Exploring Flipboard to Support Coursework: Student Beliefs, Attitudes, Engagement, and Device Choice

The purpose of the study is to explore the use of a mobile application called Flipboard, which facilitates the curation of digital content into a magazine-like product, to engage students in class discussion and participation in a college course. Research questions include: (1) What were students’ beliefs and attitudes regarding the use of Flipboard in the learning environment? (2) How engaged were students in the activity? (3) How did device choice affect student activity in the Flipboard assignment? A survey revealed that most students found the assignment useful and relevant to their learning and read more articles because the magazine was class-created. Device choice did not affect how many articles students contributed, but those primarily using mobile devices read significantly more articles than those using the computer. Implications and recommendations are shared to practitioners.