Abstract

GUNTER, Glenda A.  and  BRAGA, Junia de Carvalho Fidelis. Connecting, swiping, and integrating: mobile apps affordances and innovation adoption in teacher education and practice. Educ. Rev. [online]. 2018, vol.34, e189927.  Epub Sep 20, 2018. ISSN 1982-6621.  https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-4698189927.

Despite society’s adoption of mobile devices, we have yet to learn whether teachers perceive these artifacts as an innovation and what their potential is for teacher development and practice. This study aims to answer the following questions: what does mobile application affordances teachers perceive for their professional development and practice? What do these affordances reveal concerning Rogers (2003) innovation attributes, namely: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability? The analysis of eleven teachers’ narratives indicates that teachers do perceive the affordances of their devices for professional development. As for instruction, these teachers report that lack of school equipment and the need for a curriculum that includes the use of emergent technologies may indicate a low degree of compatibility, an attribute concerning a social system’s values. The reported affordances indicate the need for a new value system if the adoption of mobile learning is to take place in formal education.

Keywords : Mobile apps; Teacher development; Teacher instruction; Adoption of innovation; affordances.

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