If you look around the coffee shop, the mall, or even walk down the street, you will see hundreds of users utilizing mobile technology. With the innovations in smartphones, the introduction of tablets, and the increase in free WiFi, mobile computing and usage has risen fast. With this increase, users are using the versatile mobile technology to increase their success in education. At the start of mobile learning, college students used their smartphones to track assignments, email professors, and find information for projects. Now the technology is expanding.
In the past year, middle and high school campuses have started to test tablets in the classroom. With a nearly unlimited array of apps available for download, these slim mobile devices are proving to be a useful tool in teaching all subjects. While students get a hands-on tech experience while learning, teachers are able to customize the tablets to match their lesson plans.
These tablets have been used to help achieve a better understanding of biology, math, geography, and even art. As students are able to see the lessons come alive in the palms of their hands, videos and apps offer a more real visualization of what is being taught.
Online Courses and Mobile Tech:
With the growth in mobile technology, there is also a growth in online college courses and e-learning. As users are able to access their assignments, grades, and courses from nearly anywhere, many students are choosing distance learning as an alternative to attending a campus.
As many students are also working full time jobs, online courses offer the ability to study when they are available and work with any schedule. Because of the lack of jobs, decreasing economic conditions and downsizing, many workers are choosing to go back to school and change careers. This is creating an older population of students that would rather learn from the comfort of home than share a classroom with younger students. With laptops, tablets, and smartphones becoming more affordable, online students are using them as tools to succeed in their studies.
Cheaper Supplies:
Online shopping has always been cheaper than brick and mortar stores. With tablets and e-readers, even books are cheaper online than at the nearest Barnes and Nobles. This has sparked the need and creation of e-textbooks for college students that are offered at a much lower price than purchasing the hard copy.
This need has even led to Apple’s creation of iBooks, an app where students can download textbooks. These books are cheaper than the campus bookstore and allows for a digital copy of the book that can be viewed on multiple Apple devices.
Technology will always change the way we live our lives, complete our tasks, and even learn new things. As mobile technology grow, so will the need to create innovative ways to use that technology in our everyday studies and assignments. Education and technology has always gone hand in hand and students are seeing the value of mobile technology with better grades, more options, and more comfortable study environments.
Christine Jensen is a business writer earning an online mba marketing degree to further her career.