Mobile Learningi in Education and MOOC's and video games

Many companies today are getting into mobile learning, but so are grade schools. It is only natural since students are often engaging with mobile devices outside of the classroom anyhow.

Grunwald Associates LLC recently conducted a survey on mobile learning in the K-12 space. In this survey of 2,392 parents, they gathered metrics regarding current mobile use, expectations, and impact on students.

This particular study defined mobile devices as “wireless handheld devices that use wi-fi, 3G or 4G to connect to the internet, many of which use an operating system such as iOS, Windows or Android, and can run various types of apps (i.e. smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and the iPod Touch).”

Mobile Devices at Home

According to the study, the majority of children at all grade levels (which included preschool through 12th grade in the United States) have some form of access to a variety of technology at home, including mobile devices.

Specifically, the survey found:

• 78% of families own a Portable Computer (51% of children use it daily)
• 24% of families own an E-Reader (32% of children use it daily)
• 46% of families own a Tablet (47% of children use it daily)
• 77% of families own a Smartphone (65% of children use it daily)
• 36% of families own iPod Touch (27% of children use it daily)

The mobile devices are making their way from the home and into the school. By high school, it is estimated that half of all students have a smartphone with them each day.

Perceived Benefits

Participants in the survey reported positive values of mobile apps and the content. Parents of younger children showed more enthusiasm over mobile apps.

Below are the indicated learning benefits that participants believe mobile learning helps promote:

1. Curiosity towards learning
2. Reading skills
3. Math skills
4. Creativity
5. Problem solving skills
6. Science skills
7. Foreign language skills
8. Makes learning fun
9. Current events
10. Responsibility

More Mobile Learning Opportunities

Participants indicated that they want mobile technology used for learning, but feel that teachers should provide more recommendations on apps for students to use. That said, parents still plan to buy, or have already bought a mobile device for learning.

Naturally there are concerns, security being the biggest one. Also, there is some concern over theft of mobile devices that their children bring into the classroom.

In the end though, this study by Grunwald Associates sheds some light on today’s K-12 environment and their perceptions of mobile learning. I think we can reasonably expect continued favorable growth in the years to come.

For more information on this study, view the infographic here.

Mooc's in Video Games

http://elearningindustry.com/video-games-and-learning-mooc-story