Designing fieldwork with mobile devices for students of the urban environment

Abstract

Fieldwork learning frees students from the usual confines of classroom teaching and allows them to undertake relatively independent exploration and reflection. This paper reports on three case studies of attempts to enhance and support student fieldwork through the use of mobile technologies. The studies were conducted with students of the built environment who accessed either specially customised multi-media self-guided directions or pre-existing downloadable apps. The focus in the paper is the design of mobile-supported field activities. Five dimensions that need to be considered are identified: volume of content delivery; extent of data capture; directedness of the learning activity; extent of student collaboration; and strength of link to assessment.