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Mobile Technologies
The convergence of the internet, video, and mobile platforms has redefined reading,
writing, literacy—and indeed,
all learning. All of the technologies mentioned in this
article are available on mobile
devices (cell phones, MP3 players,
and tablets), the technology that appears most promising for personalized teacher PD.
In Asia and Africa, where most of
the world’s teachers reside, mobile devices are an alternative way to engage
teachers in the learning and teaching
process. For example, in Niger—where
teachers must instruct in, but do not
speak, French—teachers receive language and literacy PD via their cell
phones. In Zambia and Malawi, they
use MP3 players to study examples
of good instruction and hone their
content skills. And in South Korea,
the Korean National Open University
(KNOU) has transferred all of its online
courses, including lectures, multimedia
applications, and IPTV programming,
to mobile devices. For approximately $2
per month, all KNOU students, including preservice teachers, get a smartphone to access their online courses.
Much of the excitement surrounding smartphones and tablets as PD
tools focuses on the increasing availability and variety of low-cost or free
apps, which serve as distribution
channels to provide educational content to teachers. Though still largely
geared toward student and teacher
productivity, apps can offer teachers increasingly robust professional
learning opportunities as well. Many
students and teachers are even creating their own apps with do-it-yourself
app creating tools, such as AppMakr
( www.appmakr.com).
Together, smartphones and apps
allow teachers to capitalize on what
many see as the future of the web:
“the fully mobile web,” a platform that
is mobile and differentiated, resides on
a teacher’s learning device, and offers
access to a customized menu of PD
opportunities via changeable and cus-tomizable apps at the time and place
of the teacher’s choosing.
internet, such as Indonesia,
China, and India, cellular coverage is prevalent (and cheap,
in the case of India).
UNESCO reports that while
most Asians don’t own lap-
tops, they do own and use
mobile phones at rates that
far outstrip the rest of the
world. The two areas of the
globe with the most acute
teacher education needs are
sub-Saharan Africa and South
Asia, particularly India. Sub-
Saharan Africa, despite having
an internet penetration rate
of only 12%, has the fastest
cell phone subscriber growth
rate in the world. South Africa
is a global leader in mobile-
based learning initiatives.
India, meanwhile, adds more
cell phone subscribers per
month than any country in the
world. Since the debut of the
$50 Aakash tablet, India has
also become an incubator of
rival low-cost, multifunctional
tablets, which should inevita-
bly benefit teachers and other
consumers.
Sociotechnical Practices
in Key Demographics
Today’s teens will be the teach-
ers of tomorrow. And how
do they learn? How do they
interact with technology? They
watch internet TV on mobile
devices, engage in immer-
sive environments and virtual
worlds, participate in social
networks, and communicate
via two-way video. They own
smartphones, which they see
as extensions of themselves
and use for a variety of pur-
poses—recreational, personal,
educational, and economic.
They spend one of every seven
minutes on Facebook. They
create and share content and
are active participants in an ar-
ray of online micronetworks.
Mary Burns ( mburns@edc.org ) designs technology-based teacher training programs across the globe for
Education Development Center.
She authored EDC’s guide,
Distance Education for Teacher
Training: Modes, Models, and
Methods ( go.edc.org/07xd).
