This book provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges, potential and theoretical possibilities of apps and considers the processes of change for education and home learning environments. Drawing together a diverse team of international contributors, it addresses the specific features, context of use and content of apps to uncover the importance of these tools for young children’s learning. Apps, Technology and Younger Learners focuses on ways that apps support early years and primary school learning, connect various learning spaces and engage children in a range of edutainment and knowledge-building activities. In each chapter, the current state of knowledge and key research questions in the field for future study are identified, with clear messages provided at the end of each chapter. Focusing on empirical studies and strong theoretical frameworks, this book covers four key parts: Understanding the learning potential of children’s apps; Key app challenges; Empirical evidence; Future avenues. This book is an essential guide for educators, post-graduate students, researchers and all those interested in the advantages or challenges that may result from integrating apps into early education.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges, potential and theoretical possibilities of apps and considers the processes of change for education and home learning environments. Drawing together a diverse team of international contributors, it addresses the specific features, context of use and content of apps to uncover the importance of these tools for young children’s learning. Apps, Technology and Younger Learners focuses on ways that apps support early years and primary school learning, connect various learning spaces and engage children in a range of edutainment and knowledge-building activities. In each chapter, the current state of knowledge and key research questions in the field for future study are identified, with clear messages provided at the end of each chapter. Focusing on empirical studies and strong theoretical frameworks, this book covers four key parts: Understanding the learning potential of children’s apps; Key app challenges; Empirical evidence; Future avenues. This book is an essential guide for educators, post-graduate students, researchers and all those interested in the advantages or challenges that may result from integrating apps into early education.

Explore the game-changing technology that allows mobile learning to effectively reach K-12 students Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Developers, Educators and Learners provides research-based foundations for developing, evaluating, and integrating effective mobile learning pedagogy. Twenty-first century students require twenty-first century technology, and mobile devices provide new and effective ways to educate children. But with new technologies come new challenges—therefore, this handbook presents a comprehensive look at mobile learning by synthesizing relevant theories and drawing practical conclusions for developers, educators, and students. Mobile devices—in ways that the laptop, the personal computer, and netbook computers have not—present the opportunity to make learning more engaging, interactive, and available in both traditional classroom settings and informal learning environments. From theory to practice, Mobile Learning explores how mobile devices are different than their technological predecessors, makes the case for developers, teachers, and parents to invest in the technology, and illustrates the many ways in which it is innovative, exciting, and effective in educating K-12 students. Explores how mobile devices can support the needs of students Provides examples, screenshots, graphics, and visualizations to enhance the material presented in the book Provides developers with the background necessary to create the apps their audience requires Presents the case for mobile learning in and out of classrooms as early as preschool Discusses how mobile learning enables better educational opportunities for the visually impaired, students with Autism, and adult learners. If you're a school administrator, teacher, app developer, or parent, this topical book provides a theoretical, well-researched discussion of the pedagogical theory and mobile learning, as well as practical advice in setting up a mobile learning strategy.

Discussing learning technologies in relation to young children often provokes a wide range of passionate responses, from sceptics to enthusiasts. This text explores the issues in a holistic, pedagogical and research-informed way. It helps professionals unpick the complex issues involved, understand the scope of available technology, examine the interplay between learning and specific technologies, and more broadly create a vision for a technology-enabled learning environment that is child-centred, playful, creative and interactive. Recurring case studies are analysed from a number of theoretical perspectives, and the approach deliberately goes beyond the scope of ‘understanding of the world’ to consider the contribution of technology-enhanced learning to a range of different contexts and subject areas. Throughout there are clear links to professional standards, the Early Years Foundation Stage and the characteristics of effective learning.

The New Landscape of Mobile Learning is the first book to provide a research based overview of the largely untapped array of potential tools that m-Learning offers educators and students in face-to-face, hybrid, and distance education. This cutting edge guide provides: • An essential explanation of the emergence and role of Apps in education • Design guidelines for educational Apps • Case studies and student narratives from across the US describing successful App integration into both K-12 and Higher Education • Robust, research-based evaluation criteria for educational Apps Although many believe that Apps have the potential to create opportunities for transformative mobile education, a disparity currently exists between the individuals responsible for creating Apps (i.e. developers who often have little to no instructional experience) and the ultimate consumers in the classroom (i.e. K-20 educators and students). The New Landscape of Mobile Learning bridges this gap by illuminating critical design, integration, and evaluation narratives from leaders in the instructional design, distance education, and mobile learning fields.

No one has failed to notice that the current generation of youth is deeply--some would say totally--involved with digital media. Professors Howard Gardner and Katie Davis name today's young people The App Generation, and in this spellbinding book they explore what it means to be "app-dependent" versus "app-enabled" and how life for this generation differs from life before the digital era. Gardner and Davis are concerned with three vital areas of adolescent life: identity, intimacy, and imagination. Through innovative research, including interviews of young people, focus groups of those who work with them, and a unique comparison of youthful artistic productions before and after the digital revolution, the authors uncover the drawbacks of apps: they may foreclose a sense of identity, encourage superficial relations with others, and stunt creative imagination. On the other hand, the benefits of apps are equally striking: they can promote a strong sense of identity, allow deep relationships, and stimulate creativity. The challenge is to venture beyond the ways that apps are designed to be used, Gardner and Davis conclude, and they suggest how the power of apps can be a springboard to greater creativity and higher aspirations.

This volume identifies promising learning, teaching, and assessment strategies for the use and assessment of technology in educational settings, specifically: *educational context (e.g., organizational and structural factors that contribute to the effective use of technology in school settings); *promising learning and teaching strategies; *promising technology-based assessment procedures and methods; *policy implementation issues; and *a summary of current research on the effective use of technology in education. Chapter authors represent a variety of perspectives and disciplines, from computer science, cognitive and educational psychology, and educational administration. Authors represent government, business, and university communities from within and outside the U.S. These multiple perspectives contribute to the overall understanding of current technology use in education and help in identifying future research needs. Technology Applications in Education: A Learning View explores the state of the art of technology in K-16 education from a learning perspective rather than a hardware/software view. It is designed for professionals and graduate students in the educational technology, training, assessment/evaluation, school administration, military psychology, and educational psychology communities. This book is characterized in the following montage of factors: *the primacy of learning as a focus for technology implementation; *a focus on technology uses in K-16 education; *a focus on the assessment of both individuals and teams; *a broad variety of methodological approaches from qualitative to instructional design to quantitative (e.g., structural equation modeling); *a need to support the development of technology-based curriculum and tools; and *a need for theory-driven and evaluation studies to increase our knowledge.