Creative Teaching and Learning Strategies for Novice Users of Mobile Technologies

This paper addresses perspectives of creative teaching and learning strategies in the new learning context of mobile technology, particularly for novice learners. The discussion presented here is framed by two case studies and uses an ethnographical approach, informed by participant observation to consider the experiences of users of mobile devices who do not have prior experience with information and communication technologies. Although the lack of prior understanding of the novice user initially presented a hurdle for working with mobile technology tools, it was noted that an ‘innocence of perceiving and behaving’ (Maslow, 1971) could advantage these learners to work in new and creative ways that may not be considered by more experienced users. It was also identified that the creative learning could be facilitated by intentional support and both innovative teaching strategies and imaginative teaching scenarios are important components of this framework.