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Over the last decade, the rapid proliferation of mobile technologies – smartphones, tablets, and other handheld devices - has opened up new avenues and possibilities to extend and enhance learning and education delivery at all levels, including teacher professional development (TPD) (Beauchamp et al., 2015; Gao et al., 2021; Gunter & Reeves, 2017; Mayer, 2020). As a result of these technological advancements, there is a renewed focus on the development and discourse of design-based understanding that aims to create inclusive, engaging pedagogy embedded in technology-rich environments (Gohar, 2022; Grant, 2019; Parsons et al., 2007).
Mobile learning (m-learning) is an emerging trend and assumed even greater importance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, where the education and training provision has predominantly relied on the use of mobile or portable digital technology whilst maintaining a physical distance (Naciri et al., 2020; Qazi et al., 2023). While these technologies provide greater affordances (Danish & Hmelo-Silver, 2020) and capabilities to deliver education and training in a contextualized, personalized, and geographically unrestricted manner, they have, however, often been matched with a more nuanced understanding of a design for effective learning in a technology-rich environment (Hall et al., 2020; Pishtari & Rodríguez-Triana, 2022).
While much of the research identifies and addresses specific, persistent issues regarding effective design for scalable and sustainable mobile learning in the TPD context (Bano et al., 2018; Baran, 2014; Dallimore & Souza, 2002; Kearney et al., 2012; Koenraad, 2019; Tony et al., 2006), there are still many questions, concerning effective integration of mobile learning experiences in the TPD context, remaining to be addressed. It is, therefore, imperative to offer new perspectives on how technology-mediated, specifically mobile-mediated, TPD programs can be designed and developed effectively to better facilitate teachers’ use of mobile technology for their professional development.
The current study attempts to provide a conceptual framework that can be used to plot an effective design for the development of mobile-mediated TPD programs. The framework is conceptualized by enacting theory-led, evidence-informed approaches and models of teacher professional development and mobile learning research and practice. The outcome of this study is expected to serve as a guide, providing essential pedagogical and technological considerations in the instructional design when using mobile-mediated TPD.