Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Using Mobile Technologies

Since the introduction of the iPad in 2010, tablet computers and other mobile devices have made broad inroads in education. Apple’s iPads, and devices made by Samsung, Microsoft, Lenovo, Xperia and others, including many smartphones, have risen beyond simple consumption of web and video content. Their utility is extended and multiplied by a proliferation of application programs – apps. Using a wide variety of apps, tablets now offer exceptional educational opportunities for both teacher and student.

This book offers examples of the ways that mobile technologies, fuelled with a collection of apps and sparked by the leadership of a creative tutor, can significantly enhance education in general, and especially fieldwork. In a remote valley or a seminar room, done individually or in a team, fieldwork offers unrivalled opportunities for active learning. Tablets, with their high definition displays, long battery life and built-in photo, video and sound recording ability, can serve as notebooks, e-book readers and much more.  Accordingly, students can develop their individual or Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) and link these with their colleagues in Group Learning Environments (GLEs).

This book shows how tablets (and smartphones) using a variety of selected ‘apps’, can enhance fieldwork and other out-of-classroom activities. The authors review imaginative uses of tablets from their own project and as well as examples from other colleagues. To help readers keep abreast of new technology and innovative ways to use it, the book is supported by a web site and a social media community.

The book shows how to make the most creative use of the
capabilities of tablets, including:
- Note taking and recording

- Capturing and utilizing still images, video and sound

- Data collection, sharing and processing

- Mapping, geo-referencing and geotagging

- Networking and communicating
Much more than just a survey of rapidly developing hardware and apps, the book empowers educators to develop novel pedagogic approaches that make the most of digital technologies to enhance fieldwork teaching and learning.