Mobile learning

I attended a workshop on mobile learning today, organised by the eLearning Alliance. Eleven people attended, representing diverse organisations ranging from Lanarkshire Council to The Royal College of Surgeons.

It was a good event, and I learnt a lot about current developments. The presenter highlighted the huge growth in Internet access via mobile devices, from 0.02% of web traffic in 2009 to 13% in 2011, reflecting the huge penetration of mobile phones among the general population (94%). He also went over some of the benefits of mobile learning ("m-learning"), which include convenience (you have it with you most of the time), cost (it's cheaper than buying PCs and infrastructure), and well suited to delivering learning-on-demand.

SQA was the first awarding body in the UK to deliver an entire course via mobile phone (the original Internet Safety award), and we have recently updated those materials to look better on modern smartphones and tablet computers. I'm sure, in the coming years, we will provide many more qualification in this way.

You can learn more about mobile learning here. Contact Caroline if you want to know more about the new Internet Safety award.