Mobile Devices, Apps, and Leaving the LMS Why and How Online Courses are Going Mobile Joshua Isard Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing Arcadia University

Joshua Isard Program Director, Arcadia University's Low- Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing. Course has a large online content for distance learning. Teaching online for seven years. Novelist and short story writer Apple devotee.

Thesis on Mobile Devices in Education: Mobile devices are on the rise, and so e-education, as distance learning or a supplement to face to face classrooms, will go through them rather than the desktop. LMSs have failed to keep up in the initial stages, and so using independent apps is, at this stage, a better tool for teachers. The LMS of the future may look very different than what we've seen in the past years of digital education.

Proof of Mobile Devices' Rise in Use From Pew Research:Pew Research As of May 2013, 63% of adult cell owners use their phones to go online. 34% of mobile internet users go online mostly using their phones, and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer. From CNN:CNN In 2013, two-thirds of cell-phone owning Americans use their phones to surf the Web and check —double the amount from 2009, when only 31% of people said they used their phones to go online. From Google:Google In 2012, an estimated one billion people used mobile devices as their primary internet access point.

Mobile Devices' Rise in Higher Education 78% of college students own a smartphone. Two thirds of students use a smartphone for schoolwork. 40% of college students regularly use a tablet for schoolwork. From Pearson:Pearson

Attitudes Toward Mobile Devices in Higher Ed 83% of college students believe that tablets will transform the way students learn. 68% believe that tablets help students study more efficiently. Also From Pearson:

Anecdotal Evidence More faculty members with tablets every year. More students show up to class and residencies with tablets as their main computing device each semester. Smartphones are simply ubiquitous in the university environment.

Why the LMS Does Not Suit the Needs of a Mobile Device Environment Most LMSs do not have a full enough mobile app to complete the coursework on a mobile device. Apps tend to be supplements to the desktop, not actual alternatives. Given the trends in mobile computing, supplements will soon not be enough.

Blackboard App Screenshot

Examples of "lite" Apps Blackboard App is poorly designed, aesthetically. Discussion boards are especially difficult to read. Rich text from desktop does not appear on the app (HTML code is often what comes up on mobile). Few ways to file share via mobile. Edmodo Not possible to create some content, like Alerts and Assignments, from the app.

The Solution Needed Is A Unified Experience Across Mobile and Desktop

Current Solutions Individual Apps & Suites That Function As Well on Mobile As They Do On the Desktop

Google Apps Google Drive for File Sharing, Collaborative Annotation, and even Grade Distribution GMail Google Calendar

ProBoards For Discussion Boards

ProBoards Screenshot

Individual Thread

iCloud File Sharing, Collaborative Annotation, Grade Distribution Textbooks Podcasts

WhatsApp Instant Messaging

Evernote Note taking Information sharing Document annotation

Ancillary Apps Things like Hapara, a teacher dashboard for Google Apps, are springing up to help educators organize apps, and often function better by aggregating multiple apps than LMSs do by creating their own.

Traits of a Quality LMS Going Forward

Works Seamlessly Across Mobile and Desktop Platforms

Integration of Multiple Apps The ability of an LMS to integrate existing apps students already know how to use will be more important than an LMS providing the services of those apps by itself. They're never as good at it as the dedicated app, anyway.

Intuitive Design

Focus on: Communication Discussion Boards Messaging Social media Collaboration Creation and alteration Feedback From faculty and peers

Questions