Explanation
Mobile learning can be defined as learning using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets or learning whilst mobile (whilst out and about away from more formal teaching settings). Many students and members of staff now own mobile devices and there are a variety of apps (some free, others not) that can be useful in a teaching and learning context. Students can collaborate with others on projects easier and even use interactive content and take notes electronically within lectures. Mobile devices allow students to engage with their studies whilst out and about in numerous ways, such as using time spent travelling to read notes or engage with discussions, upload photos or images to a sharing site or share online resources with a learning network. Listed below are some apps which may be useful to you and your students.
Useful Apps
The apps are split into different areas (e.g. ‘Creative’ and ‘Collaboration’). Click below to quickly navigate to any of the area:
Most apps are free, however some may not be. In these cases there will also be free alternatives listed with them.
Other apps may not be available on all devices. Some may only be available to IOS (Apple product users) and others may only be available on Android devices. This is specified in the download column. Here you will also find that clicking on your download option (IOS / Android) will take you to the correct area to download the app. (It is recommended to open these links while on your device).
Disclaimer: Please note prices may change and applications update frequently.
Some apps may only be available on a specific device (e.g. iPad). If so, it will be specified.
University Related
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pulse | Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app for students that can help you stay connected and on track with your Brightspace courses. It gives you one easy view of course calendars, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, and news. Pulse app by D2L | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 MyHud | A great app for both tutors and students. Find contacts, rooms and books from anywhere. The app can be used both on and off campus, find any information you need quick and easily – including your timetable. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 TurnItIn | Instructors using Turnitin’s grading tools save time marking student papers while offering more meaningful feedback and ensuring their originality – online and offline. Students can submit their papers and get access to their Similarity Reports, feedback, and grades anytime, anywhere | iOS (Not available as an app for Android devices) | FREE | N/A |
Quick Tools
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Parallels (UniDesktop) | Access your work desktop from anywhere using the Parallels app. Click here to see how to set up UniDesktop on your mobile device. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Notability | Use notability anywhere in meetings or lectures, it will record onto your device anything that it hears while you take notes. Once you want to review the meeting or lecture, you can go back through your notes, select the part you want and then listen to that part of the meeting. | iOS (only) | £7.99 |  OneNote (Univeristy Subscription) iOS / Android |
 PowerPoint Keynote Remote | Control your presentation through your phone. Simple integration with your iOS allowing you to open a file directly into SlideShark and start presenting. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Dolphin Browser | This web browser provides you with a wide range of functionality, allowing you to intergrate add-ons and plug-ins, becoming customisable with apps like ‘evernote’ and ‘skitch’. iPad and Mobile versions are seperate. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
Collaboration
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Google Drive | Collaborate, edit and share files easily, all on the move. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
Groupboard | Draw and chat in real time with others sharing ideas and working together on projects. Not all users need the app as this can be used in a web browser on a computer as well. Great for tutors and students. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 | Flipboard is a content aggregator allowing incorporation of various different pieces of content including ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Evernote Scannable | Enables you to scan paper documents with your device so that it displays electronically. You can then save or share the electronic documents easily. | iOS | FREE |  Cam Scanner iOS / Android |
 Browzine | Browzine provides a way of building an online portable library of all the scholarly journals that you find useful. You can browse titles by subjects and build your own personal bookcase to browse through. The University now has a licence so there are no costs to download. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 WordPress | Manage your WordPress blog or website on the go, view your stats, moderate comments, create and edit posts and pages and upload media (you must already have blog or site running) | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
Communication
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Skype | Skype not only allows you to talk to others using video and audio but is also great in groups, the features also allow you to share content like documents and images. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 | Facebook is one of the largest social media sites meaning that working together and communicating couldn’t be easier. Create private groups for projects, share files, organise meetings and loads more features. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 | Connect with others quickly and share thoughts on projects by using specific hash tags to collaborate ideas. A quick and simple tool. | iOS/ Android | FREE | N/A |
 | Send free messages and images to anyone else with whatsapp, with no charges from your service provider. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 | Build your professional network through your Linkedin profile. Stay up to date with the latest business news and even find new job opportunities. Built in search function, career lessons from business leaders, share your work and apply for new jobs. | iOS / Android | FREE – there are levels of subscription if you want to upgrade your profile. | N/A |
 Flickr | Upload, access, organise, edit and share you photos from your device. You get 1TB of space and it privately and automatically uploads your photos from your device where you can then choose to share them. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Google Translate | Google translate is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to translate text by typing, sketching or by using your phones camera. You can use your camera to translate text instantly in 26 languages. You can type to translate in 90 languages and it also has two way automatic speech translation in 40 languages. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Slack | Slack is a team communication app all in one place with the ability to instantly search, message in real time, file share, and one-to-one conversations. It has great integrations with Dropbox, Twitter and Google+. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
Creative
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wacom Bamboo Paper | Note down quick ideas and easily share with others. Choose between notebook styles to make your notes unique to you, add images into your notes from around the web or from your device, use the zoom function to add more notes to a page. It also allows you to share and collaborate. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 | Choose items from around the web and keep them in Pinterest. Build mood boards or project files, to keep your ideas live. Explore other users’ pin boards that follow the same theme use the share functions to collaborate and more! | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Skitch | Annotate from presentations to websites, helping you get down any thoughts for future use. This can be used with ‘evernote’ to auto-save images to view later. Also available to be used as a plug-in in ‘Dolphin’. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Paper by WeTransfer | Paper is a simple way to express ideas. You can carry out a range of tasks using this app, including designing a new product design, annotating a presentation or planning a lesson. It comes with paper and tools so no in app purchases are required, you can share and save your design to your device or email. | iOS | FREE |  Quick Draw Android |
 Google Keep | Google Keep is a quick way to create, access and organise notes, lists and photos. Everything that you upload to Google Keep will be stored in the drive. You can add reminders, notifications and passwords for security, the items can be saved and you can have more then one account. | iOS/ Android | FREE | N/A |
Voice Recorder | You can capture and play audio recordings in a number of formats. The app has a built in audio converter as well as a mailing function so that you can share your recordings via email, Google Drive or Dropbox. Good for adding audio feedback to students’ assignments. | iOS | FREE |  Smart Voice Recorder Android |
Interactive
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 NearPod | Nearpod allows students to receive multimedia content on their devices from you, both in and out of lectures. This also allows them to take part in engagement assessment plus enabling communication for collaborative work. (IPad only for tutors, students can use any device with the app installed) | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Bitly URL shortener | Generate short form URLs and QR codes (images readable by a device that will take you to the website). Share the link anywhere with your device. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Scribd – Reading Subscription | Scribd offers more than one million books, audiobooks and comics. You can browse, sample and read in over 80 languages. You get a one month free trial and then pay monthly after that. You get personalised recommendations and can store titles to read anytime. | iOS / Android | First month free and then a monthly payment after that. | N/A |
 Adobe Spark Video | Adobe Voice helps you create stunning animated videos in minutes, with no filming required. Pick from over 25,000 iconic images to show your ideas and then talk over them to persuade, inform or inspire your students. You are also able to add music to the background of your video. Record your voice a line at a time and use the playback to hear yourself where you can then share on facebook, twitter, email or onto your own website. | iOS | FREE |  Adobe Lightroom Android |
 Adobe Spark Page | Slate lets you turn your newsletter, report, invitation or travel adventure into a visual story. You are able to select from a range of fonts, colours, designs and backgrounds. Fluid movements are applied instantly and you can then share your slate story anywhere or you can add buttons and links to embed into a website. | iOS | FREE | N/A |
 LinkedIn Learning (Lynda) | LinkedIn Learning gives you the opportunity to learn on the go with video training resources. There are a range of skill levels, and courses in a variety of key areas. You have the ability to download courses and then watch these office, and get personalised recommendations also. Another great feature is that you can continue watching from where you left off easily. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 ThingLink | ThingLink is an app that lets you turn digital photos into interactive elements by adding extra information about the image such as links, images, audio and video. Once you have added the extra information, you can then link this to websites, blogs, and social media. This will include interactive elements that, when hovered over, will display extra information or multimedia elements. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
Organisation
| App | Description | Download | Price (As of 22/09/21) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dropbox | Keep all of your files in Dropbox so you can’t lose them if your computer crashes or your memory stick fails. You can share files with other users, great for collaborative projects. You can sync dropbox to your device to back files up. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Documents by Readdle | A file management app, allowing you to read, listen, annotate and whatever else you want to do with a file. Any file you like, from films to books. | iOS (only) | FREE |  Docs To Go Android |
 | Save items from the web and read or view them later on. From articles to videos, these will save directly to your device so even if you don’t have internet access available you can still view offline. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Evernote | Keep everything together for use anywhere! Collect, annotate and organise any files you find and create. From a webpage to an audio file, save it to evernote and it will store it on all of your devices (even your computer) that have the evernote app. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Feedly | A single place to easily read all the news you rely on to think, learn and keep ahead. Feedly lets you organise all your favourite publications, podcasts and YouTube channels into collections and recieve notifications when new videos or stories are published. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
 Trello | Trello is a great app for staying organised and keeping track of items on your to do list. Trello allows you to create boards to organise anything you are working on, create checklists and work alongside friends when doing collaborative work. | iOS / Android | FREE | N/A |
Liquid Text | Liquid Text gives you the tools you need to develop a deeper understanding of the things you read. It allows to you create a personal reading experience and interact with content as your read and review. | iOS (iPad only) | FREE | N/A |
Voting
From summer 2024, the University will have access to a platform called Vevox for classroom polling and similar activities. It has a range of benefits:
- No limit on number of students in a session
- Integrated with PowerPoint and Teams for seamless presentation
- Brightspace integration for low stakes/scaffolded assessment
- Range of question types, including word clouds
Links to useful resources on mobile learning:
To find out about mobile learning you can access the JISC Mobile Learning infokit, a developing resource put together by Doug Belshaw. It is a great introduction to what mobile learning is and covers both the pedagogy of mobile learning as well as implementation and case studies.
Mobile Learning infoKit from JISC infoNet
References to Scholarly Articles:
Hockly, N. (2013). Mobile learning. ELT Journal, 67(1), 80-84.
Lim, C. P., & Churchill, D. (2016). Mobile learning. Interactive Learning Environments, 24(2), 273-276.