International Mlearning Projects for Adults

MOBILE PHONES AND TABLETS FOR LEARNINGIN POOR AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, AND IN THE U.S. David J. Rosen, Ed.D. Newsome Associates Jamaica Plain, MA Djrosen123@gmail.com

THE CHALLENGE• 20% of U.S. adults are functionally illiterate (National Assessment of Adult Literacy)• Up to 50% lack the basic skills now expected of a high school graduate• In some poor and developing countries in Africa and Asia, for example, the great majority of adults are low-literate or illiterate

AN OPPORTUNITY• Adults with low literacy or poor basic skills may have access to mobile phones.• Recently some projects have focused on basic literacy and/or language skills instruction delivered in a blended model in which Mlearning has played an important role.• Let’s look at some of these projects.

OBJECTIVES• Objective 1: Learn about the extent of the adult illiteracy challenge, and the potential of these services for adults• Objective 2: Learn about and see several mobile phone solutions to this challenge

OBJECTIVES• Objective 3: Learn how teachers of English to adults in the U.S. use mobile phones with their students• Objective 4: Discuss some of the challenges that must be overcome for Mlearning to succeed with low-income, low-literate adults

MLEARNING PROJECTS

BBC JANALA IN BANGLADESH• BBC Janala on Asia Today

BBC JANALA IN BANGLADESH• BBC Janala Adverts

BBC JANALA• BBC Janala (‘Window’), launched in November 2009 as a unique multi- platform project that harnesses multimedia technology to provide affordable education to potentially millions of people in the Bangladeshi- speaking community.

BBC JANALA• There are over 50 million mobile phone users in Bangladesh today – and the number is growing.• By dialing “3000” any of these users can access hundreds of English language audio lessons and quizzes.

BBC JANALA• Content, updated weekly, caters to all levels of experience with ‘Essential English’ for beginners, ‘Pronunciation’ for intermediates and ‘Vocabulary in the News’ for the more advanced• Each lesson lasts three minutes and costs less than the price of a cup of tea from a Dhaka tea stall (3 pence).

BBC JANALA• At the end of December 2009 – a month after launching – over 750,000 calls had been made to the mobile phone service.• It is accompanied by a web site and a TV show, BBC Buzz, a weekly youth entertainment show that places English at the center of young people’s everyday lives.

BBC JANALA• The project is funded by the UK Department for International Development as part of English in Action , a major educational initiative launched in 2008 to raise the language skills of 27 million people by 2017.

USING MOBILE/CELL PHONES IN THE U.S.• 15 strategies for using mobile phones in adult education classes• http:// mlearninginadulte d.wikispaces.com/

CELL PHONES HELP PAKISTANI WOMEN LEARN TO READ• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=126395475&jump=14• http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/

SPACEDED • Short courses in language learning – English Idioms and Expressions – English Grammar • Introduction to

SHORT STORIES WINKSITE• Each story has several pages• Unfortunately, advertising has been added (some of it in poor taste)

SHORT STORIES WINKSITE • http:// winksite.mobi/ djrosen/ shortstories

LEARNER WEBHTTP://RICHMONDLEARNS.COMRICHMOND CALIFORNIA PUBLIC LIBRARY

LEARNER WEB

http://polleverywhere.com

The amazing Pomegranate phone http://www.pomegranatephone.com/

THE MLEARNING WIGGIO GROUP• An international online community of practice, not sponsored by an organization, launched in November, 2009• Purpose: Share and discuss information about Mlearning, for example SMS text messaging education projects or practices, that is focused on adult learners in the U.S. and on adult learners, out-of-school youth, and teachers in developing countries• To Join: email David Rosen

International Mlearning Projects for Adults

by David Rosen on Nov 16, 2011

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