Media Services. UNESCO.12.12.2011-Education Sector.The first UNESCO Mobile Learning Week, organized in partnership with Nokia, will be held at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris to discuss the use of mobile technologies in education through an international experts’ meeting (12-14 December) and a symposium (14-16 December).
A diverse group of stakeholders will explore the potential and challenges of mobile learning in a world with over 5.3 billion mobile subscribers, approximately 90% of the planet’s population.
Mobile technologies not only expand access to information and education, they can also transform education itself by spurning new forms of literacy and new contexts for teaching and learning. They have been used to provide access to distance education for teachers in remote areas in Mozambique; to enable the development of literacy among girls in Pakistan; to motivate young learners in South Africa to read and nurture an interest in mathematics; to enable access to literacy among adult women in Niger; to reinforce communication systems between principals and teachers in Kenya; and to enhance administration systems in schools in Mongolia.
However, globally there are very few national policies directly related to the support of mobile learning and for the most part mobile learning is only beginning to be considered seriously by departments of education. There is thus a great deal of work to be done, and in particular to advise UNESCO Member States on the potential and challenges of mobile learning
Mobile technologies not only expand access to information and education, they can also transform education itself by spurning new forms of literacy and new contexts for teaching and learning. They have been used to provide access to distance education for teachers in remote areas in Mozambique; to enable the development of literacy among girls in Pakistan; to motivate young learners in South Africa to read and nurture an interest in mathematics; to enable access to literacy among adult women in Niger; to reinforce communication systems between principals and teachers in Kenya; and to enhance administration systems in schools in Mongolia.
However, globally there are very few national policies directly related to the support of mobile learning and for the most part mobile learning is only beginning to be considered seriously by departments of education. There is thus a great deal of work to be done, and in particular to advise UNESCO Member States on the potential and challenges of mobile learning
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