What Can We Learn From the Global Effort Around Mobile Learning?

Closing the achievement gap and giving all students access to a world of learning online remains one of the strongest allures of education technology. In the U.S., that conversation is often centered on the newest shiny device, slickest software or free app, but internationally mobile technology is revolutionizing learning too, often without fancy gadgets. Recognizing the creative learning strategies being implemented in developing countries could help expand thinking in the U.S and inform the ongoing discussion about how to use technology to deepen learning.

“In developing countries, mobile has leap-frogged fixed-line connectivity,” said Steve Vosloo, a program specialist, in mobile learning at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “People who were never connected before have access.”

Africa is the fastest growing mobile market and the second largest after Asia. Vosloo says there are more mobile phone subscriptions than people in Africa, meaning some people have more than one. Many people in developing countries have only accessed the internet through a mobile phone and mobile connectivity far surpasses desktop connections.

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/10/what-can-we-learn-from-the-global-effort-around-mobile-learning/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29