Social constructivism

Mobile technologies and microlearning can help to support collaborative, socially constructed learning (Lohman, 2024).
Social constructivism approaches learning as an integration and interrelation of ideas and construction of knowledge based on prior knowledge. This is accomplished through interaction with others and through tools used. 

An advantage mobile technologies have in setting an environment for social constructivism that is in its ubiquity. The reach of mobile technology to collaborate with one another offers flexibility in not only how we deliver learning opportunities as educators, but also how we scaffold those opportunities to enrich meaningful interactions with one another.

Community of Inquiry (CoI)

Rooted in social constructivism is the Community of Inquiry framework in online learning contexts. It assumes that learning occurs within the community through multiple forms of "presence", including teaching, cognitive, and social. Learners are required to be active participants who engage in purposeful discourse and reflection to construct personal learning and confirm a mutual understanding (Mamum et al., 2019, p.2). Mobile collaboration through this lens can assist in all three presences, such as aiding how the teacher shares their personal meaning, how learners exchange information, and how all involved in the learning process express their point of view in risk-free environments.

Connectivism suggests that learning is interwoven with technology being at the centre of the learning process. This theory argues that learning connect and share learning through discussions within a learning community, and leans more towards collaboration, networked learning, and professional learning networks through technological means and mobile technologies in particular (Jackson-Butler, 2016).

In learning contexts where instructional designers are tasked with providing authentic learning experiences with the integration of mobile learning, applying connnectivist principles offers a guideline for how to connect learners to technology, the internet, social media and more (Jackson-Butler, 2016).

For example, the use of social media in mobile collaboration can provide interactions that create opportunities for the evolution of knowledge. An increasing number of people are turning to social media platforms such as TikTok as a search engine over Google, reshaping how we explore knowledge and how we collaborate (Southern, 2024). This ubiquitous connection to learning communities offers an opportunity to apply connectivist learning principles.

Learning is considered a social process, but the aim of participation is not to socialize people into existing practices. The goal is to develop new processes in a way that knowledge creation integrates the cognitive and social aspect of learning (Tynjälä, 2008, pg. 131).

In a way to do this, collaborative learning with members of different teams performing the same work can reveal a lot about the state of an organization and promote critical thinking. In larger institutions and organizations, there is a risk of working and learning in silos where knowledge is compartmentalized. Collaborative learning theory combined with the appropriate use of mobile collaboration can help in removing these barriers.