Dedicated Mobile Assisted Learning
The importance of mobile learning
I have been asking myself questions about the importance of mobile learning for quite some time now. Our human society appears to be on the verge of another major revolution in technology. In the never ending journey of greed, manufacturers worldwide have accelerated their efforts to create a plethora of solutions in search of problems and they seem to be focusing on the mobile arena more than ever and with very good reason.
I learned a long time ago not to make any predictions in the computer industry, but it sure seems like small and handheld devices are moving quickly to replace many desktop and laptop PCs. The current success of netbooks is a very good indicator here. For myself, my last laptop had a 15.4-inch. My new one has been purposely ordered with a 13.3-inch screen. I use it daily and travel long distances and I no longer have any intention of using it to replace my desktop computer.
Not too long ago I visited the network operations center for a major wireless carrier. At one point the presenter filled his chest and pronounced proudly that they had 4 million subscribers across the nation and were adding tens of thousands every year. Having just returned from a trip to Asia where I not only read the newspapers but had also enjoyed the rare chance of meeting a senior executive for one of the local carriers, I could not resist but to state that this particular asian country had over 170 million subscribers and were adding about 1.7 million new subscribers every month.
While I assure you that my intentions were not to shame the subscriber I was visiting, the reason for relating this story here is that we have the potential and the collective brains to be at the forefront of major developments in mobile learning. The rest of the world has figured this out, why haven't we?
Many e-Learning software makers in North America are offering products that allow you to develop mobile courses. Unfortunately, most of them only support iPhone and iPod Touch and this does not help make the end product a ubiquitous mobile learning solution.
Your comments would be very much appreciated.
I learned a long time ago not to make any predictions in the computer industry, but it sure seems like small and handheld devices are moving quickly to replace many desktop and laptop PCs. The current success of netbooks is a very good indicator here. For myself, my last laptop had a 15.4-inch. My new one has been purposely ordered with a 13.3-inch screen. I use it daily and travel long distances and I no longer have any intention of using it to replace my desktop computer.
Not too long ago I visited the network operations center for a major wireless carrier. At one point the presenter filled his chest and pronounced proudly that they had 4 million subscribers across the nation and were adding tens of thousands every year. Having just returned from a trip to Asia where I not only read the newspapers but had also enjoyed the rare chance of meeting a senior executive for one of the local carriers, I could not resist but to state that this particular asian country had over 170 million subscribers and were adding about 1.7 million new subscribers every month.
While I assure you that my intentions were not to shame the subscriber I was visiting, the reason for relating this story here is that we have the potential and the collective brains to be at the forefront of major developments in mobile learning. The rest of the world has figured this out, why haven't we?
Many e-Learning software makers in North America are offering products that allow you to develop mobile courses. Unfortunately, most of them only support iPhone and iPod Touch and this does not help make the end product a ubiquitous mobile learning solution.
Your comments would be very much appreciated.
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