Service-Learning Application in an M-Learning Course

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of smartphones, tablets, and laptops among college students, higher education institutions are beginning to implement these devices into the college curriculum. The academic community has realized that using mobile devices may encourage and increase academic intelligence. This troika relationship between the student, the mobile device, and the course is a form of m-learning, a method of teaching that is being practiced with increased frequency throughout national and international campuses. Sharples et al. (Mobile learning. Springer, pp 233–249, 2009) state that “exploration is essentially mobile in that it either involves physical movement or movement through conceptual space, linking experiences and concepts into new knowledge” (p. 4). Education should be exploratory to the student, kindling a desire to learn more and do more.

This chapter examines the pedagogy behind m-learning and discusses the relationship of m-learning with service-learning curriculum. The challenges of m-learning are discussed, as well as the ways to successfully implement social media tools into the college classroom when a service-learning project is of focus. The purpose of this paper is to encourage instructors to consider using a form of m-learning in the classroom in collaboration with service learning as a way to engage the student in a familiar platform.