Creating Mobile Learning Apps Adds Another Layer to Learning

I've written a lot about mobile learning -- and there's a lot more to write about because it's a quickly growing and changing study.

But today at the Cyberlearning Tools for STEM Education Conference, I heard about the value of kids not just using mobile apps, but actually creating them.

Chris Thompson, Associate Director Evaluation & Technology, Georgia Tech, talked about the university's Mobile Learning Laboratory (MoLLy). Thompson enumerated some of what kids learn while they're creating apps:

- How to create media (animation, audio, video)

- Game design (different genres, set of rules and play, how to best engage users)

- Programming, user interface and instructional design

- Robotics (there are robots in mobile devices inside mobile phones, he says).

- Collaboration (working with other kids on the app)

- Critical thinking (identifying what's most important and relevant in the game)

- Marketing and business practices as well as promoting and public speaking (how to sell it to the public)

- And last but definitely not least, they become mini-experts in the subject the app and game they're creating.

Again, it goes back to the idea of how creating media makes learning a subject more relevant and interesting to the digital generation.

Read more about Thompson's project.