view from UNESCO
This week saw the third iteration of UNESCO’s symposium on the world of mobile learning in Paris, with over 200 delegates from governments, ministries, corporates and education providers from around the world. Headed by an energetic Steve Vosloo, UNESCO’s team put on a fine event with excellent speakers, panels, workshops and a ‘walking gallery’ of exhibitors. UNESCO are providing excellent support to educators by helping to bring issues of pedagogy, best practice and funding in mobile learning to open discussions.
This new field is exploding rapidly and many of us see this as radically changing education opportunities and practices – especially in the developing world – in the next few years. To help educators, learners and policymakers get the best from these opportunties, UNESCO has invested a lot in these events and in publishing their Policy Guidelines for Mobile Learning (available here).
A key player in the Mobile Learning Week and in the field of Mobile Learning is the mEducation Alliance, founded and led by Tony Bloome of USAID in Washington DC.
Tony has created a wide-ranging global network of mobile learning professionals, providing leadership and direction for a new field and bringing together members from both public and private sectors to share and network.
The mEducation Alliance, whose secretariat is headed by Rebekah Levi, has been running summer Symposia in Washington DC to help build and exchange expertise in this field (see website below for more on the future events).
Tony leads a steering committee comprised of specialists from across the different sectors and across the globe, and ensures everyone is committed to developing the Alliance further to support educators and providers bring quality education to learners, especially those disadvantaged and poorly served.
A key focus has been using mobile learning to improve literacy, and the Alliance along with the key support of USAID is working on bringing new ideas, best use of technology, and new ways to train teachers to the support of that goal.
The mEducation Alliance has more: http://www.meducationalliance.org/
More on the UNESCO events here: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/themes/icts/m4ed/unesco-mobile-learning-week/speakers/