UNESCO Policy Guidelines for Mobile Learning

Editor's Notes

• #3: Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/305425495/sizes/o/ CCMOBILE PHONES (from ITU or GSMA)There are an estimated 6 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide. 3.2 billion mobile phone subscribers.90% of world’s population and 80% of people living in rural areas have mobile coverage.105 countries have more mobile phone subscriptions than inhabitants. Developing countries accounted for more than 80% of the 660 million new mobile subscriptions added in 2011.In 2011, 142 million mobile subscriptions were added in India alone. Mobile broadband subscriptions have grown 45% annually over the last four years. Sales of tablet computers are expected to surpass sales of PCs by 2016.Cisco: There will be 788 million mobile-only Internet users by 2015 (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/03/world-mobile-data-traffic-to-explode-by-factor-of-26-by-2015/)For the first time in the history of the world, most people can be reached and can communicate with each other.
• #4: The simple answer is there has been a “fortuitous convergence” Mobile devices have saturated society and they are—based on our research—increasingly relevant to education.
• #11: Guiding question: How can countries best leverage mobile technologies to support EFA goals and enrich learning?All of this work has provided (and will continue to provide) essential input for the Mobile Learning Guidelines. The guidelines seek to synthesize a great deal of information into a lean document that will be useful to people like you.
• #12: Note, there is no need to create a new ICT policy for mobile learning alone
• #13: Many policy makers don’t know about the educational potential of mobile learning, or do know about it but don’t know how to respond.
• #15: Four versions in total
• #20: We identified 13 unique benefits of using mobile technologies for learning.Be aware that this was, of course, an exercise in distillation. There are other benefits and even the benefits we separated out are hardly islands; there is a great deal of cross over. For example, it can be argued that a defining characteristic of personalized learning is that it can happen anytime and anywhere. And certainly learning that can happen anytime and anywhere is going to extend the reach of education. With these qualifications in mind though, I think the list is an important starting point for policy makers and others who are asking: “What’s all the fuss about mobile learning?” I think the list highlights the main benefits of mobile learning while also differentiating it from learning facilitated by other, non-mobile ICTs. I only have time to say a few words about each of these 13 benefits, but should you want additional information, the Guidelines themselves are on the internet and can be accessed… well… anytime and anywhere you have an internet connection.
• #22: And now with those benefits in mind…UNESCO has proposed a set of 10 policy guidelines to help perhaps maximize the traction and impact of those benefits. As before, these recommendations are by no means comprehensive and there is also a bit of blurring between them. That said, they articulate how you and your colleagues might like to approach mobile learning and relevant ICT in education policy. Let me briefly provide some explanation for each of the 10 recommendations. Please keep in mind that the actual document is available to you, so no need to scribble notes.
• #23: But remember: the mobile landscape, as with the educational landscape, is uneven. Varied: infrastructure, costs, handset features, perceptions, literacy levels, etc.Most people buy there airtime here, pre-paid in small amounts.Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zantinge/5467811/sizes/l/in/photostream/ CC