Use of apps and devices for fostering mobile learning of literacy practices

Given the increased use of apps and mobile devices in the classroom, this chapter reviews research on secondary and college students' uses of educational apps employed with mobile devices in the classroom supporting mobile learning (m-learning). It focuses on research analyses of m-learning activities fostered through ubiquity/authenticity, portability, and personalization/adaptivity of apps and mobile devices fostering collaboration/interactivity, multimodality, and shared productivity. These practices serve to enhance information search and acquisition, reading digital texts, formulating and sharing responses to texts, shared productivity, and language learning. While there is some research documenting how m-learning serves to foster these literacy practices, there remains a need for further research on how effective design of m-learning activities supports literacy learning, as well as how larger economic and policy issues shape or impede effective m-learning.