Even though mobile networks and services in the Philippines are just at the beginning of broadband /and/ broad-scale adoption, mobile technologies clearly have already changed life as we’ve always known it. Using a Global Positioning System (GPS) means never getting lost again. Bluetooth technology makes it possible to create personal area networks (PANs) among physically proximate devices, connecting headset devices to phones, which can, in turn, connect to a computer, a PDA, and any nearby Bluetooth-enabled device. Instant messaging (IM) enables real-time and often simultaneous connections among co-workers, friends, and family members wherever there is access to a wireless communication network.
As mobile connectedness continues to sweep across the landscape, the value of deploying mobile technologies in the service of learning and teaching seems to be both self-evident and unavoidable. And why shouldn’t mobile learning accept its place in the spotlight as the “educational revolution du jour”? With the expansion of 3G (third-generation) networks and the increasing availability of “smartphones” — integrated communications devices that combine telephony, computing, messaging, and multimedia — users in Asia and Europe are discovering that their broadband connectivity and computing needs can be met by a single device. And increasingly, that device is a mobile telephone.
The heightened interest in mobile possibilities for teaching, learning, and research can be attributed to a number of factors: the continuing expansion of wireless broadband networks; the explosion of power and capacity of the next generation of cellular telephones; and the fact that mobile phones, a familiar tool for communications, are already fully ingrained in contemporary life as part of our social practice.
Yapster e-Learning Inc. is always exploring new ways to use mobile environments to improve access to information for the following groups:
• Workers who want to update their knowledge continually to satisfy the demands of their jobs;
• Students who want to review their lessons anytime, anywhere;
• Professionals who are always on the move, but need to keep up with training and self-learning; and
• Teachers who wish to remind their students to do their homework and study for their tests.
A clear aim is to make the learning process more flexible, accessible and personalized. Yapster e-Learning Inc. has clearly made its way to the top. With a variety of services and products to choose from, Yapster e-Learning has it all.
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Kathy Arceo is the operations supervisor of Yapster e-Learning Inc.