As I have been reading through the materials that have been posted from the previous weeks, I have noticed that the valuable component of theory has been lacking. This is understandable considering the subject matter of mobile and education is relatively new. In saying, as I was constructing my A1 Project (which is almost complete), I came across this lovely paper from Chai and Fan. I had to conduct some more research, since I was not sure where the theory originated. The neat part is that this is their own theory that the author’s invented, which is amazing since not much has been discussed from thinkers of educational theory since Gardner, Skinner, Piaget, and Vygotsky. The theory that Chai and Fan discuss is called Mobile Inverted Constructivism. This theory connects the mobile environment, the learner’s independence of acquiring knowledge, and the teacher’s role in this process. It’s the first paper that I have come across that discusses these three relationships together. Comparatively, I would argue it turns other theories on their heads, and raises questions as to what classes of the 21st Century are trying to become. I hope by sharing this paper, it will help all of us connect our mobile projects to theory while we continue through the movable feasts. I have really been enjoying what everyone is writing about so far, but I am under the impression the holy grail of our A2 projects will be which groups can connect theory to mobile application.
Reference:
Chai, J., & Fan, K. K. (2016). Mobile inverted constructivism: education of interaction technology in social media. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(5), 1425-1442.