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With near ubiquitous smartphone ownership among 18-29-year-olds, many students carry mobile technology everywhere they go, yet little is known about how students use mobile devices for learning. For historically marginalized students, in particular, their phone may be an important tool for learning--especially if it is the primary device used to access the internet. This study explores student perceptions of using mobile devices for learning in focus groups with students from a California community college, a California state university, and a California university. Findings suggest that students often rely on their mobile devices as both an emergency bridge and to make progress on coursework in the in-between moments of their day. However, students also note frustration with using mobile devices due to limitations of small screens and challenges with accessing course content or completing assignments. Implications of this study highlight the importance of faculty development on designing mobile-friendly courses to empower students in leveraging their mobile devices for learning.

Centers for teaching and learning (CTL) have traditionally relied upon on-campus programming to support faculty professional development, but as increasing numbers of faculty access resources and collaborate online, CTLs could do more to build online community. To meet this challenge, our team developed a website, EdTech Commons, which features faculty-generated content about teaching with technology. Through research from faculty development and education, along with descriptions of our process, an implementation timeline, and example site content, we argue that virtual faculty communities are the future of faculty development.

In this article, we explore how a community of practice approach to online course design and instruction can provide an alternative to curriculum models that rely on the use of standardized course shells. We share our experiences developing hybrid and online versions of a first-year composition course at a large public university in the United States. We then analyze excerpts of departmentally-sanctioned teaching journals to trace the community of practice that emerged when instructors in our program began teaching the courses, and discuss the complicated relationship between instructor agency and shared curriculum. Our experiences motivate us to advocate for (1) courses designed through the collaborative efforts of instructors, instructional designers, and writing program administrators, and (2) courses implemented in concert with a community of practice, where first-time instructors discuss strategies for revising and adapting course shells with more experienced instructors and designers. Ultimately, we argue that a community of practice approach to online writing instruction (OWI) validates teachers’ knowledge of their materials and their students’ learning, and creates an opportunity to privilege instructor agency alongside the use of shared course shells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centers for teaching and learning (CTL) have traditionally relied upon on-campus programming to support faculty professional development, hut as increasing numbers of faculty access resources and collaborate online, CTLs could do more to build online community. To meet this challenge, our team developed a website, EdTech Commons, which features faculty-generated content about teaching with technology. Through research from faculty development and education, along with descriptions of our process, an implementation timeline, and example site content, we argue that virtual faculty communities are the future offaculty development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]