Abstract
The growing trend on the use of mobile devices in higher education institutions continues with many innovations being semi-institutionalised into teaching and learning policies and practices post the COVID-19 era. Much of the research on mobile devices addresses itself to course design and student experiences with limited research on the experiences of academic staff members. This qualitative, exploratory case study explores the experiences of teacher educators who work with preservice teachers in one university in South Africa. The paper adopts the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework as a guide for exploring teacher educators’ reflections about their integration of mobile devices in their teaching. Data collection included document analysis and semi-structured interviews with the four participants who had been part of a pilot project that deployed Tablets as mobile devices for teaching and learning. Findings show that the teacher educators perceived their use of mobile devices as an opportunity to shift from a traditional course design approach of the teacher educator as the lecturer to the mobile applications integration in the course design making them more of facilitators of learning in class. The paper discusses some of the lessons learned from the pilot project and some of the promise and challenges of mobile devices in helping to shift classroom pedagogies within a higher education environment.
Presenters
Thuthukile JitaAssociate Professor, Curriculum Studies and Higher Education, University of the Free State, Free State, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
MOBILE DEVICES; HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION; TEACHER EDUCATOR; TPACK
