The definitive role of mobile apps on remote learning is already established. Particularly in recent times, after the Covid pandemic gripped the world, millions of regular students worldwide started to adopt mobile learning to stay safe from the contagion. The continuous administrative measures to curb the contagion through extended lockdown most affected the students and their studies. According to UNESCO, more than one and a half billion students participated in remote learning at the peak of the Covid pandemic. Undoubtedly, mobile learning apps account for the majority of the remote learning solutions students rely upon.
The surge in remote learning affected students’ learning approach in an unprecedented manner, even when the pandemic slowly began to recede. Even the students who returned to their campuses began to positively take the remote learning solutions, and a good portion of them continued to rely on these remote learning apps. Remote learning mobile apps set the trends for the educational sector in a never-before manner in the past year.
In this context, it is entirely legitimate to inquire about the immediate and far-reaching impact of mobile remote learning apps on educational culture. The pandemic-led scenario brought a new world of opportunities and challenges for eLearning app developers and the tech community engaged in mobile learning solutions. For them, it is essential to shedding some light on the issues, concerns, best practices, and trends corresponding to the development of mobile learning apps. This is what we are going to do through this small blog post.
Common Grounds Shared by Traditional eLearning and Mobile Learning
Despite the common thread shared by the mobile learning apps with traditional eLearning platforms, the former proves to be more effective, efficient, and impactful than the latter in many ways. This is why after emerging as a subset of eLearning, mLearning or mobile learning apps outgrown the traditional eLearning sector.
Some of the common attributes shared by eLearning and mobile learning include the following.
- Ease of access to the most advanced knowledge base and constantly updated information is common to eLearning and mobile learning apps.
- Another common attribute is a flexible self-regulated study schedule and curriculum of choice for facilitating learning at one’s preferred pace and time.
- Faster evaluation and feedback-based learning, and constant inputs from the global learning community is other common advantage shared by both.
- Easy access to all types of knowledge repositories available over the web for quick reference and assessment is a common benefit shared by both.
- Community-based learning and collaboration to work on different perspectives and creative exposure to different ideas and approaches from people of diverse backgrounds and cultures is a crucial advantage shared by online educational websites and mobile learning apps.
Benefits of eLearning Apps on the Whole Education Sector
Now that we have explained the key value propositions offered by the whole online learning programs, including mobile learning, we can set apart mobile learning apps and explain their distinct advantages separately. Here below, we explain them.
- Mobile learning apps offer a constructivist learning approach with flexible and learner-adjustable methods focusing on increased participation and hands-on skill development based on practical contexts.
- Mobile learning apps positively impact student participation in the educational curriculum, ensure higher retention and engagement levels, enhance performance, and inspire learning behavior.
- The mobile learning app also transforms the learning spaces with new tools and measures to align educational objectives, new and innovative learning methodologies, and more spaces for creative brainstorming.
- The mobile learning apps created more scope for collaborative learning through meaningful interactions inside or outside the classroom and more fluid and seamless communication between students and teachers.
- Thanks to mobile apps, learning became more self-directed, ensuring more flexibility, convenience, ease, and informal access to learning content.
- Mobile learning apps created a mutually beneficial space where just like students, teachers and instructors are also enjoying more flexibility, freedom, and easy access to significant resources with simple taps on the screen.
- Exposure to the latest and evolving technology landscape is a great advantage of mobile educational apps. Thanks to the innovative uses of these technologies, the learning experience continues to get better and more engaging.
- Mobile learning freed learning from the clutches of institutional control and higher costs and ensured democratization of education with affordable cost and easier access.
Challenges faced by Mobile Learning apps
Mobile learning has its own darker sides as well. Despite all the advantages, mobile-based educational apps are still beleaguered by a wide array of challenges. If you are developing an educational app, give attention to the process of hiring remote developers who are aware of the issues faced by educational apps. Let’s have a glance at these challenges and issues.
- The biggest challenge is making the app design align with pedagogical objectives and delivering the content most engagingly.
- From the perspectives of the teachers and educators, the most prominent issues are lack of ease, difficulties in using the latest features to their advantage, excess workload to teaching students, difficulties in staying updated on the latest technologies and trends.
- The concerns corresponding to compatibility with devices and OS platforms, network coverage, cost of equipment are crucial concerns for the learners.
- Another major challenge the students face is the wide array of online distractions they encounter through different apps, from their luring contents and notifications.
- For educational institutions, the mobile learning apps challenge creating new IT infrastructure and getting onboard new teaching staff and resources versed with mobile-based learning solutions.
Meeting the Evolving Learner Expectations
It is well known now that the demographics of learners worldwide are continuously changing, and their expectations from the learning programs are constantly evolving. Mobile learning apps seem to fit nicely in these expectations and requirements.
In our technology-driven society and world of employment, being versed with the latest technologies and tools has become a crucial criterion. This is where mobile learning solutions already exposed to the latest technologies and tools can help students sharpen their tech skills and get their common knowledge and training.
The fast-evolving job market expectations from students give the final push to mobile learning. No wonder an increasing number of corporate training programs and business education curriculums have now embraced mobile learning apps.
Conclusion
The future of remote learning seems brighter than ever before simply because of the mobile learning solutions. App-based learning is almost on the verge of revolutionizing the education sector. The present and the future of education can hardly be discussed without reference to mobile learning apps.
