Mobile Apps for the Classroom

While it may be impossible to accurately measure just how fast new education apps are coming online, it's pretty hard to ignore that they are: the number of options just to integrate with Canvas can be overwhelming, and the learning curve associated with any new app addition makes keeping up with this wave somewhat intimidating.

If you are going to consider using mobile apps for your class, there are a few elements to consider

• Apps with options: Does the app work across a variety of platforms? We don't know whether our students have smartphones, or what operating system they might be running, so it may be best to find apps that also work as browser extensions, or are supported across a variety of hardware.
• Barriers to access: If our learning curve is steep, imagine our students: apps can be intuitive, but you may wish to evaluate how much class time will be dedicated to ensuring everyone can make equal use of the tool. Likewise, as with other e-learning tools, cost is a consideration: does the free option for the app do everything you want your students to do?
• Plan B: even if an app is well supported one semester, it may not be in the future. Case in point: I was happily designing classroom assignments to rely on the Genius annotation app and the Prezi app: both have recently changed their access and permission rules such that they no longer work for what I'm doing (or at least not for free). Luckily for me, I had already 

It's also important to remember that mobile apps are perhaps even more susceptible to the distracted-by-shiny-objects risk in any kind of e-learning; if you're going to use them, make sure that they're not using you. Vorley and Williams (2016) suggest examining whether you're encouraging students to think metacognitively about how their methods and tools are enabling their practical outcomes; in this case: is the writing implement encouraging the skill development we want to see? Working toward best practices includes some identifiable success tips (adapted from Cochrane, 2014):

• The tool must be integrated into the course and assessment of related assignments--rather than functioning as a separate component
• We have to show students how to use them, to decrease the learning curve and ensure equal access; this will also help to re-frame student expectations of learning and knowledge creation
• Encouraging students to ask each other for help, and offering access to a support community--both technological and pedagogical
• Careful choice of apps, made within the context of our courses and program

Additional reading

• Cochrane, T.D. (2014). Critical success factors for transforming pedagogy with mobile Web 2.0 British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(1). 65-82
• Lopuch, M. (2013). The effects of educational apps on student achievement and engagement. Retrieved from http://www.esparklearning.com/resources/the-effects-of-educational-apps-on-student-achievement-and-engagement
• Vorley, T. & Williams, N. (2016). Not just dialling it in: Examining cognitive-based approaches to enterprise education using a smartphone application. Education + Training, 58 (1). 45-60.

Zotero

Especially useful for the research phases of most of our composition courses, Zotero has been around since I was in graduate school--and continues to improve its accessibility and functionality. It works on a variety of browsers as an extension, or can be downloaded as a standalone app for the smartphone. Most recently, they've added a scanner function: while the main Zotero app is free, this one costs a small pittance ($2.50) but it means that we can scan any publication barcode and add the bibliographic information to our Zotero library, so I'm planning to catalog my home library this summer.

Zotero can help students learn the basic principle of tracking (and eventually citing) every outside source they use during their investigation phase on an issue. Turning it on in a browser automatically logs citation information for all sites visited, including search results in a database interface. As a mobile app, students can experience the tactile benefits of pulling out a device to choose to log this information as they find hard copy resources.

Getting started

Downloading the app and broser extensions are as simple as clicking on the link above; but using the app to its full potential takes a few more steps, If, like me, you often ask students to work together as they research similar or related issues, you may find it useful to make a course group. The Zotero support page also has tutorials for other features and add-ons.

• Chronicle of Higher Education ProfHacker resources on Zotero

Stitcher

Many of us already use example episodes of podcasts as course content, but encouraging students to make use of the exploratory features embedded in a podcast app can help them to construct meaning through understanding the social context of those publications.

Regular use of a podcast app can also encourage students toward completing podcasts of their own, for public distribution as well as submission to a course assignment space. Podcasts apps also usually have an option for downloading a transcript--especially important for those learners who need multiple sensory channel input.

Getting started

Other free podcast apps include NPR One, TED, PlayerFM, and EduCast. Once you decide on a podcast app for the class, ask them to use the "suggested recommendations" feature to explore related content. Or, if you're assigning particular episodes, create a playlist to share.

• The Atlantic: "The Value of Using Podcasts in Class"

Goodreads

Something like a social network for bookworms, GoodReads has lots of potential in the classroom. Especially for survey courses where our students are simultaneously overwhelmed with the pace and underwhelmed with the depth, a class page can help to crowdsource suggestions for related reading material, and allow students to create review material to share with each other. The app version allows mobile students to interact with their reading assignments and critical thinking work wherever they are, without having to be in a library or on a computer--further experiencing the goal of putting our literature and writing texts in their own social contexts.

Perhaps most useful is the integration of discussion with information about the text: students can use the commenting features to draft reading responses and critical thinking posts in direct (and public) response to the book or primary text assigned. If your students are amenable, you can also have them comment on pages outside the class hub, which can encourage them to articulate arguments in response to other readers' concerns or questions about a text.

Getting started

Sign up--I have a personal account, and I'd recommend creating a separate log-in using your campus email. Once you have, you can go to the "create new group" page to set up a private class center, and start looking for the books you're reading together. If you get stuck: like most social platforms, GoodReads has a thriving user community; here's the discussion board for teachers and librarians.

• GoodReads.com as a classroom