 My name is Abdrahman Umar and I work for the Commonwealth of Learning. In this video you will be introduced to the concept of mobile learning, often referred to as M Learning. What is M Learning? How is it defined? You will also learn about the range of purposes for which mobile learning is used. Finally, you will learn about examples of successful mobile learning projects in different parts of the world. By the end of this lecture you should be able to define mobile learning, take the purposes for which mobile learning is used in education, give examples of mobile learning projects in different parts of the world. We start with the definition. What is mobile learning? Mobile learning is the use of mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, computers, e-readers, iPads, etc., either alone or in combination with other technologies in order to promote learning anywhere and anytime. Mobile devices are digital, portable, can be used to access the internet and can perform a variety of tasks. The ownership and use of mobile devices, particularly mobile phones, are widespread in both developed and developing countries. According to the International Telecommunications Union report 2012, mobile cellular subscription in developing countries has grown steadily from a mere 7.9% in 2001 to 78.8% by 2011 in a period of only 10 years. Developing countries constitute the fastest growing market for mobile phones and based on current trends in mobile phone ownership will surpass the developed world by 2020. Thus of all the mobile devices, the mobile phone seems to be the most promising one for Africa and the rest of the developing world. This is mainly because the mobile penetration rate is very high. Mobile subscription was about 561 million by 2012. Now, some of the questions educators and education policy makers often ask about technologies, about mobile technologies include what are the educational uses of mobile devices. There are examples of best practices of the use of mobile devices for teaching and learning which are the subjects that can be taught using mobile devices. Mobile technologies are used in education for a variety of purposes. The range of purposes for which these devices are used include 1. Program administration. SMS text messages are used to provide information of an administrative nature and to engender a greater sense of belonging among students. Monitoring student progress and being proactive to encourage students and support retention. Provision of learner support is another purpose. The delivery of cost content. The teaching of school subjects such as mathematics, science, social sciences and languages is another purpose. Organizing and delivering quizzes and games that are designed to enhance learning is another possibility. Organizing context specific activities for example museum visits and also using mobile devices as a tool to enhance classroom learning is another possibility. We can also have whole course delivery including assessment and accreditation using mobile devices. Another possibility is provision of work based and just in time learning. Learners and teachers on all parts of the developed and developing world use mobile devices such as mobile phones, iPads, tablet computers to access learning and teaching materials. Discuss and share information with other learners or teachers and our teacher educators and engage in collaborative activities. There are good examples of the uses of mobile learning in developed and developing countries aimed at promoting access to education, educational equity and quality. Let us take a brief look at three of the examples. The M Learning Project in the United Kingdom for example. The M Learning Project was implemented in 2001-2004 in order to help young adults that is 16 to 24 year olds who dropped out of school failures to engage in relevant and collaborative learning in non-formal learning environments. Mobile devices were used not only to deliver content to the learners but also to facilitate effective communication collaborative work and communication in the learning process. Another example is the English Action Trainer in the Pocket Project in Bangladesh. This is a nine year program which will provide professional development to 25,000 teachers by 2017. The training in your pocket as it is called is one of the mobile devices used to provide teachers professional development opportunities and thereby promote the goals of the English Action Project in Bangladesh. It is a project that is being funded by the DFID in Great Britain. The training in your pocket is a mobile device I thought during the pilot phase was used but currently they are using a low cost mobile phone which contains a range of teacher professional development materials including video and audio which can be easily accessed by teachers anyhwia and at any time. In addition to professional development materials these devices include a suite of audio resources for teachers to use in the classroom to support the national cost textbook. Teachers were also supplied with a portable rechargeable speaker. The training in your pocket set of professional development resources to support primary teachers or learning include 18 video clips and four audio recordings that exemplified a range of correct and incorrect English communicative language teaching classroom practices. It is intended for teachers to use on their own. Another example is the MoMath Project in South Africa. The MoMath Project is a collaborative effort by the South African Department of Education and Nokia. It commenced in 2007 and uses mobile phones to deliver mathematics content and support to grade 10 students. The math content delivered through mobile phones is based on the country's national curriculum approved by the Department of Education. The local mobile network operators provide free access to the learning materials. Students who are able to access the materials answer test questions, do exercises participate in competitions and receive reminders about their assignments through text messages. As at 2011 MoMath had 25,000 learners, 500 teachers and 172 schools in four provinces. The findings of the evaluation of the project indicated that the students' competency in mathematics increased by 14%. Apart from these three examples that I cited, there are many other examples of successful projects that use M-learning to improve the quality of education and or broaden access to quality education for all social groups, particularly marginalized groups as articulated in the education for all EFA goals and the MDG goals. Mobile devices constitute affordable media for extending educational opportunities to learners, particularly marginalized groups who do not have access to schooling. Mobile learning can be used to promote equality of educational opportunity among people living in remote areas or nomadic communities whose mode of life makes it difficult, very difficult for them to benefit from existing educational provisions. This introductory video has focused on what is meant by mobile learning, the purposes for which it is used and gave examples of successful mobile learning initiatives in different parts of the world. This will be explored in greater detail in the course. Thank you.