Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Is mLearning Really 'The Future'

I've once again stumbled across another presentation that decries mLearning as 'The Future' of learning. This time, this very detailed and well presented article by Marcus Ragus got me thinking...

...Is mLearning the future or is mLearning all around us already?
I've seen many presentations over the past few years declaring mLearning 'the future'. I would like to challenge that not only is the future now, the uptake of mLearning is greater than most of us realize.

The challenge is that the modern generation of learners are quick to challenge any label and to them, mLearning or Learning 2.0, or Social Network Learning, or any of the newest trend buzzwords is simply business as usual.

In helping my wife with some Spanish language podcasts and a quick search we found hundreds of teachers producing podcasts for their students.

mLearning is here now, it just has defied labeling- it is business as usual.

2 comments:

Calvin Taylor said...

It must certainly be acknowledged that there is MLearning going on in some schools. However, in the vast majority (especially in Australia) this is not the case. Still, informal learning by young people (the 'digital natives' - Prensky) occurs in spite of schools banning their use in class.
What we desperately need is research and understanding about appropriate pedagogies and educational structures to support and make the best out of this type of learning. Therefore, blogs and sites like this, that raise and discuss these concerns are vitally important.

jnxyz said...

I agree that in Australia it is a long way off. Does exist in pockets, but in Qld, the school interent makes it very difficult to subscribe to and post podcasts etc. Computer labs are well established, but wireless hasn;t spread much beyond Victoria, and handhelds are still being trialed. A sad state when yes, the mobile already exists everywhere else...
www.mlearnxyz.net