A Faculty of Education can be a safe space where challenging aspects, such as mobile teaching and learning practices, can be investigated and developed. The proposed process can be applied to the practices of the Faculty, thus formalizing support for educators to explore teaching and learning possibilities; and to promote interdisciplinary collaborative research in the field. Future research can investigate the applicability of this collaborative exploration process for other challenging topics in educational practice and research.