EduMe
Reviewer: Scotti-Lynn Moore
Developer: Edume Limited
Operating systems: IOS and Android
Cost: Free
Version: 1.19.0; 2.20.0
About the App
EduMe is a paid service marketed towards corporate training. Using either the desktop or mobile app, managers and/or corporate trainers can provide microlearning opportunities as well as send broadcasts directly to the employee’s phone as a push notification, to keep employees in the know about marketing campaigns, product features, and so on. This app would be ideal in the workplace, for both new hires and existing employees, to ensure clear communication and provide training on things such as key aspects of new product releases.
Categorization and Learner Needs
According to the article Educational Apps Ontology, mobile apps can be broken down into a few categories and pedagogical design purposes pertaining to their individual purpose. In terms of broad categories, there are 3 main ones explored by the authors: instructive, manipulable, and constructive. Instructive apps focus on “drill-and- practice” where the learners are supposed to complete a standardized task, where there are predetermined “correct” answers. Manipulable apps focus on discovery and experimentation via guided inquiry—but once again, the outcome is predetermined. Constructive apps are “open-ended”, allowing the user to freely creative according to their preferences. Additionally, an app’s purpose can take on a few different forms, and thus be broken into 6 groups: Knowledge and Skill Building, Collaboration, Learning and Teaching Support, Communication, and Other Tools and Reference apps. Knowledge and Skill Building apps are the broadest in terms of uses—these apps consist of simple calculators to complex educational games which uses extrinsic motivators such as leveling up, points, and high scores to increase engagement. “They most likely address the first two levels from the bloom taxonomy: Remember (identify, recall) and Understand (compare, match, classify)” (Notari et al., 2016). Collaborative apps include learners working as a group to create something, such as the Google Doc app. Learning and Teaching Support apps use the learner-provided content to help them learn using a built-in learning strategy, i.e., flashcards, homework scheduling, etc. Communication apps focus exclusively on providing a conduit for ease of communication, i.e., Slack. These apps are extremely useful in learning environments as they help the learner to ask questions and receive feedback in a timely manner. Finally, Other tools and reference apps are just that—tools and references to aid in the learning process, i.e., calculators, maps, etc.
Using these definitions, this app would fall under the instructive category as it provides the ability for learners to access provided learning content on the go. The learners are instructed as they would be in any other eLearning environment, except that they have the convenience of push notifications to alert them to breaking (corporate) news and as provide feedback. The communication is a 2-way street (not just for the higher-ups!), the training team can get feedback from trainees through the use of mobile surveys. Furthermore, the EduMe app would most definitely be considered a combination of Knowledge and Skill Building and Communication. The main use of the app is a to be a conduit for job-related learning as well as a vehicle for communication.
In terms of the Learner’s Needs (Notari et al., 2016), this app satisfies many of the social aspects—Communicate with peers, Give
and receive support, Manage time and Tasks, Interact while problem solving, and Experience external motivation. Additionally, learners will have a sense of belonging (affective need) and ask good questions (cognitive need) generated from communication blasts.
Other Related Pedagogical Themes
This app is great for communicating—and clear and consistent communication is a key factor to create a sense of community and, subsequently, identity, within an organization. One pedagogical theme this app works well with is learner identity. As discussed in the article Identity as an Analytic Lens for Research in Education, the author explores the different perspectives surrounding the development of one’s identity: the nature perspective (N-Identities), the institutional perspective (I-Identities), the discursive perspective (D-Identities), and the affinity perspective (A-Identities). In the case with this app, I can see where 3 of the 4 perspectives on identity are at play—Institutional perspective with social standing, discursive perspective regarding social opinion, and affinity perspective with group association. Learner develop their identity, especially when they are new to a workplace, based on how they are regarded by the company (institution), what their managers and peers think of and say about them (discursive), and the department they work in (affinity), i.e. engineering vs. customer service. Each of these components build off and influence each other, making the social realm a dynamic and complex system. Social dynamics are a major aspect in corporate environments; thus, it carries over into the virtual/mobile environment. Being part of a team, being in the know, and being able to feel heard, are essential to creating the cohesiveness needed on any team—big or small.
Conclusions
I was immediately intrigued by this app–as anyone in the corporate environment would know, it’s hard to keep track of what the company does on a daily basis and it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. While this app isn’t necessarily revolutionary, I really like the fact that it allows for easy communication and feedback. I would be interested to explore implementing it in a company setting to test the limits of the platform’s capability.
Resources
Notari, M. P., Hielscher, M., & King, M. (2016). Educational apps ontology. In D. Churchill, J. Lu, T. Chiu, & B. Fox (Eds.), Mobile learning design (pp. 83–96). Singapore: Springer.
Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25(2000-2001), 99–125.
Image credits: https://edume.com/
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