Mobile Learning Applications for Refugees: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The proliferation of mobile devices in everyday life since the end of the 20th century has led to mobile applications for educational purposes and the creation of the research field of mobile learning. Despite the extended research interest on the effectiveness of this field, there is limited research on mobile learning for various social groups, such as refugees, students with learning difficulties and disabilities. Due to the unprecedented number (over one hundred million) of refugees during the second decade of the 21st century worldwide, many NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and UN (United Nations) initiatives have proposed leveraging mobile learning for refugee educational needs. This research article focuses on mobile learning for refugee education. Namely, the present systematic literature review results from 2015 to 2020 will give a concrete picture of the recently existing mobile learning apps for refugees and their characteristics. According to the research findings, 15 characteristics were collected out of 14 applications. According to prior literature, areas of agreement or discrepancies in the field were found. Two new -to previous literature- characteristics were revealed: interwoven psychological and educational features and refugees’ cultural features in the apps. The summarization and categorization of the app’s characteristics aim to contribute to mobile learning research and impact game developers, educators, and NGOs according to refugee needs. The limitations of this study and issues for further exploration will also be discussed in the last sections.

Using an augmented reality application for teaching plant parts: A case study in 1ˢᵗ-grade primary school students

“…Alternative perceptions result from complex processes by which children organize their information and perceptual experience (Drolia et al, 2022). Reorganization through teaching and not sterile replacement is therefore recommended (Vosniadou, 2002).…”

Learning Arabic Pegon for Non-Javanese Santri at Pesantren

“…Various literatures shows that learning Arabic with the Pegon method can be developed based on Android. The development of teaching materials is in the form of a Pegon-glyph Game that runs on the Android system with four main features: material features, exercise features, game features, and motivational features (Alakrash & Razak, 2021;Drolia et al, 2022;Umam, 2013;Mazlan et al, 2022). Pesantren, of course, needs to use these teaching materials, and using the method can also use flip charts of educational teaching aids to support the learning process.…”

The use of mobile learning applications in higher education institutes

“…In higher education, mobile technologies are used in an auditory environment. There are opportunities to soften the rigidity of the standard classroom arrangement because each student wants to use mobile technologies in the education prosses (Drolia et al, 2022).…”