Delivering Education To The Poor Via The Mobile Phone Essay

Delivering Education To The Poor Via The Mobile Phone - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the potential use of mobile phones for educational purposes among poor people. In order to cover all aspects of the issue under examination the research developed for this study has been based on both theory and empirical findings. In this context, this paper has been structured as follows: a) in the Introductory section the theme of the study is briefly presented, b) in the literature review section, the existing theories in regard to learning are presented; the theories and views presented in this section help to understand whether online education could fully cover the educational needs of poor people; c) the next part of the study is the Research question and method where the terms under which empirical studies have been involved in this paper are presented; d) the findings of the empirical studies are presented in another section, the Analysis and Results section; e) in the Discussion and Implications section the practical implications of the use of mobi le phones in education and the potential benefits of such educational approach for poor people are made clear; f) the conclusions developed from the findings of the literature and the empirical research are presented in the Conclusion section of the paper where recommendations are also made for increasing the effectiveness of mobile phones when used for covering the educational needs of poor people. ... ented in the Conclusion section of the paper where recommendations are also made for increasing the effectiveness of mobile phones when used for covering the educational needs of poor people. 2. Literature Review Online learning has been proved as an effective scheme to respond to certain educational needs that cannot be covered otherwise. At the same time, online learning can be used as a complementary educational tool for saving time and cost in the delivery of curriculum (Bach, Haynes and Smith 2007). However, in practice, online learning have resulted to key major problems: a) the lack of safety in regard to the work of each student and b) the creation of inequalities according to the technology used for accessing online learning programs (Bach, Haynes and Smith 2007). Indeed, it seems that there is mechanism for guaranteeing the protection of the work of each student in the context of an online learning program even if the development of technology related to online learning has been impressive (Bach, Haynes and Smith 2007). Moreover, online learning has led to the increase of the gap between rich and poor students: the former are able to use advanced technology for participating in online learning programs, a fact that promotes inequality in education (Illeris 2008). Under these terms, it would be necessary to review how the use of mobile phones as a tool for supporting the educational needs of poor people would be feasible and which measures should be taken for securing the quality of education provided through this mechanism. The performance of individuals in team-working and in handling advanced technology has been often considered as a significant advantage, even higher from these persons’ educational background (Remenvi 2008). In particular, the ability of