{"id":2429,"date":"2012-05-10T09:30:54","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T13:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/?p=2429"},"modified":"2012-09-27T10:39:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:39:00","slug":"unesco-working-paper-series-on-mobile-learning-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/mobile-learning-initiatives\/unesco-working-paper-series-on-mobile-learning-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"UNESCO Working Paper Series on Mobile Learning: Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The seventh and eighth papers in the UNESCO Series<\/a> (introduced on EduTechDebate here<\/a>) examine mobile learning in Asia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mobile and policies<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first paper, Turning On Mobile Learning in Asia: Illustrative Initiatives and Policy Implications<\/em><\/a>, describes a range of mobile learning programs and explores how these programs address educational needs in the region. It also surveys national and local policies related to mobile learning and analyzes their impact.<\/p>\n

The paper explains that South Korea has made concerted efforts to improve education with technology.\u00a0 Computers and mobile devices are common in classrooms and teachers and students are, by and large, eager to use them.\u00a0 Recently, the government announced plans to transition from paper textbooks to digital textbooks by 2015.\u00a0 The government wants textbook content to display on a variety of mobile devices including smartphones and larger-screen tablet computers. Leaders of the initiative have been piloting digital textbooks that can be tailored to a student\u2019s individual abilities, interests, and pace of learning.<\/p>\n

Within the past several weeks however, Korean officials, responding to widespread concerns, have promised to slow down and even reconsider the plan.\u00a0 Perhaps surprisingly, the strongest opposition to digital textbooks is not related to doubts about their educational effectiveness or potential.\u00a0 Instead parents and others are worried that young people are overly reliant on digital technologies.\u00a0 A South Korean government survey suggested, for example, that one in 12 students between ages 5 and 9 are addicted to the internet.\u00a0 Many Koreans are concerned that a full shift to digital textbooks could accelerate what is, in some instances, an already unhealthy relationship to information and communication technology.\u00a0 A columnist for the Washington Post recently wrote about the controversy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the past several years, journalists and scholars have exposed a dark side to digital technologies.\u00a0 Bestselling books like The Shallows<\/a> written by Nicolas Carr, who has also moderated an EduTech Debate<\/a>, and Sherry Turkle\u2019s Alone Together<\/a> argue that increasingly ubiquitous (and increasingly mobile) technology may not be good for our brains, our broader health, and perhaps even our productivity.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Should South Korea initiate a full transition from paper to digital textbooks by 2015?<\/li>\n
  2. Are arguments\u2014such as the one Carr made famous in his Atlantic Monthly article Is Google Making Us Stupid<\/a>\u2014compelling enough to slow down well-intentioned efforts to integrate technologies in education?\u00a0
    \n<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a>Mobiles and teacher development<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The second paper Mobile Learning for Teachers in Asia: Exploring the Potential of Mobile Technologies to Support Teachers and Improve Practice<\/em><\/a> looks closely at how a handful of programs have employed mobile devices to support teachers and enhance their professional development.<\/p>\n

    The most significant project described in the paper is Text2Teach (T2T) in the Philippines.\u00a0 This project, unlike a majority of its peers, has aged well: begun in 2003, it has been implemented in 555 schools in nine provinces, trained 1,500 teachers, and impacted over a half a million 5th<\/sup> and 6th<\/sup> grade students.\u00a0 Currently, the project is entering a third phase and planners are hoping to integrate it into broader and more permanent national education plans.<\/p>\n

    At first glance, T2T is simple: it relies on mobile phones to bring educational videos into classrooms.\u00a0 Essentially, teachers download videos aligned with science, mathematics, and English language curriculums using school-purchased mobile phones and then play these videos by attaching the phones to televisions.<\/p>\n

    While T2T owes its success to many factors\u2014from robust partnerships and community \u201cbuy-in\u201d to regular modification\u2014the paper emphasizes the salience of quality that is often overlooked: ease-of-use for teachers.\u00a0 Too often efforts to integrate mobile technologies in education stall because they make life more difficult for already busy (and sometimes overwhelmed) teachers.\u00a0 Mobile learning projects tend to reach schools as \u201cyet-another-thing-to-do,\u201d rather than something that will make teachers\u2019 jobs easier.\u00a0 The approach of T2T is different.\u00a0 Teachers who participate in the project say that it makes lesson planning less time consuming.\u00a0 Each video is accompanied by a suggested lesson plan and this, according to the paper, ensures that T2T \u201cgives teachers more time to spend with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The project\u2014from its inception to its on-the-ground implementation\u2014has sought to make teachers more effective, yes, but also to ensure that they complete less work, not more.\u00a0 Teachers report liking T2T precisely because it makes an already difficult job a bit less difficult.<\/p>\n

    What do you think?<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. How can projects best leverage mobile technologies to improve teachers\u2019 day-to-day jobs?<\/li>\n
    2. What are your ideas for mobile learning projects that might give teachers less to do, instead of more to do?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n

      Don\u2019t miss a moment of the action!<\/h2>\n

      Subscribe now and get the latest articles from Educational Technology Debate sent directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/a><\/form>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The seventh and eighth papers in the UNESCO Series (introduced on EduTechDebate here) examine mobile learning in Asia. Mobile and policies The first paper, Turning On Mobile Learning in Asia: Illustrative Initiatives and Policy Implications, describes a range of mobile learning programs and explores how these programs address educational needs in the region. It also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1306],"tags":[1336,52,1337,382,1327,64,681,1335,633,328,69,1319,1339,1318,1320,1340,1528,1525,39,1338,397,1322],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2429"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2656,"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions\/2656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}