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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
Convert Your Thinking!
Creativity and Imagination using Mobile
Applications
Dr. Ferial Khaddage and Prof. Gerald Knezek
The current rapid digital evolution is changing the way students learn and
perform tasks. Mobile technologies are shifting our paradigms. Teachers need
to learn how to meet the challenges of the knowledge society to cater for the
digital learner. The purpose of this paper is to do the following: 1) explore
mobile applications (apps) that can enhance student creativity and imagination,
and 2) to introduce some classroom-based research that can be carried out via
this technology. Two apps, Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile and Bump, are
introduced as examples for a creative learning environment.
Key Words: Mobile Learning, Applications, Web apps, Creativity

eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
Introduction
Mobile tools and applications (apps) are shifting the learning environment to a new dynamic,
creative, connected, sharable, flexible, collaborative and portable context. For almost a
decade, there has been a global movement toward the integration of mobile technologies for
teaching and learning (Belt, 2001; Tatar et al., 2003; Attewell, 2005; Khaddage, Lanham &
Khou, 2009; Sharples et. al, 2010; Khaddage & Knezek, 2011). The paradigms of
constructivist knowledge representation (Papert, 1980; Foreman & Pufall, 1988) and
Discovery Learning (Bruner, 1960, 1961, 1996) provide well-established theoretical
rationales for anticipating that mobile applications promoting self-directed learning could
contribute to the depth and breadth of mastery of knowledge. Nevertheless, mobile apps are
yet to be fully explored by educational institutions and teachers are still reluctant to integrate
this technology (Khaddage, Lattemann & Bray, 2011).
Knowledge mastery has traditionally been a pillar of formal learning in modern society.
However, the definition of 21st Century Skills has expanded well beyond mastery of
knowledge. Creativity is another important component of 21st century learning. As stated by
Boden (2001), creativity plays an important role in the way individuals learn. Craft (1997)
suggested that a creative learning environment can encourage a student to experiment and to
seek out different possible outcomes. Thus, what students discover by themselves will be
remembered and valued for years to come (Craft, 1997).
A basic tenet of this paper is that creativity can be considered an essential life skill through
which individuals can develop their potential to use their imagination and become capable of
creating, exploring and expressing themselves (Edmonds & Candy, 2002). Therefore, a
digital environment such as using mobile apps can grant students flexibility, connectivity and
a wide variety of options. Mobile apps can give students the opportunity to discover new
ideas, to implement these ideas and to gather validation data in order to confirm for
themselves new knowledge and develop deeper understanding. These students with deep
understanding can then grow up to become the makers and inventors of the future.
Many authors have described and defined creativity and discussed methods of creativity
adoption (Boden, 2001; Edmonds & Candy, 2002; Cropley, 2001; Santanen et. al, 2002;
Loveless, 2002), but we define creativity in a digital mobile environment as the ability to
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
develop novel, unique, useful ideas/approaches during informal experiments and apply them
to constructing knowledge and understanding and making sense of one’s surroundings. This
approach to discovery and learning in a mobile learning environment is capable of
encouraging motivation and risk-taking by individuals, as pointed out by Leach (2001) and
Edmonds and Candy (2002) when they discussed creativity in teaching and learning.
Currently, educational institutions, teachers and students are being challenged to demonstrate
an active engagement in the open world as described by Bonk (2009) in his book “The World
is Open.” As society is rapidly changing and the world is open, there is an interaction
between communities, creative processes, knowledge sharing and wider social contexts, thus
mobile technologies and applications can have a role in these processes and can be integrated
as a set of tools to be used to enhance the creative process. Therefore, teachers as well as
students can use mobile apps to support creative autonomy and collaboration, to judge values
and to inform discovery and understanding to construct knowledge.
Students, as well as some teachers, are already using mobile apps in informal situations, but
educational institutions are yet to formally recognize this type of delivery mechanism
(Knezek, Lai, Khaddage & Baker, 2011). Currently connectivity and communication has
moved to mobile phones and tablets such as iPads. Mobile apps are seen as an added
opportunity for education as they can be used for sketching/designing, management,
inspiration, reading, writing and organizing, and all of this can help students work,
communicate, discover, study, collaborate, engage, share, read, experiment and create, having
fun and being creative at the same time. These emerging mobile apps and technologies are
already appearing in some educational institutions to deliver learning in interest-based e-
communities, forums, synchronous environments and through social networking platforms
(Khaddage et al., 2011). There have been many school reforms such as student response
systems, games for math and multimedia, videos on demand and mobile phones and SMSs
for teaching and learning, but none are yet to have an impact on the way students perform
tasks like the current trends in mobile app technologies. There have been some successful
accounts of integrating technologies and mobile applications to form a creative learning
process. One good example of successful integration is at Central Elementary School in
Escondido, California. There a fourth-grade classroom used iPod Touches to help students
learn reading via applications. The outcome was positive, in that every student’s reading
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
score went up, and the overall progress rates were two to three times those of other
classrooms in the district who did not use apps for this purpose (Apple, 2010).
In the following section, we introduce mobile applications for teaching and learning and
describe how mobile applications can be used to empower creativity amongst students. This
introduction may encourage teachers and instructors who are skeptical about using mobile
apps to be receptive towards bringing these technologies into the classroom and using them
effectively to meet students’ needs so that their students can in turn become creative in their
own self-directed learning.
The probable mechanism through which mobile technologies and applications empower
creativity is by offering students a learner-centred approach to learning environments that can
be flexible, open and informal; hence catering to today’s digital learners. The integration of
mobile app technologies and tools to empower creativity could also assist pedagogical
design. By bringing to the forefront the social, spatial, temporal and contextual issues related
to a student’s active engagement with the “HERE” and “NOW” of learning experiences,
teaching today can focus on how to empower students to be inventors, creators and leaders in
their field (Khaddage & Knezek, 2011). Therefore, we believe that mobile apps can assist in
applying creativity in teaching and learning.
The Study
In the current study, two apps were used to demonstrate how mobile applications and
technologies can be used to enhance creativity among students. The two apps are:
Autodesk SketchBook Mobile, which is a very powerful drawing app enabling
multimedia students to draw smooth curves with their fingers. It has a very simple
interface and many unique features to help student use their imagination. Features
include image layers, multiple levels of undo and redo, image transformations for
rotate and scale, zoom ups, pressure-sensitive brush tips, and paintbrush, pencil,
marker, felt pen, and texture brush tools. Figure 1 below contains an illustration of the
Sketchbook app.
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
Figure1. Autodesk SketchBook Mobile.
Bump, which allows users to share information, photos and other objects between
phones. It lets users bump their phones together to exchange information, photos or
even other apps. Figure 2 contains an illustration of the Bump app activity.
Figure 2. the Bump app on an iPhone.
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
During the study, students were asked to create an image using the Autodesk SketchBook
Mobile and then share the image with others using the Bump app. The assigned task was
completed informally during class time. Twenty-four first year Computing and Multimedia
undergraduate students served as the subjects for this experiment. During class time the
students (n = 24) were asked to download and install the two apps, Autodesk SketchBook
Mobile and Bump, on their smart phones.
Firstly, students were asked to experiment with the Bump app to share existing data and
images on their phones. Then, students were asked to create an image using Autodesk
SketchBook Mobile. After the image was completed, students were asked to share their
images with each other. Using Bump, they only had to open the image and bump their phones
together. The selected image then jumped from one phone to another. The receiving student
needed only to confirm the transfer (this is a good feature within the app as it prevents
accidental exchange) and the transfer of the image was then completed and the synchronized
exchange took place. The students were able to give each other feedback on the specific
image exchanged and shared comments and recommendations.
Students were excited to use both apps and they stated that using their mobile phones and
using app technology allowed them to learn in a challenging, collaborative and creative
atmosphere. They also reported that these apps are fun and creative to use. They were able to
experiment in creating their own image using their mobile phones and they also shared some
relevant information related to their course with their peers. The majority of students (n = 20)
found the app fun and exciting to use. One student stated that, “I would never get bored
learning in this way, it’s fun, like playing games”. They stated that the apps are effective
since they are also compatible with a range of mobile devices, from Android to iPhone (iOS),
and vice versa, so this enabled a device independent exchange environment. Therefore, apps
can be effective for teaching and learning, and they may be also used in alternative methods;
for example, students may be asked to research a topic or discuss a specific area and find
information from a variety of sources using a mobile app, then bring the information back to
share with other students. This method could encourage students to use their creative skills to
generate ideas from their surroundings; it would offer flexibility and portability to learn,
share, collaborate and communicate.
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
Discussion
A wide range of creativity-supporting apps could be used, for example, musical apps could be
used to turn tablets or iPads into musical instruments and mobile phone apps can be used as
chemistry or programming tools. This type of approach was also advocated by Lai, Khaddage
and Knezek (2011) during their discussion of formal and informal learning environments and
how mobile apps and technologies can bridge the gap and bring these two learning
environments together. This can enhance creativity amongst students and teachers and can
bring a unique approach to teaching and learning that can encourage beneficial educational
activities, such as the following:
Get students up to speed quickly: students watch video demos and follow along on
their own mobile device via the app;
Create, test and share learner-generated content;
Bring students’ creative designs to life with animation within the app;
Dynamically import relevant content to their devices;
Join a community to learn and explore;
Get access to a wealth of materials;
Become an expert, engage and create;
Engage in highly innovative learning approaches;
Create real-time effects for enhanced learning experiences;
Gain control over text layout;
Create multitasking functions for different apps;
Enrich student experiences, enhance and improve performance;
Create variety of content modules for a wide range of mobile devices;
Make learning fun and interesting.
The optimal mixture of formal and informal learning has not yet been definitively
established. Further research is needed in this area. Figure 3 below contains an illustration of
the features of the mobile apps examined in this article. It also represents how the apps can
connect together to form an effective, creative learning environment.
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
Figure 3. Mobile Apps Features.
As illustrated in figure 3, students can use mobile app technologies to demonstrate a variety
of tasks. Students can use some of the already-existing, exciting educational apps to complete
learning activities. By using mobile apps, these tasks could be performed anywhere and
anytime and the outcome should be acknowledged and recognized by educational institutions
and teachers. It is also important that schools ensure that mobile apps’ initiatives for teaching
and learning are aligned with their educational objectives and course outcome and guidelines.
Educational institutions should design and integrate tools and devices that can be used across
subjects in classrooms.
Conclusion
Mobile apps are growing at an enormous speed; the prospects of harnessing these apps for the
purposes of enhancing teaching and learning seem endless. Mobile apps have the power to
enhance creativity amongst students of all ages. As illustrated in the study with the two apps
(Bump and Autodesk SketchBook Mobile), mobile apps are capable of creating a proactive
learning atmosphere that will enable a synergy of flexible collaborative and creative learning
environments. Mobile apps can benefit teachers as well as learners. Their capacity to bridge
formal and informal learning offers the promise of fulfilling the dreams of constructivist and
discovery learning visionaries more than 30 years after the development of these theoretical
perspectives.
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eLearning in Action, 1, 2012
About the Authors
Dr. Ferial Khaddage is a recent I.T. Faculty at the Sharjah Higher
Colleges of Technology in the UAE. She is a former lecturer/researcher at
Deakin University, Melbourne Australia. Ferial’s research interest is
mobile learning technologies and applications in education and has
published widely in the area. Ferial is an active member of AACE and an
executive committee and founder of the Global Learn Asia Pacific,
Global Conference on Learning and Technology.
dr.ferial.khaddage@hct.ac.ae
Prof. Gerald Knezek is Regents Professor of Learning Technologies at
the University of North Texas and Director of the Institute for the
Integration of Technology into Teaching & Learning at UNT. He is
currently Lead Principal Investigator for the US National Science
Foundation ITEST Project MSOSW (#0833706), and was Co-Principal
Investigator for a US Fund for Improvement for Post-Secondary
Education project titled simMentoring(#P116B060398, 2006-2010).
Further information is provided in his Vita.
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