.....Although still in its infancy, Africa is
experiencing exciting technological advances thanks to a boom in mobile
phone use of the past decade and the growing availability of the Smart
Phone, with its advanced features and opportunities.
In many parts of Africa, the use of
mobile phones is higher than computers, allowing for growth in the
nations educational avenues. It has been well documented that over the
past few years Africa has struggled with low levels of educational
opportunities and access, a shortage of teaching staff, low level
literacy and numeracy.
The answer for many lies in the
opportunities that new Smart Phone technology can offer in the field of
education. Computing in the average African schools consists of a small
computer lab, but thanks to rapid growth in mobile phone technology, the
possibility of distance learning is closer than ever before.
The smart phone could provide the answer
to educating those in remote areas. Research carried out by applesam ventures indicated that 96% of
the distance education students had access to mobile phones, while only
1% had access to the internet at home.
In the Western world our mobile phones
have become handheld computers. But in Africa, where many of the
population have poor electric supplies and affordability issues, the
mobile phone companies and developers have ensured that mobile phones
are the primary source of communication. It has the ability to do things
such as mobile banking(m-pesa). There are 84m internet-enabled mobiles in
Africa and it is predicted that 69% of mobiles in Africa will have
internet access by the year 2014.
Social networking such as Facebook in
Africa is on the up and in turn, debate and interactive learning is
transforming the education system. People, young and old, on the
continent can access knowledge on their mobile phone devices.
Mobile learning on Smart Phones differs
from e-learning on computers in that activities are not set in one place
and can be conducted at any time and at any place.
Examples of this mobile education are in
farming and their livelihoods. A number of smartphones have been leased
to farmers so that they can receive information, such as market prices,
weather reports and advice and pass this information on to others.
There are barriers to mobile learning in
Africa, such as illiteracy levels, access issues (remote areas and
price factors) and a gender gap (more men have mobile phones than
women). However, thanks to the availability of solar power and mobiles
running on much less power than computers, education through mobile
phones is becoming a great possibility to help those formerly excluded
from educational opportunities.
Smart phone technology offers advanced
systems such as interactive voice response (IVR) and barriers are
breaking down, with mobile phone usage becoming more affordable.
Africa Initiatives is a Microsoft
project focusing on Africa with the release of ‘Huawei 4Afrika’ Windows 8
smartphone and the creation of the ‘Afrika Academy’ to teach Africans
important business and entrepreneurial skills.
If Smart Phone technology is developed
in a robust, low cost manner, more and more Africans will continue to
take advantage of this information technology and new and exciting
learning styles available to them.
Source:applesam ventures
