Mobile learning isn’t necessarily learning on the go or
only performed on smartphones. Mobile learning is also not about the technology
or just another form of e-learning, according to a pair of South African
researchers.
“M-learning holds much promise and provides exciting
opportunities for open and distance learning (ODL),” wrote the authors of the
report Mobile Learning: Moving Past the Myths and Embracing the Opportunities.
“In order to understand the opportunities, we first need to understand what
m-learning is all about.”
For instance, the authors found that students do use
mobile devices to learn while riding in a bus, but also when they are sitting
at home. Laptops and tablets should also
be part of the mobile-device conversation, if they aren’t already.
In addition, the authors contended that mobile is not
just for distance learning, but can be useful in the classroom. They found that
m-learning doesn’t mean accessing course materials on a device or only using
current teaching and learning methods.
“As with new phenomena, myths and misperceptions exist regarding
what m-learning does and does not entail,” they wrote. “In order to understand
the fundamentals of m-learning, we have to define what m-learning is by
addressing the major misperceptions and outlining some of the possibilities
that m-learning offers to the enhancement of open and distance learning.”
