M-learning
M-learning also offers strong portability by replacing books and notes with small devices filled with tailored learning content.
Moreover, it has the added benefit of being cost-effective, as the price of digital content on tablets is falling sharply compared to traditional media such as books, CDs, DVDs, etc.
It also introduces significant innovations, such as the increase in informal and playful activities, iconic virtual membership, and networks of friendly interaction within new scales of values.
New mobile technology, such as hand-held-based devices, is playing a large role in redefining how people receive and process information.
[5] Concepts of m-learning were introduced by Alan Kay in the 1970s when he joined Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center and formed a group to develop the "Dynabook," a portable and hands-on personal computer.
[12] Currently, m-learning research has become globalised, with Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand all making remarkable achievements in this field.
[13] Mobile devices in brick-and-mortar classrooms can be used to enhance student-centered learning and group collaboration among students through communication applications, interactive displays, quick response codes,[14] and video features.
[15] In a literature review conducted by FutureLab, researchers found that increased communication, collaboration, and understanding of concepts were a result of mobile technology applications.
It has been defined as the "processes of coming to know, and of being able to operate successfully in, and across, new and ever-changing contexts, including learning for, at and through work, by utilising mobile devices".
The latter is particularly popular in clinical settings, where they assist highly mobile medical staff in making decisions regarding complex patient cases using rule-based algorithms.
Technology provides support for refugees' informal learning in the following challenges:[37] The mSchools programme is a comprehensive mobile education initiative led by a public–private partnership between the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia), Barcelona City Hall and the GSMA.
The objective of mSchools is to empower students and teachers to integrate mobile technologies into the classroom, opening up new ways of teaching and learning that improve learner engagement, achievement and employability.
It has a special focus on digital competencies, advocacy for career paths in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and fostering gender equality (UNESCO, 2013).
The mSchools programme brings together private and public institutions to help students build paramount new skills and prepare them for today's digital world.
PaikkaOppi (which roughly means ’learning of places’) is a Finnish educational innovation supporting open science and the information society.
Moreover, it is a potential spearhead in national policy for the development of skills and education by integrating disciplines and promoting the use of mobile learning.
The application offers short educational sequences, showing how to write common names and words and conveying mathematical and scientific concepts.
[3] Since the 1960s, various information and communication technologies have aroused strong interest in Sub-Saharan Africa as a way of increasing access to education, and enhancing its quality and fairness.
Given the shortage of textbooks in many African schools, tablets and mobile phones are being viewed by governments and international organizations as a solution to provide access to learning materials.
