Not knowing exactly what to expect, I was intrigued and pleasantly surprised at how perceived developing countries, such as Ghana, Kenya, India, Philippines, and Latin American countries are re-inventing the way cell/Smartphones are used in schools and society.
1. GSMA-- In this website, I read about mAgri Programme case study in India. In this PDF, I learned that 70% of India's labour force work in agriculture.
In 2008, partners--IKSL (Kisan Sanchar Ltd), IFFCO (Indian Farmer's Fertilizer Cooperative, largest in India), airtel (largest network in India), and Star Global Resources Ltd, worked together to "empower rural farmers and reinforce the cooperative voice through mobile networks."
The Goal: Farmers receive five, one minute recordings per day which provide them advice and training about pesticides, soil ecology, disease, which ensures that farmers make better farming decisions.
2. USAID-- In this website I looked at an article called, Mobile Phone, Ebooks, Turning the Page on Education (July -October 2011).
There is a 'quiet revolution' taking place in countries such as Ghana and Punjab.
In Ghana, there was a project, iRead, that provided 500 students living in rural areas, Amazon Kindles. These e-devices had 80 reading titles, the ability to upload up to 1000, and reading lights so the children could use the Kindles with their families at night.
While in Punjab, young female students are texting in the local language, Urdu, to communicate with each other and teacher on online discussion forums.
The author states that "cell phones hold the key to social development" and "promote literacy and a culture of reading."
3. WEF (World Economic Forum). In this website I listened to a podcast interview with Rajeev Singh Morales the author of the article, The World Needs More Mobile Learning.
Did you know that the Philippines is one of the top countries for' texting'?
This knowledge prompted the collaborative project Text2teach with government, businesses, and the ICT sectors.
Teachers are downloading education related videos on mobile devices and showing them on screens in the classroom.
Due to the fact that cell phones are more affordable than computers, teachers in Kenya and India are using similar techniques.
4. UNESCO-- In 2012, a series of reports were written about Mobile Learning for Teachers in varying continents. I focused on Latin America.
Latin American teachers are also downloading videos and resources to their phones to display in classrooms.
This teaching style is 'transforming traditional pedagogy' and it seems to provide a more interactivity in the classroom and be more student centered.
In addition, teachers can also monitor classroom discussion on their laptops and provide "real-time feedback from students to lead class discussions and design follow up activities tailored to students individual needs."
Final Thoughts and Questions
One common feature I discovered throughout the articles/podcast was collaboration between public, private, and industry specific sectors, to accomplish these amazing feats.
All of these websites showed me how the use of mobile phones can support teachers and improve teaching practices in a variety of subject areas.
Importantly, it was noted that teachers who already feel comfortable with their mobile device are more likely to explore how to use it in the classroom than teachers who do not have a PDA.
- Are teachers in North America employing these same strategies?
- Are teachers and administrators in NA ready to experiment with the curriculum in this manner?
- As a teacher, are you comfortable using mobile phones in the classroom?
