Submittedin:June2013
Acceptedin:October2013 Publishedin:January2014
Recommended citation
Rius, À., Masip, D. & Clarisó, R. (2014). Student projects empowering mobile learning in higher
edu-cation. Mobile Learning Applications in Higher Education [Special Section]. Revista de Universidad y
Abstract
Educationalinstitutionsarefacingthechallengeofprovidingstudentswithtoolsformobilelearning (m-learning). However, theevolutionoftechnologymakesthedevelopmentandcontinuousimpro
-vementofthesetoolsratherexpensive. Forexample, itisdifficulttoassessthedifferenttechnology optionsavailableandtochoosewhichonesarebestsuitedtoaparticularcontext. Inthisarticle,
theproposedsolutionistoengagestudentsontechnology degreecoursesinthedevelopment ofm-learningtools. TheOpenUniversityofCatalonia(UOC)isanalyzedasacasestudy, andseveral examplesoftoolsdeveloped bystudentsas partoftheir finalyearprojectsare presented. These projectsexploredifferenttechnologiesandprovideusefulinformationtoguideinstitutionalinves
-tmentinthedevelopmentofm-learningtools. Akintothecollaborativedevelopmentmodelinthe
fieldofopensourcesoftware, thisparadigmthereforecanensurethesustainabilityofm-learningin educationalinstitutions.
Keywords
finalyearproject, mobiledeviceapplications, m-learning, e-learningtools, innovation
Proyectos de los estudiantes para potenciar el aprendizaje móvil
en la educación superior
Resumen
Las instituciones educativas se enfrentan al reto de ofrecer a los estudiantes herramientas para aprendizaje móvil (m-learning). Sin embargo, la evolución de las tecnologías hace que el desarrollo y la mejora con-tinua de estas herramientas sea algo muy costoso. Por ejemplo, resulta complicado evaluar las diferentes alternativas tecnológicas disponibles y seleccionar la más apropiada según el contexto. En este artículo, se propone como solución implicar a los estudiantes de titulaciones tecnológicas en el desarrollo de herra-mientas de m-learning. Se analiza como caso de estudio la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya y se presentan ejemplos de herramientas desarrolladas por estudiantes como parte de su trabajo final de carrera. Estos trabajos permiten explorar diferentes tecnologías y proporcionan información útil para guiar la inversión institucional en el desarrollo de herramientas de m-learning. Así pues, este paradigma, cercano al modelo del desarrollo colaborativo en el software libre, permite asegurar la sostenibilidad del m-learning en insti-tuciones educativas.
Palabras clave
trabajo final de carrera, aplicaciones para dispositivos móviles, m-learning, herramientas de e-learning, innovación
1. Introduction
Accordingtosomeauthors(Traxler, 2006;Frohberg, 2006;Sharples, 2010), wearelivinginaso-called
‘mobileera’, andthereistalkofanewrevolutionathand;arevolutionwheremobiledevicesplayakey
role. Therapidevolutionofwirelesstechnologiesandtheunremittingdevelopmentofapplications
(apps)for mobile devicesin recent yearsaregood examples ofthat. Inparticular, newtypesof
deviceshaveburstontotheeducationalsceneregardlessoftheday-to-dayactivitiesundertakenby
Wireless technologyandmobiledevicesaregettingfasterandmorepowerfulallthetime. In
fact, thereisnowatendencytoreplacedesktopandlaptopcomputerswithothertypesofdevices
thatrequireadifferentkindofinteraction. Inaddition, thereiscurrentlyaproliferationoftoolsand
programminglanguagestodevelopmobiledeviceappsand, simultaneously, arelentlessgrowthin
thespecificmarketplacesforpublishingandsharingappsofthistype. Inthesphereofeducation, the
demandfornewappstoadaptlearningenvironmentstonewmobiledevicesisdrivingtheneedfor
moreandmoreworktobedoneonthem. Someauthorshaveidentifiedmajoropportunitiesinthe
fieldofhighereducation, oneofthemis AlanLivingston. Hehasnotedthattheuseofmobiledevices
byhighereducationstudentsispracticallyuniversal, which, inhisopinion, representsanexcellent
opportunity(Livingston, 2009).
Thenewcontextenablesstudents–asusersofmobiledeviceswithaccesstoacommunications
network– tostudyanywhereandanytime. Facedwiththisnewscenario, educationalinstitutions
havenooptionbuttoadapt;theyhavetomodifytheirplatformstoenablevariousmeansofaccess
toresources from different types ofdevice. The objective must be nottolose the competitive
advantage(Cobcroftetal., 2006).
Apps to facilitate learning via mobile devices are usually developed by the development
departmentsofeducationalinstitutions. However, inthecurrenttimesofeconomicdifficulty, some
ostensiblyinterestingprojectsmaynotbeviablebecausetheinvestmenttheyrequireistoogreat.
However, iftheaimistonarrowthedigitaldivide, thenitisessentialtoworkoninnovatinglearning
environmentsandplatforms. Itiscrucialtolookforalternativeoptionsinordertoadapttothisnew
reality.
Intheparticularcaseofhighereducationinstitutionsofferinginformationtechnology(IT)degrees,
itshould benotedthat finalyear studentshavethenecessary skillsand knowledge tobecome
potentialdevelopers. Anadvantageisthattheyarealreadyfamiliarwiththeenvironmentandits
requirements, andthisenablesthemtosolvecertainproblemsthattheyhaveclearlyidentified. So
whynotcapitalizeonthissituation? Ifcreatingsuchtoolsfortheirownbenefitandforthatoftheir
fellowstudents–and, byextension, forthatoftheeducationalcommunity–motivatesthem, then
whynothelpthemdoso?
Manyearlierproposalsinthespheresofe-learningandm-learninghavepromotedthe figureof
thestudentasacreatorofteachingcontent(Kukulska-Hulme, 2007; HernándezRequena, 2008), in
keepingwiththephilosophywherebycontentemergesfromWeb2.0usercontributions(Alexander,
2006;Ferguson, 2011). However, theideaputforwardinthisarticlegoesfurther, asitproposesthat
studentsshouldbecometheauthorsof(oratleastcontributorsto)theirownm-learningtools.
Consideringthisoptionasasustainablemethodologyfroma financialperspective, theuniversity
oreducationalinstitutioninquestionshould:1)provideaminimalsetoftoolstogainopenaccessto
certaininstitutionaldatainacontrolled, secureway, and2)setoutproceduresthat firstlyenablenew
appstobedevelopedfortheinstitutionandsecondlyfacilitatetheirintegrationintothelearning
platform, inasimilarwaytohowappsarecreatedinopensourcesoftwarecommunities.
AttheOpenUniversityofCatalonia(UOC), thisopportunityhasbeenidentified:intheComputing,
Multimediaand TelecommunicationStudies, besidestheirroleasm-learningconsumers, students
toundertakeprojectsrelatedtoeducationaltoolsinarealenvironment. Thisarticledescribesthis
experiencefromtheperspectiveofthetoolsorappsthatwerecreated, andthebenefitsderivedfrom
thisactivitytoboththestudentsandtheinstitution.
Thesecondsectionofthisarticleanalysesthecharacteristicsofm-learningandthechallengeit
posesforeducationalinstitutions;thethirdsectiondescribesthecontextoftheinstitutionwithin
whichtheprojectswereundertaken, thestudentprofilesandthestudents’m-learningneeds;the
fourth sectionpresents someexamples ofthem-learning toolsdeveloped bythestudents, and
describestheirobjectives, thetechnologiesinvolvedandtheauthors’motivations; finally, the fifth
sectionanalysestheconclusionsdrawn..
2. M-learning in educational institutions
Mobilelearningor ‘m-learning’(Naismithetal., 2004; Holzingeretal., 2005; Ally, 2009;Bachmairet
al., 2010)isthetermusedtodescribetheuseofmobiledevicesastoolsinthelearningprocess.
Somestrengthsofm-learningare:portability, asmobiledevicescanbeusedanywhere, insideand
outsidetheclassroom;theirpotentialasatoolforcollaborationandinteraction;theabilitytoobtain
informationsuitedtothecontextorsituation;permanentconnectivity(alwayson);andthepossibility
ofadaptingcontenttoeveryuseraccordingtotheirneedsandexpectations.
Notableweaknessesarethelimitationsofmobiledevicescomparedtocomputers. Theseinclude,
forexample, asmallerscreensize, aninterfacethatisnotwellsuitedtoenteringlargequantitiesof
data, orfragmentation(differentmanufacturers, operatingsystems, screensizes, etc.). Inotherwords,
whendesigninganm-learningsolution, notonlydothepedagogicalaspectsneedtobetakeninto
account, butsotoodothetechnologicalandusabilityaspects(Ally, 2005;Seong, 2006).
In the literature on the topic, a very diverse range of m-learning tools has been explored
(Naismith et al., 2004), such as self-assessment questionnaires, simulations, problem-solving
exercises, augmentedrealityguides(formuseumsormonuments), groupworkactivities, andtools
forpersonalorganization(studycalendars)orlearningmanagement(alertnotificationduringthe
course, formalityadministration, etc.). Inotherwords, m-learningtoolsaimtoprovidearesponseto
objectivesasdisparateaseducationalcontentdelivery, assessment, student-studentandstudent
-lecturercommunication, andteachingmanagement.
Theevolutionoftechnologyhaschangedthelandscapeofm-learningproposals. Forexample,
someearlytoolsfavouredtheuseoftextmessagingviaSMS(Stoneetal., 2002)ore-mailorweb
-browsing via WAP (Motiwalla, 2007). Today, such proposals have been totally surpassed by the
availability of apps for smartphones or tablets, which can incorporate on-demand multimedia
content(Özdemir, 2010), usegeolocationtosenddata(Wang, 2004)orfostercollaborationthrough
instantmessagingfunctions(Kukulska-Hulme, 2008).
Inthisarticle, m-learningisconsideredfromanacademicandinstitutionalperspective, bearing
inmindthattheresourcesavailableforallocationtothecreationoradaptationofm-learningtools
developmentbecomes. Inaddition, asmentionedalready, theremaybetechnologicalproblems, so
itisvitaltoensurethateverystudentcanusethedevelopedtools, notonlyatpresentbutalsointhe
future, togetareturnontheinvestmentmadeinthem.
Currently, therearemultipleplatformsforwhichmobileappsarebeingdeveloped, suchasiOS,
Android, WindowsPhone, Blackberry or othercross-platform solutionsbasedon HTML5(Cavalas
etal., 2011;Charland & Leroux, 2011). A badchoiceoftechnology mayrender theinvestmentin
e-learningtoolsuselessinthelongterm. Forexample, theuseofJava2MicroEdition(J2ME)used
toberecommendedasameansofensuringplatform-independentimplementation(Holzingeret
al., 2005). However, theJ2MEplatformisnolongercompatiblewithmanynewandpopulardevices
(Gartner, 2012).
In short, educational institutions intending to commit to m-learning will need to make a
considerableinvestmentintermsofresources. Moreover, theyruntheundeniableriskoftheinvestment
quicklylosingvalueowingtothetechnologicalchangestakingplace. Thus, itiscrucialtodevelopa
strategytoexperimentwithvarioustechnologiesbeforedecisivelycommittingtothem. Thisarticle
aimstoaddressthatneed, basedontheexperienceofwhathashappenedinaparticularuniversity. .
3. Context: m-learning at the UOC
TheUOC(http://www.uoc.edu)isavirtualuniversitywhosemissionistoofferlifelonglearning, using
technologyasateachingtoolandacommunicationchannel. A UOCstudentissomeonewhousually
combinesstudyingwithworkand/orfamily-relatedresponsibilities, makingitdifficultforthemto
attendatraditionaluniversity(Duart, Salomón, & Lara, 2006). Thus, studentswiththisprofilearevery
motivatedwhenitcomestousingtechnologytoovercomethebarriersofnonface-to-faceand
asynchronouslearning. Theyarepotentialusersofm-learningsolutions.
AlthoughtheUOCisanatypicaluniversitygivenitsvirtualnature, itisneverthelessapotential
pointofreferenceforanyotherhighereducationinstitution. Infact, traditionaluniversitiesarenow
offeringmore andmorenon face-to-faceservicesthrough websites, onlineservices andmobile
apps. Goodexamplesofsuchservicesareopeneducationalresource(OER)repositories, campuses
withvirtualclassrooms, ormassiveonlineopencourses(MOOCs).
The UOC and all ofthese initiatives have one characteristic in common, which is crucial to
thedevelopmentoftheirprojects:theyneedtoinvestininnovationandtechnology. Aspectslike
theincorporationofon-demandvideo, theadaptationofcontenttomobiledevices, etc., require
continuinginvestment. Inthecurrentcontextofeconomiccrisisandlimitedresources, alternative
waysofdrivingtheseinnovativeprojectsforwardneedtobefound.
And this is wherecenters(faculties, studies or departments) specializing in engineeringand
technologycanplayaveryimportantrole. Forexample, inthecaseoftheUOC, technologydegrees
comeunderComputing, Multimediaand TelecommunicationStudies.
Studentstakingthesecourseshavethenecessaryskillsandknowledgetodevelopm-learning
potentialusersandarefamiliarwiththesubjectareaandtherequirements. Finally, theEuropean
HigherEducation Area(EHEA)providesthemwiththeopportunitytodevelopappsofthistype:the
finalyearproject, anindividualassignmentthatstudentsmustcompleteasameansofintegrating
andapplyingknowledgeacquiredinearlieryearsofundergraduateorgraduatestudy.
Inthecaseinhand, thestudentshadthefreedomtochoosethetopicoftheir finalyearprojects
andsomeofthemputforwardtheideaofdevelopingm-learningtools orservices. Itshouldbe
notedthathavingthefreedomtochoosethetopicmadethestudentsmoremotivated. Inaddition,
whilethestudentsweredoingtheirprojects, theyweresupervisedbysomeone withexperience
(projectsupervisor), whowasableprovidethemwiththenecessaryguidancetoensurethequality
ofthe finalproduct. Inthisrespect, itshouldbenotedthatthequalityofsomeofthedevelopedtools
wasoutstanding, approachingthatofa finishedproduct. Asaresult, theywereeligibleforinclusion
inthecatalogueofteachingtoolsoftheVirtualCampus.
Forthestudents, undertakinga finalyearprojectrelatedtom-learningallowedthemtolearn
andapplytheirknowledgetoa field(mobiletechnologies)thatisinhighdemandwithinthelabour
market. Inaddition, beingusersoftheirownproductsandofferingtoolsthatmightbeusefulto
theirfellowstudentsprovidedthemwithevenmoremotivation. Fromtheuniversity’sperspective,
projectsliketheserepresentanexcellentopportunitytoassessprototypesandnewtechnologies
beforemakinganysignificantinvestmentinitsownapps.
4. M-learning tools born of the students’ contributions
Thissectionpresentsfourexamplesofprojectsundertakenbythestudentsinaccordancewiththe
proposedinitiative. Inordertoputthemintocontext, sub-section4.1givesashortdescriptionofthe
profilesofthestudentsthatundertooktheprojects. Sub-section4.2givesdetailsoftheirobjectives
andtechnicalcharacteristics. Finally, sub-section4.3summarizesthestudents’futureexpectationsfor
thedevelopedapps.
4.1 Student profiles: motivation and prior training
The profilesof the studentsthat performed thefunction ofm-learning producerswerediverse.
Regardingtheirpriorknowledge ofappdevelopment form-learningenvironments, itshouldbe
notedthatsomeofthestudentswereself-taught:from thosewhohadbecomeinterestedinthe
topicseveralyearsbeforehandtothosewhohadtakenatutorialoraspecific, one-off course. In
contrast, othershadnopriortraining inthisrespect. Onlyonestudent hadapurelyprofessional
interest.
All of them were very attracted to the topic, either because they had recognized that this
technologywascutting-edgeandofconsiderableinterest, orhavingidentifiedcertainlimitationsin
relationtothelearningenvironmentsandtheuseofmobiledevices, hadbeenunableto findappsor
thestudentswasunabletostudyifhe/shewasnotinfrontofacomputer. Another, whowantedto
learnJapanese, hadlookedforallsortsofmobiledeviceappsbutfoundthattheyallhadsignificant
limitations. Inthe firstcase, thestudentchosetodesignatoolfromscratch, andinthesecond, the
studentdevelopedatoolthatwouldnothavethelimitationsidentifiedintheexistingones.
Inthemajorityofcases, thechallengewaslifelonglearningformobileenvironmentsthroughthe
creationofanappthatwouldbeusefultothepersondevelopingitandtoothersaswell.
4.2 Final year project descriptions
Described in detail below are the four projects undertakenby these students in the sphereof
e-learning. Table1summarizestheirmaincharacteristics:
Table 1. Summary of projects presented
LiveUOC iUOC Language Learning Mprogcourse
Objective
To enable access to the Virtual Campus (e-mail, forums and
activities)
To enable access to the Virtual Campus (e-mail, resources and
activities)
To enable learning of Japanese Kanji
symbols
To enable subject monitoring (activities,
resources and events)
Platform Android iOS Cross-platform
(HTML5)
Cross-platform (HTML5)
Architecture Client Client Client-Server Client
Technologies
Android, Java and JSON
iOS (XCode, ObjectiveC) and JSON
Sencha Touch 2, Apache Tomcat, J2EE,
MongoDB, HTML and CSS
Phonegap, JQuery Mobile, HTML and CSS
API used OpenAPI (LTI) OpenAPI (OAuth2) -- Gmail and Dropbox
4
.
2
.
1
LiveUOC
TheLiveUOCproject(Serrano, 2012)developedaninterfacefor Androiddevicestoenableaccessto
theUOCVirtualCampus(seeFigure1). ThisinterfaceallowedpeopletoidentifythemselvesasVirtual
Campususers, toaccesspersonale-mailandcheckmessageboards, discussionforumsandactivity
calendarsinthevirtualclassrooms.
The technologies used in this project were Android (the platform), Java (the programming
language)andJSON(thedataexchangemechanism). Inordertoperformthesetasks, themobileapp
alsointeractedwiththeVirtualCampusviaan API, whichprovidedidentityandmessagingservices,
etc., inaccordancewiththeLTI1.1standard(IMS, 2012).
It shouldbenotedthattheproject was developedbeforethe firstcorporateapp formobile
accesstotheVirtualCampus. Theappthereforeallowedthechallengesofdeliveringsomeofthe
Virtual Campus servicesvia mobiledevices tobeexploredand theusability of asimplemobile
Figure 1.Image of the LiveUOC app
4
.
2
.
2
iUOC
TheiUOCproject(Fernández, 2013)developedamobileinterfaceforiPadstoenableaccesstothe
UOCVirtualCampus. TheappalloweduserstobeauthenticatedontheVirtualCampusandtoaccess
anddownloadcourse-relateddocuments. Finally, theappprovideduserswiththeoptionofviewing
theassessmentactivitiesofthesubjectsinwhichtheywereenrolled.
This projectusedtechnologiesassociatedwith developmentfortheiOSoperatingsystem
(ObjectiveC, theprogramminglanguage, andXCode, thedevelopmentenvironment)andJSON
(thedataexchangemechanism). Inordertoperformthesetasks, themobileappalsointeracted
with the Virtual Campus via an API called OpenAPI (Rius et al., 2012) based on the OAuth2
protocol.
Besidestheresultantapp, thisstudentofferedthelibrarydevelopedinthecourseoftheproject,
whichconnectstotheOpenAPI, totheUOCinordertofacilitatethedevelopmentofmoreadvanced
apps. Likewise, thestudentofferedanopensourcecodeversionofit, havingdevelopeditfree-of
-chargefortheinstitution;thestudentreservedthefullversioninordertoofferittothegeneralpublic
4
.
2
.
3
Language
Learning
The Language Learning project (Capell & Lorca, 2013) developed a client-server app toenable
learningoftheJapaneselanguageKanjialphabet. Theapphadadictionaryofwordsdisplayedinthe
formof flashcardstofacilitatememorization. Inaddition, usershadtheoptionofsortingtheirlistsof
wordsbytopics(daysoftheweek, food, etc.)toguidestudy.
Figure 2.Screenshots of the iUOC app interface
The project usedthe Sencha Touch 2 framework (for cross-platform development based on
HTML5), Apache Tomcat(theappserver), J2EE(forserverdevelopment)andMongoDB(thedatabase).
Theresultant sourcecodehadanopensourcelicenseandwassaved ontheGitHubwebsiteto
facilitatecollaborativedevelopment.
Itshouldbenotedthatthisprojectwasundertakencollaborativelybytwostudents. Thework
wasdividedupaccordingtotheplannedfunctionality:onestudentundertooktheserverpartand
theotherundertooktheclientpartforthedatadisplay. A jointprojectbetweentwostudentscan
beariskyventurebecause, ifonedropsout, theybothsuffer. However, iftheysucceedinworking
together, thentheteamworkcompetenciesareconsiderablystrengthened, aswasthecaseinthis
instance. Inthisprojectinparticular, oneofthestudentsdidnothaveanyexperienceinmobileapp
development, andhe/shecompensatedforhis/herlackexperiencewithaself-teachingattitudeand
remarkablededication. Theimplementedtoolwasfullyfunctionalandbothstudentsassertedthat,
owingtoitsmodularstructure, ithadbeendesignedtobeeasilyextensible. Theyplannedtomake
theappfreelyavailabletothegeneralpublicinanappmarketplaceatsometimeinthefuture.
4
.
2
.
4
Mprogcourse
TheMprogcourse(Rodríguez, 2013)projectimplementedatooltoenableacademiccoursestobe
monitored;itdisplayedpracticalinformationtoenablecoursemonitoring. Inparticular, theproject
allowedaclassroomtobesimulated, where, usingtheirmobilephonesortablets, studentscouldaccess
course-relateddocumentsorresourcesandtheadjunctlecturers’curricula, receivenotificationsin
accordancewiththecoursecalendarandaccessthegeographicallocationofcourse-relatedevents.
ThetechnologiesusedinthisprojectwerePhonegapandJQueryMobile(fordevelopmentbased
on HTML5), theDropbox API(foruserauthenticationand filedownload)andtheGoogleMaps API(to
displaymapsandeventlocations).
4
.
3
Continuity
expectations
Oncompletionoftheirprojects, thestudentsfeltverymotivatedbytheresultsobtainedandsatisfied
withwhattheyhadlearntduringtheprocess. Theyalsoremainedinterestedintheideaofcontinuing
todeveloptheappsproducedinthecourseoftheirprojects:
R Threeplannedtomaketheappsfreelyavailabletothegeneralpublicinanappmarketplace
(AppStore, GooglePlay, etc.).
R Onehadpublishedhis/herappwithanopensourcelicense.
R Anotherwas workingon anew appbased on afuture lineof workidentifiedduring the
project.
However, atthetimeofwriting, onlyoneoftheprojects(LanguageLearning)wasbeingassessedfor
potentialuseinasubject. Inthisrespect, oneofthechallengesfortheinstitutionistoensurethat
theeffortsthatthestudentsputintotheseappscanhaveapositiveimpactonthefaculty. Thus, for
example, thefollowingfeaturescanbepromoted:
R Theuseofopensourcelicensesonsuchapps.
R Theuseofinstitutionalrepositoriesforappstorage.
R Thecollaborationoftheuniversity’steachingstaffandmanagerialstaffwhile theseprojects
are beingdeveloped toprovideguidance onthe expectedoutcomes andensure thatthe
knowledgeacquiredineachprojectisnotlost, butinsteadremainswithintheinstitution.
Inthisrespect, itisimportanttohighlighttheenormousdiversityoftechnologiesexploredbythe
studentsin theirprojects. Evenif theend product cannot bedirectly exploited, the knowledge
acquiredaboutthesuitability, levelofmaturityandtoolsavailableinthevariousenvironmentsis
veryvaluabletotheinstitutionwhenitcomestodevelopingitsm-learningpolicy.
5. Conclusions
Thisarticlepresentedaninstitutionalapproach, withintheuniversitysphere, ofundertaking finalyear
projectswhoseendproductscouldbeofbenefittotheinstitution. Theobjectivewastwo-fold: first
andforemost, totrainstudentsonthetopicofdesigningandapplyingmobiledeviceprograms, and
second, toprovidethemwiththenecessarybackgroundtoensurethattheproductsobtainedwould
Thepreliminaryresultsofapplyingthisnewprocessto finalyearprojectsweresatisfactorywith
respecttobothstudent outcomes andcommunitycreation. Regardingtheformer, thestudents
acquired mobile development and usability competencies and demonstrated a high level of
engagement(becausetheresultsoftheirworkwouldbeusefultotheirfellowstudents). Concerning
thelatter, ithasalreadyenabledsomeofthenewmobiletoolstobeincorporatedintotheVirtual
Campus. Furthermore, theuseofopensourcecodeinthedescribedapproachallowsnewappsto
bedevelopedbybuildingontheresultsobtainedinearlierprojects, aswellasaddingfunctionalities
tomobileappsthathavealreadybeendeveloped.
Theresultsobtainedmayhelpotherinstitutionstofollowasimilarprotocolintheirface-to-face
andvirtualteaching. However, educationalinstitutionsthatwanttoengagetheirstudentsinthe
developmentofm-learningappswillfacetwochallenges:
R Reducingthebarriertoentry:studentsinterestedindevelopingnewappsmustbegivenfacilities
todoso. Inthisrespect, apotentialstrategywouldbethecreationofanopen APItoenable
accesstoauniversity’sservicesandIT systemsinacontrolled, simpleway(Riusetal., 2012).
R Gatheringanddisseminatingtheresultsoftheseappssothatfutureprojectscanuse, expand
and improvethem. In this respect, itiscrucial tohave acatalogueof apps produced(for
example, http://open-apps.uoc.edu/index.php/en/) to facilitate their re-use and expansion.
In otherwords, itshouldnotonlyinclude thefinal app, butalsotheuser manuals, design
documents, sourcecode, etc.
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