Additional materials
"With personalised learning and a wider clientele planned for both further and higher education, I think that we should at least explore the use of PDAs for our learners."
Janet Pittaway, Assistant Principal, Dewsbury College
Main content
Empowering learners
The smallness of a mobile device can place learning activities quite literally in the learners' hands. The spontaneity that use of a pocket-sized device can offer means that learning can be unobtrusive and convenient. This can be a powerful motivator for disaffected or less experienced learners. Other benefits include:
| Motivation. | Bite-sized resources delivered via a small screen can encourage participation in learning. |
| Control. | Opportunities are available to revisit content, add to e-portfolios or test knowledge in learners' own time and chosen location. |
| Portability. | Can be used in a range of contexts, including work-based, community and family learning. |
| Recording achievement. | Learners' achievements can be recorded via audio, video or stills images, by learners themselves. |
An example
A case study, Mobile learning and teaching with PDAsfrom Dewsbury College, Thomas Danby College and Bishop Burton College, shows how e-learning resources can be taken into outreach venues and work-based learning environments on mobile devices to motivate and empower learners, and provide evidence of their achievements. This case study is also available on video.