Just when we seemed to be getting on top of e-learning more and more articles are making reference to m-learning!!! 

So what is m-learning? Well, as the name implies it has to do with an ‘m’ word and that word is ‘mobile’. There are a number of sites which provide background information on m-learning and some of these sites are listed at the end of this blog. Whilst we could readily make the assumption that the mobile in m(obile)-learning refers to mobile phones there are other mobile devices that are included in this category. These are mp3 players and PDAs. The technology of these devices is quickly approaching that of a computer. My own mp3 player (Creative: Zen Vision M) has 60 Gigabytes of memory and plays videos as well as audio and slideshows. My 4 year old home pc by comparison has only 80 Gigabytes of memory!!

My PDA has Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer, e-mail, Windows Media Player as well as Bluetooth and WiFi capability. As far as mobile phones are concerned one only has to peruse the seemingly endless stream of advertising for mobile phones to note their growth as a truly multi-function communication device. Rajesh Rastogi in his article Aspects of M-Learning states that the “kind of infitration that mobile phones have reached is astonishing, no other device can come closer, not even computers. Mobiles have a global reach not only in developed countries but also in the third world, they can be found in every village.” (Rastogi, R. 2007) 

The following sites provide more detail on this phenomenom with examples of how m-learning is being used:

http://www.m-learning.org/index.htm

http://www.palm.com/us/education/studies/

http://www.k12handhelds.com/101list.php

This site is particularly good http://www.pjb.co.uk/m-learning/articles.htm

Reference

Rastogi, R. 2007, Aspects of M-Learning, PR_GB.com…News from origin, viewed 6 Ocober 2007, http://pr-gb.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26791&Itemid=9

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