For US mobile phone users 13+, usage went up just over the past summer in all categories comScore measures. The categories are sending texts (71.1%, up 1.5%), using a browser (42.9%, up 2.8%), downloading apps (39.5%, up 3%), accessing a social network site or blog (29.1%, up 2.4%), playing games (26.9%, up 1.9%), and listening to music (19%, up 1.9%). So even in the US, where most Internet users have long accessed the Net from computers, the Internet is getting very mobile – and more and more of our lives are expressed on and lived with the help of our cellphones.
The convenience of having all these categories available at our fingertips makes life easy, sometimes overwhelming. How can we incorporate mobile devices, with the accessibility and capability, to innovate channels in education? It’s safe to say that technology has been, and will be an integral part of educating the future. Let’s direct attention towards that.
I did not leave this comment via my smart phone. :)
Great question, Peter. I’m asking it too (a lot), and so want to see barriers to *at-school* learning in and with social media and technologies removed! I think that’ll lead to an increase in relevancy of school to students, in student engagement, and in the competitiveness of US education.