Digital Education Engagement for Post PC Students

Bring your own device (BYOD) to work or study is now perceived as a common reality, typically this is in the form of smart device, i.e. smartphone or smartpad. On campus BYOD is true for the majority of the student population, as shown by Armstong (2012) whose survey identified that 87% of 474 respondents from Sheffield Hallam University, Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Science (student population 5,300) confessed to owning a smartdevice. However the current commercial perceptions are that post PC users are more passive in how they use these devices. The PC users are perceived to be more active than the smart device user on a bus or couch, typically a PC user will be using PC/notebook/laptop to create, organise, and plan material/events Tuttle (2012), whereas post PC users browser/read/observe on their smart devices. However, the latter maybe more about the lack of ability of the applications preloaded or loaded by users onto their devices. There are approximately 700,000 apps in the apple app store, Costello (2012), 700,000 apps in the android market place, and 120,000 for Windows Phone OS, Tibken (2012). There are an array of apps readily available and affordable in the market place, but it is a minefield to search, navigate, and locate appropriate apps that can assist student users in productivity, learning, application, organisation and planning. However, in our experience (Nortcliffe and Middleton, 2012, Woodcock et al, 2012) students are embracing the technology, seeking out, locating, and using a variety of applications to support their learning experience. The type of applications students are using can be categorised; productivity (e.g. Evernote), communication (e.g. Whatsapp or facebook), multi-tasking (e.g. Google Drive) , and organisation (e.g. Any.do). The question is which apps are revolutionising the post PC users from perceived passive user to active participants and engager in their learning experience? This paper proposes a short workshop by co-presenters of students and staff (myself) to provide a show’n’tell demonstration as to which apps are providing a constructive contribution to student active engagement (both from academic and student perspective) with their educational studies. Armstong, M. (2012). An investigation into how e-learning applications can effectively be seeded to students with smartphones, Undergraduate computing programme project report as part of BSc Computing, Department of Computing: Sheffield Hallam University. Costello, S. (2012), How many Apps are in the iPhone App Store, About.com, last accessed 3rd January 2012 athttp://ipod.about.com/od/iphonesoftwareterms/qt/apps-in-app-store.htm, September 2012 Nortcliffe, A. and Middleton, A. (2012) The innovative use of personal smart devices by students by students to support their learning, In Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using Mobile Applications: Smartphones, Skype and Texting Technologies, Wankel, L. and Blessinger, P. (eds), (Cutting Edge Technologies in Higher Education). 175-210, Emerald, Bingley, UK. Tibken, S. (2012) Google ties Apple with 700,000 Android Apps, last accessed 3rd January 2012 at http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57542502-94/google-ties-apple-with-700000-android-apps/, September 2012, Tuttle, T. (2012) How App makers can earn more money in a post-PC world, Business Insiders: SAI Contributors, last accessed 3rd January 2012 at http://www.businessinsider.com/solution-to-google-and-facebook-mobile-2012-12?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Falleyinsider%2Fsilicon_alley_insider+%28Silicon+Alley+Insider%29, 30th December 2012 Woodock, B., Middleton, A. & Nortcliffe, A. (2012a). Considering the smartphone learner: developing innovation to investigate the opportunities for students and their interest, Student Engagement and Experience Journal, last accessed 12th April 2012 at http://research.shu.ac.uk/SEEJ/index.php/seej/article/view/38/Woodcock, February 2012.