Abstract—This paper provides a tentative overview and first
approximation of the growing e-learning app economy and
delivers first insights of its impact on learning with a focus on
primary education. For that purpose, a tripartite explorative
research design was employed, consisting of: a) a market
overview with a focus on business models and providers, b) an
expert-based assessment of the learning and interface design of
a sample of learning apps, c) an oral survey of teachers and
pupils to understand and express their appraisal of learning
apps. Results show that in the mobile app economy there is a
larger variety of vendors than in the classical e-learning market.
Most of the investigated apps do not follow sophisticated
didactical paradigms, but employ a drill and practice approach
and exhibit simple and usable interfaces. Teachers assess
learning apps primarily as suitable tools to complement
traditional teaching. Pupils’ assessments indicate that
game-based elements, especially with rewards, are in high
demand as they raise and maintain the motivation of the
learners.
Index Terms—Mobile learning, app economy, primary
education.
The authors are with the University of Hildesheim: Universitätsplatz 1,
D-31141 Hildesheim, Germany (e-mail: rockahr@uni-hildesheim.de,
griesbau@uni-hildesheim.de, mandl@uni-hildesheim.de).
Cite: Philipp Rockahr, Joachim Griesbaum, and Thomas Mandl, "Mobile e-Learning App Economy," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 267-272, 2018.