![]() ![]() ![]() These new mobile platforms allow students to access content anywhere/anytime to immerse himself/herself into that content (alone or interacting with teachers or colleagues via web communication forms) and to interact with that content in ways that were not previously possible (via touch and voice recognition technologies, for instance). Many universities throughout the world have already adopted or are planning to adopt mobile technologies in many of their courses as a better way to connect students with the subjects they are studying. Whole firms, devoted solely to developing high-quality and high engagement content to these devices, have emerged, populating an application market of thousands of teaching applications (apps) focused on diverse higher education topics, from physics and calculus to anatomy and law. Smartphones and tablet computers, as well as other ultraportable devices, have already gained enough critical mass to be considered mainstream devices, being present in the daily lives of millions of higher education students. New mobile platforms, connected seamlessly to the Internet via wireless access, become increasingly more powerful as each day passes. The aim of the chapter is to discuss the application of new technological possibilities in educational settings inspired by problem- and project-based learning. Various teacher roles are addressed, as implementing new educational technology requires teachers who are flexible and aware of the different challenges in the networked environment. The chapter discusses the involvement of students as co-designers of how courses and learning environments unfold, and deals with the development of students’ information literacy. The discussions are based on cases from the practice at the Danish Master Programme in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Learning (MIL), where students from all over Denmark within a networked learning structure are studying in groups combining on-site seminars with independent and challenging virtually organized project periods. The chapter discusses how student engagement can be facilitated through educational designs that make conscious use of various online communication technologies. If used appropriately and purposefully, these mobile technologies are well suited for the increasingly interconnected and interdependent world we live in and they provide educators with another set of tools by which to enrich the teaching and learning process and educational outcomes ( Kukulska-Hulme, 2012). Both individually and socially, these new mobile technologies are becoming increasingly popular and useful as educational tools across a wide range of disciplines as a means to engage and retain students. These technologies, coupled with more valid and reliable learning theories, are revolutionizing the way we teach and are altering our notions of what it means to learn and live in a post-industrial, globalized world. Today's educators have at their disposal a wide array of digital technologies that enable them to enhance the teaching and learning process. The chapters in this book focus on three key areas of innovation in teaching and learning in higher education today: smartphone devices, texting applications, and multipurpose, multimedia mobile communicative applications such as Skype.
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