Ways to Use Mobiles Effectively As a Learning Tool

Smartphones and the evolution of e-learning

Not so long ago did e-learning come to the fore. For those who have no clue about e-learning, it is the usage of electronic gadgets and media in the field of education. Anything that you learn with the help of an electronic device can be classified as part of e-learning, which is a huge domain. Learning by reading from a laptop or a desktop PC, attending online classes, learning by watching videos, and reading tutorials all come under this. And with the birth of smartphones, it just got better in an educational sense.

Mobile phones have been around for some time now. But the evolution of the mobile phone from just a portable telephone to a multimedia device has changed the status of mobile phones as a whole. These phones with the ability to do much more than just dial a number or text a message brought about by the smartphone. The present generation smartphones can be used to take photos and videos that can rival a professional camera, watch videos and movies with absolute quality, mailing, and almost anything you can think of. They can be linked with your debit and credit cards for easy usage, and some even come with top-level security like fingerprint scanners. People now are considering a smartphone or a tablet as an alternative to buying a laptop or desktop as they are way more portable than any of them and can almost do everything they do at the same time.

 So how can you use a mobile phone efficiently as a learning tool?

As a matter of fact, a lot of universities and schools have already employed the use of these smart gadgets as a means of learning. Students are provided with a tablet nowadays instead of textbooks and they can literally follow the teacher and connect with them using the devices without much hassle. Imagine if a student has doubt and might forget it, later on, he could just mark the section and mail the doubt to the teacher right away from the device in hand, which so much user-friendly and time is saving. And if you have a smartphone running iOS or Android, the widely popular mobile operating systems, you get an abundant amount of applications in the respective stores that are aimed at teaching. You can learn new languages; you can use dictionaries that even have voice assist to help you pronounce the word properly. There are apps that are aimed at kids, to help them learn in a more interactive and fun way: learning by playing games.

 So why would you prefer m-learning over traditional learning?

• Less expensive, compared to desktops and laptops.
• Ability to create and access multimedia content
• Continuous learning support
• Lesser costs for training
• A more interactive learning experience

 Though there are some challenges too, to get this implemented:

• Lower battery life and connectivity issues
• Screen size may not be to the liking of all
• Storage space is limited
• Can become obsolete out of nowhere
• Multiple standards over multiple screen sizes and operating systems
• The obvious risk of piracy
• Devices can be used for more than just learning which is distracting

 It won’t be long before mobile phones replace textbooks and notebooks completely in developed nations, but it will be a while before that happens in the not so developed countries.