Student-Generated Mobile Learning: A Shift in the Educational Paradigm for the 21st Century

User-generated content represents a major shift in the way that people are engaging with technology in the twenty-first century and this change has its educational parallel in student -generated content. Though student-generated content can be produced on a desktop computer, there are a number of characteristics of mobile devices, in particular, that lend themselves to this approach, namely convergence, portability, the digital and networked nature of devices, and their affordability. By exploiting these characteristics mobile learning can support a paradigm shift in learning to suit the needs of our students, moving away from more passive learning approaches, as exemplified by the traditional lecture, to active, learner-centred modes in which students produce their own knowledge. Three examples of student-generated mobile learning are presented and their advantages discussed. Affordances of this approach which contribute to a good learning experience and outcome include the high levels of engagement and motivation, the contextualization of learning, and the support that multimedia presentations provide for learning conversations, peer learning and multiple meaningmaking