Learning Mobility

The Pew Internet Project report released last week throws up some compelling statistics about Mobile Usage. You may have yourself used your mobile phone for most of these activities - if not all of them.41% of cell phone owners used their phone in the previous 30 days to coordinate a meeting or get-together.35% used their phone to solve an unexpected problem they or someone else had encountered in the previous 30 days.30% used their phone in the previous 30 days to decide whether to visit a business, such as a restaurant27% used their phone in the previous 30 days to get information to help settle an argument they were having.23% used their phone in the previous 30 days to look up a score of a sporting event.20% used their phone in the previous 30 days for up-to-the-minute traffic or public transit information to find the fastest way to get somewhere.19% used their phone to get help in an emergency situation.Mobile usage is also reflective of our changing attitude towards learning and consuming information. This reflects a trend of how technology is modifying behavior. If all this sounds familiar to you, then let me ask you if you have used your phone for taking a class or upgrading your skills in some way. That is where the number drops. The users of smartphones use their phones to get information just in time to solve a problem. Learning seems to have all of a sudden assumed a utilitarian perspective. I will look up what is necessary, when it is necessary and however it may be necessary to do so.It is a bit like getting directions. You know how to get to your friends house, the shops, movie halls etc. Even in your own city or neighborhood when you may have to locate an address that you are not familiar with.When you go on vacation you may need to navigate your way around a new town. Learning today is becoming a lot more like navigating your way around a new town - every day. That basically means we need to know how to get learning on the go. So the value of using mobile devices as a way of supplementing traditional forms of learning throws open huge possibilities of reaching a wider range of learners.Learning is not just about looking up information. While the mobile device can do that quite well, the real value of education is make sure every learner is ready to tinker, create & take initiative. That is why the mobile is such a powerful device. It is personal, people are practically welded to it and are already using it to meet multiple needs. This makes the mobile device an easy one for all of us to use.So what are we waiting for? Create content for the mobile that can be used to1. Increase engagement of the learners before the classroom with the subject.2. Post class-room follow up3. Teach values and ethics using games and badges4. Information that is customized according to the user profile and usage pattern.5. Mobile library or mobile laboratoryYou can add more ideas to this list.ESLtoGo is an effort to teach English to refugees and immigrants. Refugees find it hard to clear driving tests. So they cannot drive and reach the traditional classrooms. Not to mention the cost of buying any form of transport. This in turn delays their integration into their adopted environment.This interpretation of mobile ie taking the classroom in a bus to the location of the refugees or learners is to my mind dated. The real opportunity lies in using technology. The smartphone.But in order to make learning mobile and effective, one has to leverage an analytics engine with the service provider who can track details about when the user accessed which content; how long did they study the content; did they see the entire content or did they see just a portion of it. This information can be used to fine tune content.What about those people in rural areas who do not use smartphones? At the World Mobile Congress in March 2012, Sunil Mittal spoke about creating smartphones that cost less than $50. I am sure that in 2-3 years smartphones will be the equivalent of today's calculators. Let us not wait for that to happen before we adopt mobile device based learning. Prices will drop and content will become cool and innovative. Let us start using it now and add more students and classrooms to the smartphones.Mobile learning provides countries like India the opportunity to solve some of their most pressing problems of education and health. This is truly an opportunity to make learning happen in a www mode: Whenever, Wherever, Whoever.