In 2010 the U.S. Department of Education introduced the National Education Technology Plan calling for “applying the advanced technologies used in our daily personal and professional lives to our entire education system to improve student learning and accelerate and scale up the adoption of effective practices.”

The Education Department points out that while most learning today takes place in classrooms utilizing textbooks and depends on the relationship between individual educators and their students, outside of the classroom students' lives are filled with access to technology 24/7 that gives them the ability to create multimedia content and participate in online social networks where they can share, learn and collaborate with people all over the world.

In keeping with the Education Department’s Technology Plan, the 21^st Century Fluency Project recently published an extensive well-researched argument to make a case for embracing mobile learning opportunities in our classrooms.

Consider the implications of these eye-opening stats:

• According to Ambient Insight’s Market Report on mLearning, in 2010, the top five adopters of mLearning (mobile learning) were the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Together these five countries accounted for about 70% of the 2010 market. By 2015 they will account for only 40% with the highest growth rates in China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil.
• A 2011 Horizon Report indicates that by 2015, 80% of people accessing the Internet will be doing so from mobile devices.
• According to American Ambient Insight Report 2011, 39% of organizations were already making use of mobile learning. They reported a growth rate of 29.3% among U.S. corporations buying mobile learning, including IBM, Kraft and Pepsi.
• The Ambient Insight Mobile Learning Market Forecast 2009-2014 reports that the mobile learning market will reach $9.1 billion by 2015. The worldwide market for mobile learning products and services reached $3.2 Billion in 2010.
• Estimates are that 75% of the workforce in the US is already mobile, and IDC predicts that by 2015 the numbers, worldwide, will reach 1.3 billion or a staggering 37.2% of global workforce.
• According to ASTD research on mobile learning, easily accessible reference material, performance support, and video represent the top three uses of mobile devices.
• Towards Maturity Benchmark Study 2012-2013 confirms that the industry sectors with the highest use of mobile devices are: consultancy (80%); commercial training providers (60%); further and higher education (55%) and IT and telecoms (55%)

In its plan, the Education Department acknowledges the need to change “…what and how we teach to match what people need to know, how they learn, and where and when they learn and change our perception of who needs to learn.” These eye-opening global stats certainly confirm the need to create technologically-relevant learning experiences for our students beyond the limits of the classroom that mirror their daily lives and the global realities that await them.

Visit the 21^st Century Fluency Project website for more mobile learning stats.

What’s your opinion? Include your comments below or on our Long Island Living Discussion Forum.

[Sources: U.S. Dept. of Education, 21^st Century Fluency Project]