Mobile Smartphones as Tools for ICT Integration in Geography Teaching

Abstract

This article seeks to reflect on the opportunities that mobile smartphones (MSPs) present as ICT integration tools in teaching geography. The more extensive study, underpinned by the Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning (PDFDL) in ICT integration, employed a qualitative research approach. Lensed by the Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning (PDFDL), the article used the qualitative approach to garner insights from the participants regarding using MSPs as tools to integrate ICT in geography teaching. Data collection tools included interviews, observations, and document reviews. Researchers sampled (n = 4) schools, interviewed and observed (n = 13) teachers, and interviewed (n = 10) learners and (n = 8) parents in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Furthermore, they used a purposive sampling technique to access the participants, basing the research on the premise that MSPs promote virtual reality for an array of learners. As the findings revealed, although some participants viewed the use of MSPs as a distractor in the learning space, teachers felt compelled to heed the call to modify their teaching pedagogies, such that they integrated mobile phones fruitfully in their teaching. The findings further revealed that such a paradigm shift would benefit homeschooling and facilitate a dual teaching mode at learning institutions. Curriculum planners are responsible for helping teachers accept that uncertainty is the only certainty about the future, considering the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and augmentation (VUCA) challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Extended lockdown periods accelerated the use of MSPs in teaching, requiring every stakeholder in the educational space to become a life-long learner by using a range of technologies and platforms.