Abstract |
More than a billion and a half people around the world now own a mobile phone. This gives educators the opportunity to explore the possibility of making the mobile phone an important educational tool in developed and developing countries. Specifically, the ubiquity of Short Messaging or SMS technologies has already been proven popular as a form of communication, particularly in Asia and Europe – more so than in North America. This paper describes the experience of a major project being underway, studying SMS mobile applications for non-formal educational purposes in the Philippines. The initiative, called Project MIND (Mobile Technology Initiatives for Non-Formal Education), studies the viability of using SMS as part of a blended learning package for distance non-formal education. We have so far produced learning modules on English and Math students in the Philippines and preliminary results of the pilot will be highlighted in this paper. |