Mobile Learning in Developing Countries

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Title: Mobile Learning in Developing Countries

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Learning as a process has always been a challenging at times. It requires a lot of attention and motivation from the learners themselves, and most of the times additional properties are needed such as learning materials in a form of text books, direct knowledge transfers from teachers, or multimedia equipments.

In developing countries, learning process is even more challenging and can be a frustrating affair. One example is in India where education seems restricted to urban areas while it is still nascent in the rural areas due to its population that normally do not have access to basic amenities or the luxury to pursue education by choice (Sampangi, Viswanath & Ray, 2010). Another example will be in Ghana’s rural areas where there are a lot of challenges faced by education development. Among those challenges are the lack of teachers, small numbers of trained teachers, and the lack of equipment in schools (Grimus, Ebner & Holzinger, 2013).

One of the solutions to break this problem is the use of distance learning in a form of mobile learning. This method of learning allows anyone to access information and learning materials from anywhere at any time without any boundaries. Learners will also feel empowered due to the fact that they can learn what they want to and they do not have to wait for certain time to learn or to go to a certain place to acquire the knowledge (Ally, 2009).

Mobile learning technology is the new approach that is brought to conventional classroom. Mobile learning technology includes mobile phones, handheld devices, i-pad, tablet and other kinds of portable devices. Primarily, Mobile learning focus on interaction with the m...

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...er, M. Holzinger, A. (2012). Mobile Learning as a Chance to Enhance Education in Developing Countries - on the Example of Ghana. In mLearn 2012, Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (p. 340-345)

Sampangi, R., Viswanath, V., & Ray, A. (2010). Reaching the unreached: A study on mobile learning in india. In Proceedings of the European Conference on e-Learning (p. 350).

Ally, M. (2009). Mobile Learning Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training. In M. Ally (Ed.) http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120155.

Education in Developing Countries. Retrieved 29 Jan 2014 from http://www.bmz.de/en/what_we_do/issues/Education/hintergrund/bildungsituation/.

Crompton, H. (2013). A historical overview of mobile learning: Toward learner-centered education. In Z. L. Berge & L. Y. Muilenburg (Eds.), Handbook of mobile learning (pp. 3-14). Florence, KY: Routledge.

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