Although from 2012, I’m not sure that these findings have moved forward much further – some interesting thoughts:
The papers themselves are quite varied in their approaches, formats and content, but, taken together, UNESCO has identified five key trends worth considering (please note that the words are from UNESCO, we have rendered certain of them in bold for added emphasis):
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Many parents, teachers and even students tend to view mobile technology as out of place in education and potentially harmful to students, despite the fact that mobile devices are well-situated to improve and extend learning opportunities.
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There is currently a dearth of national, regional and local education policies that acknowledge mobile learning, let alone embrace its potential to help students and teachers work more effectively.
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Mobile technology can provide rich educational opportunities to students who have traditionally lacked access to high-quality schooling.
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As mobile technology continues to make inroads in education it will be necessary for policy-makers toensure that programmes help rectify educational inequities and bridge, rather than widen, thedigital divide.
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For mobile learning to positively impact education in a substantive way, educators and policy-makers will need to forge new partnerships with industries and stakeholders that have not historically been involved in teaching and learning.
Judging by ‘real-world’ experience there’s a feeling that if anything is done in a digitised form, that it “e-learning”, rather than looking at a wider picture – but this report gives an understanding of how ‘digital culture’ and the issues it raises are different across different cultures.
