Tring-a-teacher times

Teaching methods like video-conference classes and e-learning that fuelled the evolution of education will take yet another big leap with mobi classesu00a0

Computers are cheap in India, and so's the Internet. Still, sadly, Web penetration in the country is a mere three per cent of its total population. Nevertheless, that small segment is busy maximising the cellphone's prowess.u00a0

And going by the way even those in rural areas are growing cell-friendlier by the day, mobile phones are all set to usher in another revolution in literacy.u00a0



What are mobi classes?
It's as simple as it sounds:u00a0 teaching through mobile phones, or just incorporating them in the education system as an assistance tool. Take the case of mathematics-based game Sudoku, which is extremely popular and brain sharpening. It's a hit on phones. Similarly, for management education, a complete business development game,u00a0 which will help trainees and students understand the nuances of business, are under development in technological labs across the world. "The cellphone has a huge scope of broadening the educational spectrum. 3G classes are what I'm waiting for," says Arunava, an IIM aspirant.

Educationists and students are clearly upbeat. " I think I would like to a part of this experimental way of learning. It's certainly the next big thing," says Viral Bodh, a Delhi University student.

Making it work
Mobile phones are accessible anytime and anywhere, that too at reasonable rates, thus reducing travel and paper costs, among others. Then, they're not complicated in the way of working. No wonder there's no jargon asu00a0 'mobile literacy'.

Also, it's extremely convenient to localise the content according to language, something that the World Wide Web' fails to accommodate when it comes to vernacular versions. According to industry reports, there're 14 times more mobile Internet users than broadband subscribers. So, there's the point.u00a0

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The hiccupsu00a0u00a0
As good as it may sound, there're several physical, technical and behavioural challenges to watch out for. First, teachers can't mediate the usage of phones when students move out of an institution's premises. It's here that the involvement of parents becomes all the more relevant.

Monitoring is a must to prevent misuse. But before that, it becomes all the more important that parents are open to this nextgen method when it comes to their young kids.

Children, too, are wary of anything that starts to preach, so they might just want to throw their sets away.u00a0 Lack of memory, battery backup, and Internet connectivity may be other problem areas. But as educationist Sameer Nair puts it, "Where's there's a cell, there's a way!"