Development of sustainable schools–university partnerships: lessons learnt from mobile learning collaborations in early years’ education

Abstract

ABSTRACTmLearning is not widely used in early years’ education, although it has been shown to be beneficial to children’s learning. This paper discusses the initial findings of a three-year longitudinal study into the costs and benefits of implementing mLearning in early childhood education at two case study sites. A partnership model is used between a university school of education and two state primary schools in Western Australia. A qualitative approach (interviews, focus groups and field observations) is adopted to collect data from pre-service and practising teachers, school leaders and parents and carers. Initial findings indicate that pre-service and practising teachers increased personal confidence, technological knowledge and insights into implementing mlearning in the classroom. Six themes are discussed as links in a chain that might support sustainable schools–university partnerships. Schools and universities considering developing partnerships as a mechanism to institute sustainable educational change can consider the model proposed.