With the vast increase, availability and affordability in
portable devices to include Smartphones, Blackberries,
Tablets, and iPhones to name a few, formal education has migrated out of the
walls of the classroom. With the multimedia capabilities of these devices, education
reformers have ceased the opportunity to use the devices as vehicles to
transform learning for the 21st century.
Though these devices are mainly seen as recreational tools,
the learning opportunities they present are remarkable. It is widely believed that they bridge the gap
between the learner and the wider world. Children now have unlimited access to
information and experts on the web. Learning is no longer limited to the walls
of a classroom.
Teachers now have access to their students outside of
regular schedule hours. This means that students can be so engaged through
educational forums, blogs, podcast, and other means to make a subject matter or
content more understandable and concrete. Students who are sick or maybe absent
from school for no reason will now be able to access information delivered, process
and assimilate at one’s own pace; therefore facilitating personalized learning.
Using a portable device, students can access supplementary materials to
clarify ideas introduced in a classroom, ensuring that learning which happens
inside and outside classrooms is mutually supportive. The essence is;
students no longer have to be sitting in a classroom to learn or receive
information about a particular topic. Students are now assessable by teachers
at any time anywhere.
Portable learning technologies can afford teachers a
flexible approach to teaching and learning with their students in a variety of
locations, and this learning is encouraged to continue outside of classroom
hours.
Listed
below are a number of web addresses that support the use of portable devices to
enhance learning.
