Mobile Learning Opens New Chapter In Education

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Mobile learning opens new chapter in education

25 Jul, 2008, 0320 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: If you find classroom teaching boring or computer sessions a little too tiring then it’s time to break the mould and switch over to learning on the go! Now, you can take lessons in maths, English and science and also do your training on your mobile and PDAs. And what more, you can also take your preparatory tests, such as CAT and IIT-JEE, on your handset. Some firms, such as EnableM, Tata Interactive, 24X7 Learning, Airtel, IMS and NIIT, are working overtime to make this possible.

While companies are offering small training modules for employees, coaching and content development institutes in the education space are tying up with mobile operators to offer such services. EnableM, a mobile content distribution firm, for one, has tied up with Harper Collins, Britannica for content aggregation and dissemination. It also has institutional tie-ups with University of Florida, Haifa University, Israel, CDAC, Media Lab Asia to deliver content and basic course modules on maths, English, science. A new entrant in the mobile learning space, it launched a module — maths for mobile — four months back. The company is now planning to launch My Sports Pal in India. The programme aims at making maths interesting using sports. “Mlearning, though in a nascent stage in India, has huge potential,” says EnableM CEO Amit Zaveri. “Going forward, you will see more action happening in the space.”

India is witnessing rapid growth in mobile and internet penetration. With 250 million mobile subscribers and about 42 million internet connections, the market is huge and growing. Analysts believe convergence of mobile, internet, and TV services on a single gadget will lead to increased awareness and popularity of this form of education in the next few years.

Airtel on the other hand, has plans to launch a small reference module on mobile for employees in the next two months. Employees can access information on leave, company policy et al from a central server by sending an SMS. Second step would be to launch customer service information on the handsets. If things work fine, the company may go ahead with it’s plans of introducing it’s course on mobile in the future. “We are exploring this medium as it looks like an exciting platform. To start with, we will look at delivering content for frontline employees in sales and customer service,” says Krishnamurthy Shankar, director-HR, Airtel.

Such a medium has multiple benefits. One, it offers an interactive learning experience; two, accessibility of mobile devices in remote areas. The platform can be used anywhere, anytime, including schools, home or when in transit. It engages learners and is far cheaper than computers. Applect Learning Systems director Ritesh Hemrajani says, it will also help us to reach the bottom end of the pyramid with some learning solution as these are the people who are still some time away from computers and the internet. He believes, it will serve as an effective education platform even in basic formats of entry level products. This has led Applect to prepare solutions on the same.

The firm is trying to come up with different applications — the static applications, which will be downloadable from the Applect site and third party neutral sites. Initially, it will be in the form of free question banks. Effort will be to get more and more people to download while subsequent advance versions may require cost to download. Secondly, a premium dynamic service which will take care of assessment led learning and will provide a customised feedback and learning content. “We are trying to tie-up with a couple of mobile operators for this and also to expand the area of value added services in the field of education,” Hemrajani.

NIIT, on the other hand, has been doing it for the last one year through PDAs and the company claims a huge response. “Companies would take it up as it’s an extremely cost effective medium of training,” says Vipul Rastogi, senior VP and head enterprise solutions, NIIT. The IT education firm says it has created content for the world leader in direct selling of FMCG goods that was imparted using PDA as one of the medium to impart training. Another instance is of an ‘Experience Programme’ to build brand ambassadors for its category which encompasses over 200 products, including nutritional food supplements in liquid, powder, food bar, tablet, and capsule form. The program included a comprehensive health assessment and consultation, facility tours, and presentations on health concepts. It is also in talks with a beverage major for a big project in mobile learning.