Presented at UCISA: Changing Landscapes 13/02/14 Use of mobile technology at the University of Brighton has increased significantly in recent years, many Schools are providing staff with mobile devices and at the same time, conducting a number of initiatives exploring the use of mobile devices in learning and teaching. With a palpable desire to capture this undercurrent of enthusiasm, we were keen to provide a stimulating forum whereby people could meet in a relaxed, café environment, to share ideas and experiences, regardless of expertise and without the restraints of a rigid format.

1. App Swap Breakfasts: Pedagogy, Mobile
Devices and Learning Discourse over
Breakfast
Fiona MacNeill, Beth Hewitt, Joyce Webber

2. Southend v Millwall - Photo credit: Stephen D. Lawrence
Devices are ubiquitous. This is a crowd
scene from a recent match between
Millwall and Southend when the floodlights
went out. The crowd helped out with their
smartphones!

3. Luke Wroblewski 2013 [CC BY-SA 2.0]
The challenge – the sheer variety of
devices available and how to support
them.

4. Excerpt from the University of Brighton Strategic Plan
“Digital transformation: All our courses will be supported
by innovative and creative use of technology for learning,
teaching and research with a focus on the use of mobile
technologies, embedded in high quality university-wide IT
systems.” (p.9)

5. We conducted a survey of App Swap Attendees (32 respondents)...
80%
“importance of mobile resources to the student
experience at the University...”
“Quite” or
“Very Important/Essential”

6. Christmas
Present
by
mac9416.
[CC
BY-­‐SA
2.0].
Generic
tablet
illustra?on
by
Fiona
MacNeill
Device Ownership:
School Provided
Personally Owned
but used in the
workplace
BringYourOwnDevice

7. The solution: App Swap Breakfasts

8. Bill Abbott [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
Who
is this event for?
Anyone with a mobile device –
anyone with an interest in
teaching and learning, eg
academic staff, support and
admin staff.

9. http://county10.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/DSCN0134.jpg
Population
Select your target population. It needs to have steady access to touch-screen devices, either
institutionally allocated or personally owned. To begin with, it is best to pilot these events with a
smaller subset of a broader population. For example: academic staff in one school or geographic
campus area, rather than the entire campus community.
In Practice: The University of Brighton’s Eastbourne campus was identified as the pilot location
as it had two schools actively engaged in the promotion and use of mobile technologies in support
of learning and teaching. The Eastbourne campus had already seen successful use of iPads in the
School of Sport and Service Management for student video presentations as well as similar uses
within the School of Health Sciences (formerly School of Nursing and Midwifery). This campus
also had a smaller staff population and conveniently located campus restaurants where the events
could be held.
1. Population

10. er
do
Ga
ter
f ie
Carlisle Rd
Denton Rd
Beachy Head Rd
es
ld
Darley Road site
Ch
The Eastbourne campus is a cluster of buildings, short
distances from each other. The short distances became an
important factor, influencing who attended the ASBs. A
further ASB is planned for a different location at Eastbourne.
Rd
l
Hillbrow and Welkin site
s
Hil
ick
en
Drive
ud
rr
Wa
B2103
Paradise
A259 East Dean Road
ad
Rd
a rad
P
Me
wn
< To Brighton
e
Driv
ise
D a r l ey R o
U
er D
pp
ad
es D
uk

11. II. Common Interests
Randall Monroe [CC BY-NC 2.5] http://xkcd.com/728/

12. would people want it?
• As a forum to share best-practices with other
academic staff
• As a peer support opportunity
• To create a space for interdisciplinary, inter-school
sharing based on common interests
• To provide an informal training/guidance structure for
those with varying prior experience of using
technology in support of learning, teaching and
administrative tasks
•

13. is the event useful?
• To help staff learn about their devices
• To make staff aware potential uses for their devices, as
applied to learning, teaching and administrative tasks
• To deliver news about technology developments, app
releases, upgrades and best-practice to staff
• To increase accessibility and understanding of devices
and related technologies

14. The aim was to provide an environment in
which people would feel relaxed and
comfortable contributing, different from
traditional workshops, in fact, particularly not
a workshop and therefore not aimed at levels
of ability.

15. shared apps (colleagues in school/dept.)
other sharing or not sharing
10%
27%
90%
73%
shared apps (institutions/conferences/networking)
other sharing or not sharing

16. Cyberslayer 2007 [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0]
III. Timeframe/frequency/balance

17. The choice of a space to hold your event can be very important and can
affect who attends, based upon campus/location geography. Also the day-today environment within a space or the collective perception of a space are
important factors.
Depending upon the size, geographical layout and scheduling at your
campus/location, you may consider holding the event in more than one
regular location in order to maximise attendance and accessibility.
IV. Space

18. In our initial pilot we made use of one of the
campus restaurants at the Eastbourne Campus. It
was selected due to it’s perceived comfort and
offered easy access to catering options. The
restaurant’s geographic location meant that some
staff from one school were more likely to attend
than another and the space’s use as a dining hall
could cause it to become prohibitively busy. This
also affected the potential scheduling of the event.
Hastings
Eastbourne

19. Before
Now
Falmer
At Falmer campus more flexibility has
been possible due to a centrally located
former cafe area (pictured at the top of
this page) with comfortable furniture
which can be reconfigured according to
our needs. This space is only available in
the mornings so that does limit the
potential for events to be held later in the
day in order to stimulate attendance by
other sections of the campus population.

20. At the Moulsecoomb campus
the Watts Building Social and
Informal Learning Space (has
been very well suited to host
the event, but due to its day-today student focus has only been
used for app swaps outside of
term-time up until this point.
Moulsecoomb

21. J. Spengler 2006 [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Toast song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JMjgq9vD20
In the interactive version of this
presentation, available on
NearPod
you can put spread on this toast...
You can access the homework
here:
nearpod.com/join#ASOCZ
PIN: ASOCZ

22. Essential:
• Data projector- iPad adaptors (VGA to older
model pin output and VGA to mini thunderbolt)
• A nice clean wall or a tabletop projection screen
Desirable:
• A laptop to run Reflector (http://
www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/) for projection
purposes
• An Apple TV or desktop application like
Reflector which is an Airplay receiver allowing
for the screen of any iPad to be shared with the
client computer (aforementioned laptop) over
Wi-Fi (no physical adaptor needed)
• Android SDK in conjunction with an android
screen sharing application or code base (e.g.
android-projector)
V. Equipment

23. VI. Branding
Consistent event branding is very
important, especially if you plan to expand
your pilot to become a campus/locationwide recognised event.
Logo: consider having a logo or a
recognisable open-source font for your
event.
Poster: this is helpful for both web and
print and can be distributed to schools
and to colleagues for presentation and
outreach.
Email Blast Branding: Always keep a
consistent layout for your email blasts and
include imagery if you are able to in order
to pique attendee interest.
Example format: Event title, who the event
is for, event theme title, synopsis, brief
event description, link/QR for associated
resources, when the next event is, list of
upcoming events, contact details.

24. VIII. Format
The session organisers should
prepare 3-4 apps to share
based upon a very loose predefined theme for the session.
Make it easy to digest, but give
them just enough information
so that they will want to
explore further.
Throw in a wildcard: invite
someone from somewhere
else. It is helpful to bring in
special guests, whether they are
from other campuses,
institutions or are coming to
show something specific –
mixing it up a bit really helps to
stimulate conversation and
debate
Set image: Phil Rankin 2009 [CC-BY-NC-2.0] // TV image: .reid 2009 [CC-BY-2.0]

25. VII. Promotion/Publicity
Coming up with a boilerplate statement to quickly
convey the goals of the event to people whom you
meet with on a daily basis.
Identify key stakeholders and senior staff
collaborators: identify those who might have a
vested interest in a project like this and those who can
encourage peers to attend.
Use word of mouth: every time you see someone
with a device who falls within your chosen population,
tell them about the event. Even if you have told them
before keep telling them about the event.
Use social media: define a Twitter hashtag for your
event and use it to try and stimulate conversation
around topics and apps which you cover.
Use email with targeted lists based upon
your chosen population

26. IX. Reference
Provide materials for your attendees to
refer back to easily after the event, so that
they can spend more time exploring their
devices and suggested apps.
We have used QR codes to link to an
Aspire online reading list. Other
suggestions; A blog, discussion board,
Pinterest, Padlet, Learnist or Gibbon
could also be good platforms for sharing
session information and related links.

27. X. Conclusion
82%
stated that their “awareness of university support for
mobile devices increased” as a result of attendance
“there were many applications that I was not aware of
which were already in use elsewhere in the university great to exchange ideas of best practice” [sic]

28. Slide 1
University of Brighton, Fiona
MacNeill (2013) [Logo]
Slide 2
Still from NearPod App (2014)
[Software] (Accessed on 07.02.14)
Slide 3
Stephen D. Lawrence (2014)
[Photograph]
Slide 4
Luke Wroblewski (2013)
[Photograph] At: http://
www.flickr.com/photos/lukew/
10412439655/ (Accessed on
06.02.14) [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Slide 5
University of Brighton (2012)
University of Brighton Strategic
Plan 2012–2015 [Online].
Available at: http://
staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/
xpedio/groups/Public/
documents/staffcentral/
doc013747.pdf (Accessed on
11.02.14)
Slide 6
Good Practise Guide, Changing
Landscapes: The challenges of IT and
digital skills training in the changing HE
landscape (2014) UCISA [Online].
Available at: http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/~/
media/Files/publications/case_studies/
USG_Changing_landscapesCS_FINA
L(1) (Accessed on 11.02.14)
Slide 7
mac9416 (2012) [Photograph] At:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
mac9416/8328518564/ (Accessed on
11/12/13) [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Fiona MacNeill (2013) [Illustration]
Slide 8
University of Brighton, Fiona
MacNeill (2013) [Logo]
Slide 9
Bill Abbott (1976) [Photograph] At:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:John_Entwistle,_The_Who,_197
6,_Winterland,_San_Francisco.jpg
(Accessed on 11.02.14) [CC BY-SA
2.0]
Slide 10
County10.com (2011) [Photograph]
At: http://county10.com/wp-content/
uploads/2011/12/DSCN0134.jpg
(Accessed on 07.02.14)
Slide 11
Univerisity of Brighton (2013) [Map]
At: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/
common/images/maps/pdfs/
eastbourne.pdf (Accessed on
11.02.14)
Slide 12
Randall Monroe (2014) [Web Comic]
At: http://xkcd.com/728/ (Accessed
on 07.02.14) [CC BY-NC 2.5]
Slide 13
Stephen D. Lawrence (2014)
[Photograph] - closeup
Slide 14
Stephen D. Lawrence (2014)
[Photograph] - closeup
Slide 15
University of Brighton (2014)
[Photograph] At: http://
www.brighton.ac.uk/studentlife/
cafesandshops/falmer.php (Accessed
on 11.02.14)
Slide 16
Good Practise Guide, Changing
Landscapes...(2014) UCISA [Online]
Slide 17
Cyberslayer (2007) Pocket Watch
[Photograph] At:http://
www.flickr.com/photos/cyberslayer/
871014475/ (Accessed 11.02.14) [CC
BY-NC-SA 2.0]
Slide 18
Fiona MacNeill (2013) Spaceship
[Graphic Art]
Slide 19
University of Brighton (2013)
Eastbourne [Photograph]
University of Brighton (2014)
Hastings
[Photograph]
Slide 20
University of Brighton (2014)
[Photograph] At: http://
www.brighton.ac.uk/studentlife/
cafesandshops/falmer.php (Accessed
on 11.02.14)
University of Brighton (2013) Falmer
[Photograph]
University of Brighton (2013) Falmer
[Photograph]
University of Brighton (2014) Falmer
[Photograph]
Slide 21
University of Brighton (2013)
Moulsecoomb [Photograph]
University of Brighton (2013)
Moulsecoomb [Photograph]
Slide 22
J. Spengler (2006) [Photograph] At:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:American_breakfast_
%28187066827%29.jpg (Accessed on
10.02.14)
Top of the Pops: 1978, [television
programme, online], Prod. credit n.k.,
Prod. company n.k., Prod. country
n.k., 18:30 24/10/2013, BBC FOUR,
40mins. http://bobnational.net/
record/178527, (Accessed
11/02/2014).
Slide 23
Fiona MacNeill (2014) [Digital Image]
Slide 24
University of Brighton, Fiona
MacNeill (2013) [Digital Image]
Slide 25
Screenshots from Twitter (2014)
[Digital Image] At: https://
twitter.com/search?q=
%23appswapbreakfast&src=hash&f=r
ealtime & https://twitter.com/search?
q=%23appswap&src=typd (Accessed
on 11.02.14)
Slide 26
Phil Rankin (2009) [Photograph] At:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
philrankin/3652504728 (Accessed on
09.02.14)
.reid (2009) [Photograph] At: http://
www.flickr.com/photos/sarahreido/
3245498261 (Accessed on 09.02.14)
Slide 27
Screenshots from Talis Aspire (2014)
[Digital Image] At: http://
readinglists.brighton.ac.uk/lists/
391F20D5-2918-769D-921E-193C5C
1213B6.html (Accessed on 11.02.14)
Slide 28
Good Practise Guide, Changing
Landscapes...(2014) UCISA [Online]