Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 27

Internet Learning
in learning. Based on the interplay of existing
learning management systems (LMSs) and
mobile devices, new technological hurdles
exist to extend access to both current
eLearning students wishing to utilize mobile
devices and to purely mLearning students
that don’t possess computers. Presumably,
adjustments in the design by LMS developers
and future advances in mobile technology
will eventually resolve these issues. Until
then, an LMS-less approach alleviates the
need to force eLearning to fit mLearning
and it promotes the development of a
newly conceived mLearning classroom. An
LMS-less approach also opens up more
innate options for use in the pedagogy than
are currently available to instructors in
traditional or eLearning classrooms. With
current access issues resolved through an
LMS-less approach, the purpose of this
study is to identify a pedagogical model for
mLearning that works across mobile devices,
but with a special focus on smartphones since
they require the greatest departure from the
current eLearning paradigm.
Literature Review
The pedagogical model begins with
identifying an appropriate learning
theory. As the name implies, learning
theories are strategies to promote learning
which, according to Gagne (1985) are defined
as “change[s] in a learner’s disposition and
capabilities that can be reflected in behavior”
(Wang, 2012, p. 10). These theories are often
categorized based on common features,
but they share the same overarching goal
of guiding an instructor’s pedagogy (Wang,
2012) hence, learning theories, are necessary
precursors to developing pedagogy.
Instructors should take note of their own
role, the learner’s role, and the relationship
between the two (Wang, 2012) so that they
can select the role that best fits student
demographics and instructional topics.
Therefore, two learning theories that support
these roles are considered in this study: social
constructivism and connectivism.
Social constructivism is a theory
that is often associated with eLearning and
connectivism is being debated as a learning
theory underpinning mLearning (Anderson
& Dron, 2011). However, connectivism
hasn’t developed enough to stand alone
as a learning theory (Kop & Hill, 2008) in
part because it seemingly overlooks the
role of foundational learning on a topic
before networking can be used to create new
learning (Anderson & Dron, 2011). Social
constructivism, which stems from Vygotsky
and Dewey, builds upon the premise that
foundational knowledge is a basic part of the
construction of new knowledge (Anderson &
Dron, 2011). Given the evolutionary nature
of theories (Anderson & Dron, 2011; Baker-
Eveleth, Chung, Eveleth, & O’Neill, 2011), a
better way forward is to append a networking
component into social constructivism until
connectivism is either better developed or
replaced by a new emerging theory. As a
result, the learning theory being utilized
in this study is social constructivism as
derived from its cognitive-behaviorist roots
(Anderson & Dron, 2011; Baker-Eveleth
et al., 2011) with networking components
borrowed from connectivism (Anderson &
Dron, 2011). Broadly, the resulting pedagogy
is content and asset driven with social
activities and the opportunity to network
included.
Drawing on the social constructivism
theoretical framework, this study proceeds
with sections on how social constructivism
applies to mLearning, the specific role of
technology in mLearning, the identification
of a baseline mLearning pedagogy and
conclusions. In short, mLearning has
the potential to revolutionize learning in
developing states and evolve learning in
26