December 12, 11

NEWS / UN unveils education initiative connecting mobile phones to the classroom

12 December 2011 –
With mobile telephone access reaching over five billion of the world’s population, the United Nations educational agency today announced the launch of an initiative to harness the technology and bring mobile phone use into the classroom.

In a statement issued in Paris, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the opening of a global summit and symposium gathering experts from around the world to discuss the impact of the mobile telephone on education and learning.

Dubbed Mobile Learning Week, and organized in partnership with the conglomerate Nokia, the meeting has brought together close to 200 policy-makers, educators, academics and researchers from across the globe in an effort to provide insight on how mobile telephones can support teachers and students alike.

Initiatives promoting mobile learning have already been spearheaded across a wide range of countries – including Mozambique, Pakistan, South Africa, Niger, Kenya, and Mongolia – where policies have already provided access to distance education in far-flung communities and improved literacy among girls and women.

According to recent data, 90 per cent of the world’s population now has access to mobile networks, prompting growing enthusiasm for the potential of mobile devices to improve education access and quality.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40701&Cr=information&Cr1=technology