Mobile Learning as a Catalyst to Global Citizenship Education in China: Case Study by the UNESCO-Fazheng Project on Best Practices in Mobile Learning

The Beijing Royal School was one of the pioneer schools in China in incorporating mobile learning into pedagogical transformation. Its mobile learning programme started in 2010. Stemming from the school’s orientation towards global citizenship education, the Beijing Royal School recognizes mobile learning as both driver and enabler for supporting the development of students’ cognitive, socio-emotional
and behavioural dimensions, organized around knowledge acquisition, understanding and respect for difference and diversity, and responsible engagement with global issues. It takes advantage of a variety of mobile apps to support students’ multilingual education, and uses open educational resources (OER) to support multicultural education, taking advantage of the up-to-date worldwide data and information available on the web. It also engages with students from other countries in projects and courses that help the students to widen their understanding of diverse cultures and social contexts. Overall, this case study illustrates how to use mobile technologies to support the implementation of a well-defined and clearly structured educational vision by embedding the use of mobile technologies in students’ daily learning lives.