Abstract—Since 2009, more than 40 million iPhone and iPad
users have downloaded more than 1 billion apps through the
App store. The drastic increase in the use of mobile applications
has formed new ways of English Language Arts education. In
recent years, the representation of William Shakespeare, the
English poet and playwright legacies such as books, poems,
plays and birthplace has also been extended to mobile
applications. Learning Shakespeare’s works through mobile
devices will move learning out of the classroom and into the
learner’s real and virtual environments which has raised the
interest among language educators. This paper describes a
project which examines the current developments in mobile
learning applications of English literature with a focus on
Shakespeare-related apps. Apps related to Shakespeare listed in
iTunes were explored. We discuss the different types of apps
that are applicable to language art learning. Based on Naismith,
et al.’s mobile learning research, the learning theories that are
related to this new medium are identified and discussed.
Index Terms—Education, teaching English, Shakespeare,
mobile learning, mobile apps.
The authors are with the Department of English, the Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (e-mail:
amy.oy.suen@polyu.edu.hk, andyfung00@hotmail.com).
Cite: Amy Suen and Andy Fung, "Shakespeare in the Apps: Mobile Technology in Education Context," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 731-736, 2016.