OTAN News

Mobile Learning and the Changing Face of Education

At the State Education Technology Directors Association 2018 conference, Apple Education executive Jon Landis told attendees that the future of education is mobile learning, and teachers and schools should change their instruction to better align with 21st century mobile learning.

Landis noted the growing predominance of the mobile internet as the world’s primary knowledge platform, along with the fast-growing K-12 trend of mobile device adoption in which schools are aiming for a 1:1 environment (one device per student), as an indication that teaching needs to readjust to meet the students where they increasingly are – online, on a device (or two devices, another growing trend).

The challenges are a teaching corps that was credentialed prior to the presence of many technologies we see in and out of the classroom, along with teacher concerns about being able to effectively integrate technology in their instruction. That, and the fact that the vast majority of classrooms have the teacher at the front of a classroom, whiteboard, or projector screen and not exploring new ways of facilitating learning in the new “knowledge economy.”

Lest we think this is isolated to the K-12 world, our own adult education data gathering confirms what we see elsewhere. According to the 2017-2018 Adult Learner Survey Results that are compiled when California WIOA II agencies submit their Technology and Distance Learning Plans, about 90% of students own a smartphone, over 90% are texting on their phones, and over 60% of students are getting information and doing research when on the internet, on a computer, or on a mobile device. Just over 30% of students, though, say that they either learn in class or learn outside class on the internet, on a computer, or on a mobile device. Obviously, we want our adult students to use mobile technology more and more to help them be a part of our rapidly changing world.

If you need ideas about mobile learning, please contact OTAN for assistance on using mobile devices in the classroom at support@otan.us or call us at 916-228-2580.

Sources:

Edscoop:Mobile learning "shifting the paradigm" of K-12 education, says Apple executive

Technology and Distance Learning Plan 2017-2018 Adult Learner Survey Results