Exploring the Potentials and Essentials of Mobile-Aided Pedagogy in Teacher Education

Abstract

Mobile learning has found a niche in higher education setting where smartphones are increasingly penetrating campuses. This paper reports on the investigation of the influential factors for promoting the use of smartphone in teacher preparation programs in the higher education context. The essential factors for promoting the use of smartphone in teacher preparation programs in a small Philippine university are commonly overlooked or at times understudied. A qualitative interview of purposefully selected nine preservice teachers in a small teacher education institution was conducted. Interview responses treated qualitatively confirmed that the students' academic uses of smartphone and support of their university subject teachers are the practical benefits and enabling condition in smartphoneaided learning, respectively, alongside its share of disruptive tendencies and challenges. Perspectives about mobile-aided pedagogy and future study directions are then succinctly forwarded.