Pedagogical Applications of Smartphone Integration in Teaching: Lecturers, Pre-Service Teachers and Pupils' Perspectives

Pedagogical Applications of Smartphone Integration in Teaching: Lecturers, Pre-Service Teachers and Pupils' Perspectives

Tami Seifert
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8789-9.ch090
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Abstract

As the disparity between educational standards and reality outside educational institutions is increasing, alternative learning infrastructure are challenging traditional modes of teaching. This study was based on an experiment with middle school pupils, pre-service teachers and college lecturers. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which the use of smartphones for teaching affects pupils' motivation. Moreover, it explored pre-service teachers' and lecturers' attitudes toward the implementation of smartphones in education: the types of usage they implement and suggest and whether they think that smartphones should be implemented in academia as well as in schools at all. The study was conducted by a qualitative and quantitative analysis. Relevant information was collected based on the questionnaires, correspondence, personal journals and interviews. There was a difference in the level of technical difficulties various groups face, the personal use each generation performs as well as their attitude toward smartphone implementation.
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Theoretical Background

The 21st Century Skills in the School Context

As a result of the accelerated technological development that transpires all around us in the digital age, we are required to adapt to frequent changes in our environment. The majority of teaching staff in teacher education programs were not born into the digital-informational revolution, and so must undergo training themselves to prepare for digital proficiency. In their book “Born Digital”, Palfrey & Gasser (2008) maintain that, around the world, there are about one billion young people born into the digital knowledge environments. Using these environments is natural for them, whereas the learning environments and teaching methods at school have hardly changed. This increasing gap leads to a contradiction between the school reality and the reality in which children live outside the school.

For the increased incorporation of technologies, Daggett (2005) argues that a shift in focus is necessary, from teacher-centered instruction to pupil-centered learning in which teachers take a secondary position as director, guide and supporter of the learning process. According to Daggett, this will help pupils develop leadership skills, teamwork and other competences necessary and relevant to challenging issues in everyday life and the needs of the future workforce. Additional skills required are creativity and ingenuity, communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving (Salpeter, 2003). The education system must therefore modify its teaching methods for the oncoming wave of digitally-proficient pupils, their skills, experiences and needs.

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