Use Of Mobile Device For Teaching and Learning

 

Any kind of handheld device that are designed to be extremely portable, compact and lightweight which can connect to the Internet and access to the web for data sharing and communication is called as mobile device. A mobile device can be laptop, smartphones, PDA Personal Digital Assistant , tablets PC, eBook etc.

With the development of technologies there must be change in teaching pedagogy as well. Since almost everybody has at least one mobile device, it can be made possible to teach and learn through these devices. These mobile devices being cheap and portable can be used in teaching and learning in the educational fields. Mobile device itself is a handheld microcomputer which has capability of being connected to the Internet. Using this feature of connectivity different websites can be accessed for information. Mobile devices support different application software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, graphic software and so on that are very useful in teaching and learning.

Ways to use mobile devices in teaching and learning:

i.                    Mobile devices such as laptop, tablet and smartphones can be connected to the internet; therefore these devices can be used as researching tools for researching purposes. When in doubt both teacher and students can find information in different websites.

ii.                  Accessing social media via mobile devices is very easy and convenient. So the social media sites can be used to connect teacher with students. A teacher can post a discussion on the social media for the students, can share links of useful contents on the web, and can also clarify the doubts of the students.

iii.                 Mobile devices can be used to record Medias such as photos, videos, audio and text which can be useful in making lesson plan for teaching and to do projects for students. For example: inserting photos and videos in a presentation slides, recording audio of the lectures so that a student can revise the lessons easily.

iv.        A teacher can assign the students to capture the photos of different kinds of plants around their houses or school and then those pictures can be shared among themselves and with the teacher. Further using the pictures the students have collected types of plants can be taught to the students.

v.                Use of different teaching learning apps is also possible in mobile devices. For example: kahoot which is a game based learning platform for both teacher and students.        

vi.          A teacher can create digital handouts and distribute them to the students through emails or social media

The use of mobile devices along with the Internet connection in teaching and learning is called M-Learning (Mobile Learning).

Benefits of Mobile learning:

i.                    Collaborative learning environment can be created where students can form an academic community and share their information and knowledge

ii.                  Mobile learning can enhance the teacher student interaction and supports discussion

iii.                Mobile devices can also become an educational tool for teachers. With mobile devices a teacher can create calendar, notes, making lesson plan, communicating with students and faculty members, creating teaching contents and so on.          

 

Disadvantages of Mobile learning

i.                    Since information and contents are widely available in the web and accessing web with mobile devices is very easy and accessible students cheating online has become a major drawback of mobile learning

Limitations of Mobile learning:

i.                    Although the mobile learning is easy it can never overcome the traditional way of teaching and learning. It can only enhance the learning.

 

Challenges of Mobile learning:

i.                    Lack of pedagogical skill using mobile devices among the teachers is the biggest challenge of mobile learning.

ii.                  Lack of proper technological infrastructure, availability of advanced and compatible mobile devices

iii.                Lack of teacher and students attitude on accepting the new approach is also a challenge

iv.                Lack of proper policy regarding mobile learning

v.                  Low conduct of students, probability of cyber bulling

 

 References: 

i. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.00016/full