Mobile Cloud Learning for Education Sector

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Mobile Cloud Learning for Education Sector

Cloud computing is the current technology that has numerous benefits and advantages and it is an easily adoptable technology in today’s world. The main benefit of utilizing this technology is that it minimizes the cost effectiveness for the development and implementation of software, hardware, and license for everyone (Issham Siti, Johari and Rozhan 34- 43). As it follows, this is the best time to analyze the implementation of the cloud and the technology behind it. In addition to this, the technology can also be utilized for the creation of low cost and quality education for all over the world (Rao, Sasidhar and Satyendra, 42- 47). The main objective of this paper is to examine the behavior of learners and the different ways in which they can take advantage of the cloud- education learning system that is designed and adapted for institutions, and delivered via private portable devices like mobiles, laptops, Smartphone PDA, among others.

Case Study

Educational technologies are commonly used today in most systems of education all over the world for different purposes, like managing the learning and the teaching process, delivering knowledge and enabling communication between instructors and learners, and between the students (Kukulska-Hulme and Traxler 123- 134). A great majority of current studies have indicated that the main issues affecting the development and the implementation of effective learning technologies are the considerations of extreme knowledge in designing effective learning environments for the technologies, and the adoption of enough pedagogical paradigms that utilize the special applications of the technology appropriately. The same studies indicate that local conditions such as cultural, economical, political, ethnographical, sociological and geographical circumstance play a pivotal role in the development and implementation of these technologies (Eshet-Alkalai and Aydin 32- 7).

Considering all these factors, the Middle East is a challenging and unique economical, geographical, political and cultural region, especially with its heterogeneous nature. The region has numerous, different cultures, religion, languages, and, as a result, several special considerations have to be put in mind during the development and designing of this technology. For example, the countries in the region vary widely economically; some are extremely wealthy while others are extremely poor. This, hence, requires adoption of special mixture of policies to ensure that the poor countries can cope with the expensiveness of these technologies. Technology- wise the countries also differ. Some are extremely advanced while others are in their early stages of adopting technologies (Eshet-Alkalai and Aydin 32- 7).

However, mobile learning can be designed in such a way that can be used and accessed by different users in the Middle East. M- Learning has been indicated to be an unobtrusive, personal, spontaneous, ‘anywhere, anytime’ method of learning and of accessing tools used in education and material that makes access to education larger for all individuals. This technology has also been indicated as a method of learning that is borderless; meaning that it can reach individuals in the most remote areas where there are no schools, tutors, libraries and schools (Ally 23- 45).

This ability to reach remote areas and new audiences in places that have not been discovered is especially relevant in such regions as the Middle East that is essentially an extremely challenging region for young people to obtain education. The ability for this kind of education to reach these regions has particularly been facilitated by the penetration of mobile phones, whose numbers have been indicated to have almost doubled for the last five or so years; the use of mobile phones has also been indicated to have overcome the use of landline internet access, as well as, the use of personal computers. As a result, mobile learning would be the best and the most advantageous educational technology in the region (Wellman 1).

M-Learning Applications

However, in order to realize the potential of mobile phones in providing quality educational tools, accessible and effective ways of offering high quality mobile learning are needed (Biggs 23-34). Mobile learning makes use of PDAs, handheld voting systems, pocket PC (Tremblay 217- 227), mobile telephones and handheld computers and other devices whose built is based on the same functionalities (Callaway 1). Mobile learning, however, using computers that handheld is relatively immature in terms of pedagogies and technology in the Middle East though it is definitely evolving (Smith and Ragan 12- 19). Today, research on mobile learning in both the developing and developed worlds has solely focused on the utilization of smart phones and handheld computers. It has been indicated that little research is available on mobile learning for simpler devices, something that must be quickly resolved to ensure that less fortunate countries in the Middle East and the rest of the world get access to high quality mobile learning (Traxler 1-12). SMS have been indicated to be effective tools for M-learning that can be applied in regions were resources are limited, as well as, podcasting (Clark, Westcott, and Taylor 23- 34).

Use of the technology in Education

These devices can help enhance mobile learning which can be useful in educational systems in various ways, since it implemented solely for use in education through the use of cloud computing (Haaff 1). The main purpose of mobile learning is that students can access knowledge from a central resource that is shared (Caruso and Salaway 67-98). They can do so anywhere, at anytime they want at a free or subsidized cost. This system can be used by learners to learn from any source about any topic of their choice without necessarily having to everything in their device. As it follows, students can access as much data as they wish from the cloud data centers for education on certain topics over their handsets even when they are at a small and inaccessible village. A student, for example, might want to learn about JAVA from their homes, villages, agricultural works or lands (Gregson and Jordaan 67- 89).

Response of Learners

The response of learners to this learning method has been indicated to be excellent, especially with most studies divided on as to whether the current young people natively communicate through the language of mobile phones, social networks, and the Internet. Today’s learners have been indicated to have more readily embraced learning and educational technologies than other traditional learning methods, as these new learning methods allow them to share their knowledge and experiences through online sites. Students have also been indicated to show better learning behaviors while using these learning technologies as they are flexible, a ‘fun’ way to learn, and manageable (Hug 123- 139).

User Behavior

A recent survey indicated that a large percentage of students own and use mobile phones and personal laptops. Most students in the study indicated that such devices as mobile phones and laptops are must haves, and that these devices must be portable and accessible to a reliable internet connection (Smith, Salaway and Caruso 1). Students wanted to be able to learn in an environment that allowed them to study while sitting with their friends in an informal place, to utilize their devices, and to have a reliable source of Internet, power and printing services (Steven and Teasley 88- 92). The students used the applications to find their friends, to access class information about timetables, assignments, and to be able to access lectures that were streamed directly into their devices (Mitchell 1).

Conclusion

Educational technologies are commonly used for various things in today’s education system. The uses of these technologies widely vary. They are, for example, used by students to access information from a central source, like a teacher’s site or an online blackboard. The applications are numerous given the fact that several devices can be used for M-learning. Such devices include handheld phones, laptops and smart phones. One thing that has become apparent is that most of the M-learning applications and technologies are only useful when installed in smart devices. As it was seen, simpler devices do not have the capacity to handle such applications. It is, therefore, essential for the concerned parties to come up with ways in which these M-learning technologies can be used in simpler devices that less fortunate students can afford and easily access.

Works cited

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