A great mobile applet for education and training

Mobile vs PC – the South African scenario

Like most developing countries, South Africa has a severe technical skills shortage which is compounded by a lack of properly qualified mathematics and science educators. Obviously it needs to use every means available to address this. In an ideal world, learners would be “connected” but the country does not yet possess widespread fixed line bandwidth penetration and, in addition, the cost of personal computing is such that it remains out of reach of the majority of families. Broadcasting solutions or private tuition pose their own problems (see table). Contrast this to mobile penetration which is quite astounding with over 3 million teenagers currently in possession of a Java enabled cell phone. Furthermore, mobile coverage now only excludes the most remote areas of the country and, as 2010 approaches, this will improve even more with the level of coverage set to be upgraded to at least EDGE quality for many rural areas. The cost of mobile delivered data has also come down drastically over the past few months, so that it is now more affordable than ever before. The combination of these factors affords a unique opportunity to deliver mobile learning tools to learners at almost any place and any time. In essence, mobile learning is a narrowcast solution which combines cost and penetration in an extremely favourable manner.

Below follows a comparison of various options ranging from broadcast to private tutoring, evaluated against issues like: asynchronicity, language, ubiquity/penetration, local curriculum, interactivity/interaction, assessment, cost-effectiveness, bandwidth issues. What this summary makes clear is that a narrowcast solution, if developed and planned properly is one of the most flexible options available. On the back of this, MOBI was born – an edutainment application which strives to make affordable, anytime, anywhere tutoring available to everyone with a Java enabled handset. As an edutainment tool, MOBI allows learners to listen to internet Radio or chat using an Instant Messaging system (MOBI chat) with MOBI learn completing its functionality.

MOBI – a local tutor at your fingertips

This applet, which has been developed to run on most handsets, can be downloaded and installed for free. Once installed, it is able to connect to an online server via a mobile wireless protocol such as 3G or GPRS and provides access to almost any learning content. Say we are interested in mathematics: MOBI maths provides learners with various options to access content, the easiest of which is the Quick find option where learners submit a search term and are provided with the available content in one or more of the following modes: Basics, Theory, Examples and Exercises. For Grade 10-12 learners, the first stage of the application, Mobi Assessor runs the leaner through various mathematics questions in order to determine their proficiency in the subject and to establish their stage in the national curriculum. Once the learner has been assessed the Mobi application can automatically lead the learner to areas of maths where they are weakest – or run them through their whole curriculum for revision. Tutorials take the form of streamed videos and examples aimed at explaining precisely different maths concepts and tutorials for maths skills development. The Basic Skills section is aimed at filling gaps in a learner’s maths knowledge from previous years, and will also prove valuable to Grade 8-9 learners, whereas the Theory section focuses on grade-specific background knowledge, complimented by the Example section. The idea behind the Exercise section is that learners first try to solve the problems posted there for themselves, before accessing the solutions offered. The Exercise section is a preparation tool for tests and exams and allows learners to evaluate the depth of their knowledge. Of particular interest to school leavers will be the Previous Papers section, which contains complete solutions – with theoretical background – to the final exam papers of 2004, 2005 and 2006. Of course, it is obvious that no technology can replace a teacher and classroom. Rather, the idea is to enhance classroom learning by providing learners with affordable, anywhere, anytime access to (mathematics) instruction. It is ideally positioned to assist learners in a homework environment as a tutor to assist in the understanding of maths concepts and as a revision tool during test and exam seasons.

MOBI – a corporate tutor for ‘Just in time’ learning

Imagine a large mining company with thousands of workers, representing a number of language groups and different educational skill levels. How can such a company manage repeat training in a cost effective manner? Surely a mobile solution should be an obvious consideration, similar to the one described above. For example.. One of the headaches which corporates often have is that they are required to train their workers for a wide range of procedures and processes, not only as a legal requirement, but also to ensure proper safety procedures are followed in emergency situations. However, there is often a time lapse between the original training and the events that require a particular sequence of actions. It is in this instance that a mobile solution becomes viable. After initial and extensive training, companies can make use of mobile technology as a “Just in Time” (JIT) tool for reinforcing proper behaviour and procedures. If properly conceptualised these solutions can serve as the perfect JIT tool in a wide range of situations – with a minimum of infrastructure investment.

Conclusion

Mobile technology has come a long way since the advent of the first handsets. These devices have multimedia capabilities which allow them to be used in a variety of ways which can all contribute towards bridging the digital divide. While it is important to focus on the role that PC’s can play in doing this, it would be a mistake not to include mobile technology in these efforts as well. While mobile phones do have limitations, there certainly are ways in which to use them creatively in both a private and corporate environment – as is proven by an interactive instruction tool like MOBI.

MOBI can be accessed at: http://www.mymobi.co.za/ or download the mobile applet from your phone by browsing to: www.mymobi.co.za/download