Mobile Apps in Open Educational Resources

Introduction

The confluence of mobile apps and open educational resources (OER) seems natural, but it is rarely discussed. Mobile apps enable mobile devices such as tablets and phones to function. It has become nearly impossible to use any function of a mobile device without a mobile app that has been downloaded from a mobile store or market. Whether it is surfing the web, playing a game, looking up health information, participating in learning activities, or watching videos on a mobile device, it is likely being done through mobile apps.

Mobile apps provide easy access to educational learning that may at one time have only been available through physical libraries at educational institutions, thus leaving many unable to access information and making learning available to only a few. For example, it is now possible to connect to the internet regardless of where an individual is located as long as the phone has a capacity for a web connection and said connection is supported or available. Even if an individual does not have a smartphone or a tablet device, web browsers designed specifically for low-end phones can enable one to search for information.

Mobile apps enable users to connect to educational resources. One such example is Browzine created by Third Iron, a company known for developing library technologies (Bickett, 2014). Launched in 2011, the app is available free for download on mobile phones, iOS and Android tablets, and Kindle devices. Once downloaded, the user signs into his or her associated library and is able to browse numerous journals available in the library. In other words, instead of having to go to the library to browse through a stack of resources or logging onto the internet to search for journals, a user can easily access hundreds of journals through the ease and comfort of their mobile devices. Other similar mobile apps are listed in Table 1.