Development of sustainable schools–university partnerships: lessons learnt from mobile learning collaborations in early years’ education

ABSTRACT

mLearning is not widely used in early years’ education, although it has been shown to be beneficial to children’s learning. This paper discusses the initial findings of a three-year longitudinal study into the costs and benefits of implementing mLearning in early childhood education at two case study sites. A partnership model is used between a university school of education and two state primary schools in Western Australia. A qualitative approach (interviews, focus groups and field observations) is adopted to collect data from pre-service and practising teachers, school leaders and parents and carers. Initial findings indicate that pre-service and practising teachers increased personal confidence, technological knowledge and insights into implementing mlearning in the classroom. Six themes are discussed as links in a chain that might support sustainable schools–university partnerships. Schools and universities considering developing partnerships as a mechanism to institute sustainable educational change can consider the model proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• mlearning
• early childhood education
• assessment
• case study research

Notes on contributor

Frank Bate, Associate Professor, is the Director of the Medical Education Support Unit at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He is passionate about supporting medical staff in their teaching and developing exemplary curricula through rich, innovative pedagogical approaches. His research interests centre on curriculum development, educational change, and the use of information and communications technologies to enhance the student learning experience.

Jean Macnish is an Associate Professor at The University of Notre Dame Australia's School of Education, Fremantle campus, and coordinates and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) units. She has extensive experience in K-12 education, both as a teacher and in senior management roles. She currently supervises Ph.D. students in the areas of mobile learning in early childhood education, and ICT enriched problem-based learning in secondary high school science classrooms. In 2006, she was awarded the Walter D. Neal Award by Curtin University for Excellence in Research for her Ph.D. study on ICT in education: ‘Learning about eLearning’. She has continued her research focus on ICT integration in education where she seeks to generate and apply new knowledge in how to best leverage such technologies in teaching and learning. She is passionate about sound ICT integration.

Serena Davie has an honours degree in biochemistry from Newcastle University, a post-graduate certificate in Education from Cambridge University, in England and a Masters of Education (Leadership & Management) from The University of Notre Dame. She has taught science, mathematics and outdoor education for more than 15 years in England and Western Australia. She has taught in inner-city multicultural schools in Northern England and both metropolitan and rural schools in WA. She currently teaches some undergraduate units in mathematics and science education at Notre Dame. She is currently undertaking a Ph.D. in educational technology.