Connecting, swiping, and integrating: mobile apps affordances and innovation adoption in teacher education and practice

Abstract

Despite society’s adoption of mobile devices, we have yet to learn whether teachers perceive these artifacts as an innovation and what their potential is for teacher development and practice. This study aims to answer the following questions: what does mobile application affordances teachers perceive for their professional development and practice? What do these affordances reveal concerning Rogers (2003) innovation attributes, namely: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability? The analysis of eleven teachers’ narratives indicates that teachers do perceive the affordances of their devices for professional development. As for instruction, these teachers report that lack of school equipment and the need for a curriculum that includes the use of emergent technologies may indicate a low degree of compatibility, an attribute concerning a social system’s values. The reported affordances indicate the need for a new value system if the adoption of mobile learning is to take place in formal education.

The Influence of Online Distance Learning and Digital Skills on Digital Literacy Among University Students Post Covid-19

“…The attitudes toward adopting innovations have an influence on forming digital literacy (Cirus & Simonova, 2021). Additionally, the characteristics of adopting innovation help to facilitate and support the digital literacy of students (Gunter, 2018). Overall digital literacy is increased through the diffusion of innovation (Matyunina, 2019).…”

EFL Teachers’ Burnout: Do Mobile Teaching Affordances Matter?

“…Therefore, negative emotions towards employing social media can affect all areas of life, including work, and influence teacher burnout. Gunter and Braga (2018) decided to shut down traditional teaching practices so focused on teachers using technology, especially online mobile devices via Apps, to develop the oral skills of the teachers which led to a decrease in their sense of burnout. Besides, Çelik et al (2018) examined the importance of Mobile affordance and showed that mobile technologies offer new affordances for teacher observation in teacher education programs, making them more motivated.…”

“…Based on the gathered results, the most recurrent affordances refer to the use of audio materials produced during the interactions via WhatsApp to develop the oral skills of the teachers themselves. While reflecting on pedagogical affordances for improving their students' oral skills, the teachers used voice recording functionalities during the course to improve their pronunciation based on their peers' productions, to develop their oral comprehension in English, to use authentic language, to mention a few affordances (as cited in Gunter & Braga, 2018).…”

“…Besides, unlike video technologies, mobile technologies offer new possibilities for teachers in teacher education programs. To determine the relationship between mobile technologies and teacher observation, some educators, such as Gunter and Braga (2018), compare three teaching methods: traditional narrative paper pen, mobile app-supported, and video observation. The gathered data was collected in three different teaching sessions over four weeks.…”

“…Therefore, it seems necessary to consider various factors that can affect the quality of the teachers in the field of Second or Foreign Language (SL/FL) teaching. Using of mobile technology in the classrooms and the development of mobile apps have stirred up a substantial amount of enthusiasm in educators to find out the practical ways to incorporate teachers' technological uses as well as possibilities to shift academic environments from traditional approaches to mobile learning and instructional strategies (Gunter & Braga, 2018;Gunter & Reeves, 2017). Consequently, one of the significant features that every 21st-century teacher should own is the ability to incorporate technology and mobile devices into the teaching processes, which seems to have led to teaching/learning motivation.…”