6 Uses of Mobile Devices for Learning

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets can be used in and out of the classrooms. Students can get help with their homework through the use of exciting Apps and access learning content that can only be found in digital form. Below are the six main ways in which mobile devices can be used in learning.

1. Accessing digital content such as e-books. Apps such as Amazon’s Kindle allow the students to access hundreds of thousands e-books, plus loads of classic books for free.
2. Quizzes. Teachers can create quizzes, polls or small tests of any form and get students to undertake them in the classroom. Apps such as Kahoot, Socrative and Google forms can make quizzes quite interactive and fun.
3. Taking Notes. Students can use one of the numerous Apps available, such as Evernote, in order to take down notes or organize their thoughts and even create personalized To-do lists.
4. Augmented reality. Students can now use breakthrough Apps such as the Google Sky Map, GeoGoggle and many others to explore their surroundings in an amazing way. Note, that augmented reality is an evolving field, so there are more exciting things to come.
5. Scavenger Hunts. The teachers can now create QR codes which represent various data, such as a website, a video or any kind of file. QR codes are found everywhere, they look like bar codes, and all smart phones have a preinstalled App that can scan and access such a QR code. So, put that into action alongside the imagination of the teacher, the possibilities for an exciting scavenger hunt are endless.
6. Learning Management Systems (LMS). More and more providers of Learning Management Systems have also come up with an App that offers all the possibilities that are available on the Internet. So, with applications such as Edmodo, Moodle and many others, students can have access to content and take quizzes that their teachers have created.

As with most aspects of technology, the possibilities that mobile devices offer for education are endless. With new Apps and tools being developed all the time, educators need to be continuously updated and familiarized, so that teaching is moved to the next level.