Mobile Learning with Tablets: Free E-Book for Trainers

Photo by Chandni Lanfranchi.

We have recently written a post about the Learning with Tablets pilot, the first large scale ITC-ILO Academy supported by tablet computers, which took place in October 2014. The reasons behind the integration of tablets into learning activities were mostly related to creating interactive experiences for learners and gradually moving towards a paperless strategy where tablets are going to be used throughout multiple activities at the Centre. If you want to know more, there is a paper about the impact evaluation conducted here.

One of the key insights from this experience is that technology integration into learning is not only about the availability of devices but rather about trainers and facilitators effectively using technology. Therefore, despite all technical evolutions, trainers are the most important factor for success when using and integrating technology inside and outside the classroom. However to effectively use it, trainers firstly need to get familiar with it and acquire key competences. Media literacy is today recognized almost universally as one of the key competences in the educational system. According to UNESCO publication on Media Literacy and New Humanism, it is a basic skill that includes the individual capacity to using any media competently, a skill that supports many others.

That is why we are sharing the Mobile Learning with Tablets, a guide for trainers and facilitators interested in designing learning activities enhanced by tablet computers. The guide is available as a FREE eBook on the iBooks store for IOS.

You can also find it in PDF format on this ITCILO Community of Practice on Learning & Technology.

The guide provides a methodological framework for trainers, together with an introduction to mobile learning, mobile activities, resources for evaluating the impact of technology on learning, and a design checklist. Last but not least, it’s also possible at the end to provide feedback through an online survey.

Created within the framework of the m-Workplace Learning project, an initiative targeting the use of mobile devices for learning at work, the guide is meant to be a supporting tool for ITCILO trainers but we are happy to share it with other learning and development professionals. We look forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas and perhaps ways to make the Learning with Tablets experience even more engaging.

Alessia Messuti