Our whitepaper focuses on Mobility for Education and endeavors to explore the transformation, approaches, benefits, opportunities and challenges of adopting mobility solutions in the learning sphere.

1. Mobility for Education
The new paradigm in learning

2. “Going to School” has been re-defined over the years with swift advancements in information and
communication technologies (ICT). The learning behavior has also undergone major changes necessitating
educational institutions to periodically re-look and take a fresh approach to pedagogy. The massive
proliferation of mobile devices coupled with soaring usage of smartphone and tablet apps herald new
opportunities to various stakeholders in the ecosystem to break existing barriers and make use of mobile
technology to make learning more meaningful, impactful and take it beyond the existing boundaries of
time and place; in sync with the contemporary requirements. For the citadels of learning, it offers exciting
opportunities to expand their reach; make learning accessible to remotest locations and successfully fulfill
their social responsibilities. And all this, without being too heavy on their finances.
Our cover story, this month, focuses on Mobility for Education and endeavors to explore the transformation,
approaches, benefits, opportunities and challenges of adopting mobility solutions in the learning sphere.
We also take a step ahead to look into the future and understand the long-term prospects of mobility.
Classrooms are transforming…
Mobile devices and apps have entered schools and colleges in a big way as more and more students and
teachers adopt mobility to take advantage of the various benefits it offers. Smartphones, Tablets, e-readers
and millions of apps, right from teaching alphabets to new languages to lucidly explaining advanced
mathematics and science, are taking centre stage and are rapidly becoming the tool of choices in the
ecosystem. And it is very easy to see why.
Smartphone ownership , by age of child (2012)
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Age 5 Age 6 Age 7 Age 8 Age 9 Age 10 Age 11 Age 12 Age 13 Age 14 Age 15
Any mobile Smartphone Other mobile phone
Mobility for Education: The new paradigm in learning/ 2

3. Several factors are at play. Growing smartphone and tablet ownership, soaring usage of apps among
the student community, high-speed bandwidth coverage in most of the schools and colleges are
providing the necessary infrastructure for adoption of mobility solutions in the educator sector. Armed
with smartphones and tablets, students are round-the-clock connected to their schools and colleges and
are getting access to learning materials and other relevant information on their fingertips. Educators are
finding mobile solutions as an effective collaborator in the teaching process allowing them to explain
concepts in an easy-to-understand and interactive way. Educational institutions faced with several
challenges such as competition, student & staff preferences, rising administrative costs, and in the search
for better pedagogical approaches, are enthusiastically leveraging mobility solutions for education.
Various benefits like convenience & relevance in learning, low investments, reduced costs, personalized
and flexible approach to learning etc., are making mobile devices and apps effective tools to impart
education.
A survey by Pearson Foundation finds that tablet ownership has tripled among college students (25% vs.
7% in 2011) and quadrupled among high school seniors (17% vs. 4% in 2011). Moreover, 63% of college
students and 69% of high school seniors believe that tablets will replace textbooks within the next five
years. Most of the college students find tablets to be valuable for educational purposes and around half
say that they are more likely to read textbooks on a tablet because of embedded interactive materials,
social networking features, and access to instructors’ comments in the reading material. Three-quarters of
college students participating in the study say they use tablets daily for academics-related activities.
What type of information would you like to be able to access on your mobile device?
College descriptions and admission information 72%
Deadline reminders 69%
Tracking your application to a college 68%
Virtual tours 43%
College events calendar 41%
Campus news 34%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
source: Cappex.com
Mobility for Education: The new paradigm in learning/ 3

4. Mobility helps students and educators…
Mobility Benefits
Students Institutions
Freedom from time and place. Contemporary pedagogical approach.
Empowers learners to control activities. Personal attention & high engagement with learners.
Personalized lessons and assignments. Quick assessment of learner’s requirements.
Utilization of ‘dead time’ like travelling, waiting etc. Better utilization of resources. Reach to more students
with same faculty strength.
Rich multimedia content that makes learning fun & Cost-effective adoption. Requires relatively less
engaging. investments.
Personal interaction with faculty. Analytics for decision support.
Convenient doubt-clearing sessions. Support for distance education programs.
Supportive for students with special needs. Enables imparting education to students with
special needs.
The opportunities for schools and colleges…
The invasion of mobile technology into education has opened up new possibilities for schools and
colleges. Mobility solutions can successfully touch upon every element of the learning ecosystem to
make it more effective and transformative. Here are a few possibilities -
• Study material for smartphones & tablets- Students can access these learning materials
from their devices and study anywhere and anytime thereby making better use of their time.
Mobile based tests and questionnaires are used to quickly assess student’s understanding of the
concepts.
• Real-time information sharing- Mobility offers quick data-sharing that can help educators
in accurately assessing the learner’s requirements and his activities that can help in better
designing of course modules and curriculum.
• Admission process- Schools and colleges are meeting students where they are. During the
admission time, institutions are developing mobile apps that not only give access to application
forms, college brochures and results etc., but also take students on virtual tours to get a glimpse
of the campus.
• Voice, text and chat based faculty-student interaction- Mobility offers one-to-one
interaction between a student & his teacher which not only helps him clear his doubts on a
particular subject conveniently but also devoid of any inhibitions.
• Mobile based roaster- Institutions with higher student population and bigger campuses can
move from time-consuming manual attendance-recording procedures to mobile supported
roasters.
Mobility for Education: The new paradigm in learning/ 4

5. • Mobile payments- Mobility also help colleges in collection of fees wherein students and
parents get an easy alternative to make payment through the college app.
• Mobile alerts- Information on surprise quizzes, assignments, health services or any other event
can be effortlessly relayed across to the student population through mobile apps and texts.
• Social media on mobile- Embedded social media features on the learning aid can help
students interact with their mates as well as teachers to ask questions and share notes.
• Data collection- Mobile solutions can be a huge asset in research-oriented learning as
students can collect data on their device from the field and then use various tools to share &
process the data and further the process.
• Mobility for School Management- Mobile apps for administrative usage can be developed
wherein information on availability & utilization of resources like labs, conference halls can be
uploaded and shares. The teaching staff can be provided with time-tables of lecture sessions,
academic calendars and scores of various assessments and other desired information can be
uploaded.
Approaches to education through mobility-
»» On-campus- Allowing students to use mobile devices in classrooms to enhance
collaboration among students and instructors. Students can get access to reference materials
and other learning resources.
»» Distance Education- Mobility can be very helpful in distance-education programs. Less
costly than a PC or a laptop, a mobile device can be the effective learning medium for students
who are unable to attend residential courses.
»» Off-campus- Schools and colleges can also use mobile solutions to enhance learning in
class environment. Lectures, learning materials can be made available for students to revisit
and revise whenever required.
Challenges
While mobility solutions for education offer numerous benefits, there are still key challenges, both
technical and social, that need to be adequately responded to in order to maximally benefit from the
mobile initiatives and attain desired goals through it. Mobile devices differ in form and functionalities and
the challenge is to develop learning content that can have a compatible presentation for all. Secondly,
bandwidth latency and coverage is an issue that needs to be addressed if education has to truly free
itself from time and place constraints. With most reputed schools and colleges already using e-learning
methodologies, transforming the existing learning material to a mobile-friendly format would be a big
exercise. Copyrights and intellectual properties also need to be safeguarded as they move from restricted
to open environments.
Educational institutions also need to come-up with the right mobile strategy that keeps the entry-costs
Mobility for Education: The new paradigm in learning/ 5

6. of education through mobility low for students while developing an appropriate teaching process that
understands learner’s requirements, supports different learning styles and provides accurate assessment
of the learning activity.
Our Recommendations…
• Embrace mobility: Mobile solutions can be a long-term answer to many of the external and
internal challenges faced by your institution.
• Understand the medium: Mobile devices have their own strengths and limitations. Build an
effective teaching strategy that optimally utilizes the medium without compromising the
learning process.
• Focus on learner experience: Understand your audience is young and new to technology.
Create smooth, user-friendly and interactive mobile content. Look to continuously engage with
your students.
• Get ready for the future: Hand-held devices will soon emerge as primary devices for learning.
Start preparing ground for full-scale usage of mobility solutions.
Future
Mobile solutions offer exciting opportunities for both, students and educators. However, we are still
plucking the low lying fruits of the tree. As devices get powered with advanced functionalities like 3D
display capabilities, sensors and accelerometers and emerging technologies like cloud computing,
surface computing, augmented reality, NFC tags etc., get further established, we will witness a large-
scale adoption of mobile solutions in education. The advancements will pave the way for the next-level
of mobility in education through haptics (science of communicating through touch, gestures, and force
feedback) and location and context-aware learning while providing extra fillip to the existing mobile
learning initiatives. In other words, mobile solutions are set to be involved in education for long-term and
therefore it makes a perfect case for schools and colleges to first adopt mobile technology as an enabler
and collaborator and then be prepared for its wholesome adoption. The places of learning are on their
way for a massive transformation. Are you ready?
Mobility for Education: The new paradigm in learning/ 6

7. About [x]cube LABS
[x]cube LABS is one of the leading mobile apps
development and consulting firm, headquartered
in Dallas, U.S and with offices in New York and Reach [x]cube LABS
Hyderabad, India. With expertise across all the connect@xcubeLABS.com
major mobile platforms, [x]cube has delivered
over 500 apps till date and has an enviable client
list comprising of some of the biggest brands like
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GE, Intel, Texas Instruments, Hasbro, Mattel and
24 Hour Fitness. [x]cube’s understanding of the
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mobile space and technology, complimented by
its rich experience across all the major industry
verticals and the capability to deliver end-to-
end solutions, make [x]cube the perfect mobile
consultant of choice.
To integrate your enterprise people, processes and products with customized, avant-garde mobility
solutions or to explore mobility opportunities in your enterprise with our experts, please feel free to
contact us at connect@xcubeLABS.com.
We encourage you to continue exploring our website ( www.xcubeLABS.com ) to find out more about
our services.
[x]cube is the premier mobile solution partner for companies and individuals creating the next generation of digital applications.
[x]cube develops custom solutions for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Mobile platforms.
[x]cube is a division of PurpleTalk, Inc.
xcubeLABS.com | 1-800-805-5783 | connect@xcubeLABS.com