Sustainability and Mobile Technology

Blackboard Mobile Learn, originally uploaded by jrhode.

According to the New Media Consortium’s annual Horizon Report, mobile learning continues to be one of the fastest growing emerging technologies for teaching and learning. Smartphones and tablets are becoming the preferred method for accessing the Internet. You may find the majority of your students already have smartphones capable of connecting to the Internet, using GPS, receiving and sharing images and video, polling, and more. Virtually all students, using a standard mobile phone have the ability to receive and send text messages, subscribe to SMS, Twitter, Facebook updates, etc. We are limited only by our imaginations. Without a doubt mobile learning has a critical place in education as we move forward.

According to a recent Ars Technica post on Cisco’s Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast…

For the third year in a row, global mobile data use has nearly tripled, Cisco says. And the growth isn’t only happening in the places where mobile adoption is in its early phases. It’s happening where the smartphone revolution has been going full bore for years.

Rate of adoption, convergence with other emerging technologies, and flexibility in regards to time and place, all contribute to the overall degree of sustainability for mobile learning.

I personally have owned four mobile phones. The first was a Nokia that lasted several years. It was reliable and sturdy and I got good service most everywhere. I could text with it, but it had no internet connectivity and no camera. My next phone had a camera which I used all the time. I then had a smart phone with a touch screen and a QUERTY keyboard that I did not get along with. The touch screen needed to be locked , otherwise it would randomly call and text and post to Facebook -  even watch TV.  I felt guilty “donating” it  knowing the next owner would likely be just as frustrated. My current phone is an Android. Although it needs charged every day and the monthly bill is a little steep, I love it. Only occasionally does it call people without my permission. Otherwise it is a great toy and a constant companion.

But what about another form of sustainability – sustainability in regards to impact upon the environment? With its free replacement every two years and early upgrade eligibility programs (every one year), how can we hope to deal with the phenomenal and ever-increasing amount of electronic waste? As we continue to adopt and use new technologies for teaching and learning we cannot ignore the impact we are having on the environment. The following video is dated from 2006 – so the impact today is many times higher, but the message is the same…

Our campus has recycling bins for cell phones. I recently took several of my old phones along with rechargeable batteries and deposited them. Your campus likely has similar bins, but should you not have such a program certainly a student organization or community service project could be easily started. In the mean time the EPA lists several community organizations which have programs in place.

Advertisement