OnCourse at Ericsson Academy. Using Android tablets to enrich classroom training

Abstract

Tablets have recently become popular as tools in elementary schools in Sweden and many other parts of the world. To be able to really utilize them in educational activities more research is needed though. At the same time tablets can most likely be used equally well in professional training, but such education differs quite a bit from school education and even less research has been carried out in that specific area. This thesis project has investigated how tablets can be incorporated in classroom training at Ericsson AB in Mölndal. We have done this by both gathering and evaluating data and creating a hands-on prototype app called OnCourse for Android. The prototype allows Ericsson to without much effort test using tablets in their training to create a rigorous base for whether they should introduce tablets in full-scale in their training organization or not. Our conclusion is that tablets really have the possibility to enrich professional training as a technical and informative as well as a pedagogical aid. However, more research is needed into the pedagogical possibilities in order for an app and tablets to be worth full commitment at Ericsson. Using it only as a way to present information and to access the Internet is not enough to justify their introduction considering the extra cognitive effort required by both instructor and learner during the course.