Say goodbye to textbooks and hello to the next-gen mobile tools that will power our children’s education. Increasing access to high-end mobile devices and an explosion of mobile educational software are leading to pilot programs focused on determining the role this new technology should have in the classroom. These pilot programs are already demonstrating significant impact on student learning. Curious about what else lies ahead? Here are four trends driving the death of the chalkboard and the coming mobile education revolution:
Smart phone penetration will hit 82% by 2013
In order for mobile devices to be the future of education, kids need access to devices that are more sophisticated than yesteryear’s Razr. Text-to-screen, in-class polling exercises are a great component of many forward-thinking teachers’ current curricula, but for mobile devices to take center stage in the classroom, better devices need to achieve ubiquity. This is happening — fast. eMarketer recently reported that by 2013, 82% of all mobile devices in use worldwide will be smart phones.
The App Store is producing an explosion of educational mobile content
In little over a year, the iPhone App Store has taken the world of mobile computing by storm — and educational apps have been a huge part of this. This exponential increase in the availability of mobile educational software parallels the improvement of the hardware devices — and is just as critical for mobile education to be a reality. Translation tools, musical instruments, learning games, and mobile books are just the tip of the iceberg. Every day more than 10 new educational kids apps are added to the App Store. Tens of millions of educational apps have already been downloaded. And while this focuses narrowly on the impact of Apple’s iPhone, the broader trend here is clear — others are following the lead of the App Store, and as soon as there are smart phones in everyone’s hand, there will be first-rate mobile educational software to match.
Existing pilots of mobile education are demonstrating success
Preliminary research from both Australia and the US is finding that when using iPod Touches as part of their class activities, school attendance increases, students are more willing to come to school, and they do more homework. Further quantitative research is needed, but it seems obvious that kids will learn more if they are engaged in the process — and cutting-edge mobile devices like the iPod Touch are brilliant at driving engagement.
Mobile devices offer access to the internet in places where the traditional web doesn’t reach
In Africa, for example, mobile web penetration is six-times higher than the traditional web. This means that for many people using their mobile devices is their only means of accessing the practically infinite sources of scholarship available online. Similar circumstances hold true in India, where video English lessons are delivered via cell phones to rural schools that can afford neither English teachers nor computers for their students.
What’s all that add up to? More powerful mobile devices, in more people’s hands, powered by a growing digital library of educational software. Together these trends make one thing clear — mobile education is poised to have a significant impact on the way our children learn.
By: Christopher R G Taylor
Archive for March, 2010
iPhone Education – 4 Reasons Why Mobile Devices Will Transform How Our Kids Learn
March 30th, 2010Is Bilingual Education in the United States As Bad As They Say it Is?
March 29th, 2010
I read a blog post the other day which was in essence complaining about the state of bilingual education that currently exists in the United States. The article suggested that bilingual education is going from bad to worse. For example, many school districts are dropping their foreign language programs altogether. The argument was that a loss of these programs is leading to a monolingual society.
Well, this is probably the case, but I don’t think the problem is as grave as this author wanted his readers to believe.
I do agree that our foreign language education still has a long way to go, but when compared to other countries, I would say that we’re about in the same situation.
In the travels I have made to other countries around the world, I have noticed that foreign language education is not much than it is here. One of the biggest faults of this instruction in other countries is that it is mostly limited to English instruction. At least here in the United States there is usually a choice of foreign languages to choose from. In my high school, for example, we could choose Spanish, German, French, or even Chinese. I have never seen that kind of choice in schools in other countries. Students are forced (or at least strongly encouraged) to study English.
One of the positive aspects of foreign language education in other countries is that they usually include more than one or two years of study. However, even after that, most students’ language skills in English are probably on par with foreign language skills of students here after a couple of years studying.
The one exception to this are many of the countries in Europe. But I believe that the main reason that foreign language education in Europe is fairly good is because non- native languages aren’t necessarily foreign. Each surrounding country speaks a different language, and that close proximity helps develop the foreign language skills of the people.
So the next time someone you know starts complaining about the state of affairs in foreign language education in the United States, remember that while it can always be better, it’s not as bad as it could be.
By: Clint Tustison
Free Educational Websites For Preschool – Starfall
March 28th, 2010
This is the second in a series of articles that I am writing about free educational websites. Starfall is a website that also provides educational fun through games, videos, crafts and storytelling while teaching basic computer skills. This site is exceptional at teaching and developing reading comprehension and phonics skills. Though it is designed for first grade, Starfall is a great website for Pre-K through second grade. Starfall.com is set up in sections for four stages of reading development, games and activities areas. It features:
o ABCs – In this section, there is an alphabet chart from which kids can click on each letter to find out the sound it makes and to hear it used in a word. There is also a row of vowels that, when clicked, teach kids the vowels and short and long vowel sounds. A sign language section teaches kids to sign the ABCs.
o Learn to Read – In this section, there are fun animated music videos teaching the letters of the alphabets and sounds that each one makes. Stories that follow the music videos repeatedly use words containing the letters. The approach to teaching pronunciation is very creative. The “chunk that word” video is really cute and fun as it teaches how to break words up and pronounce each chunk in order to learn to pronounce the entire word.
o It’s Fun to Read – This section uses Art, Magic, Music, Poetry, Tongue twisters and riddles to show how fun it is to read. There is even an activity that lets the child create a story about his or her self.
o I’m Reading – This section has plays, comics, and various types of stories to include folk tales, fiction, nonfiction, Greek myths and Chinese fables for your child’s enjoyment.
o Games and Activities include making a calendar, holiday activities, word hunt, find a clover and earth day recycling games. There are also more opportunities for creating stories.
o There is an online store for purchasing educational materials.
o Starfall printed material and online printouts are available in the download area.
o A number of pages throughout the site have suggestions for parent or teacher use of the materials on the page.
o Kindergarten curriculum is a new offering of Starfall. This is a Kindergarten reading and language arts program available for purchase.
Starfall.com is an excellent tool for parents, teachers and home schooling for developing reading skills and its fun for children. Don’t miss this website.
By: Lev Hamilton
