Many educators and technologists confuse the concepts of M-learning and E-learning, due to their reliance on modern communication mechanisms and technologies. What are the similarities and differences between them? What is the nature of the technologies used by each system? How can they be used educationally? Are there obstacles or difficulties facing these new educational systems that have imposed themselves on the world of education?
The development of information and communication technology has led to development in many areas, including the educational field. The traditional model in education that depends on memorization and indoctrination and relying on the teacher as the focus of the educational process and the book as a primary source of knowledge with the teacher is no longer the appropriate model. Rather, the technological revolution and technical development were credited with The birth of a new model is distance learning, and the electronic revolution was credited with the use of computers and local and global communication networks in education, so the e-learning model appeared, which helped make distance learning face to face possible, and the wireless revolution led to the emergence of a new model, which is mobile learning or mobile learning Which depends on the use of wireless technologies in distance learning and training such as mobile phone, personal digital assistant, and mini-computers, which led to the shift from a wired learning environment to a wireless learning environment.
First: mobile learning
If there are some educators who view mobile learning as a part of e-learning, others consider it a stand-alone educational system, which has its own and what it has to do. Mobile learning can achieve what e-learning has not achieved, because:
What is mobile learning?
Mobile learning is a form of distance learning, through which small and portable wireless devices such as mobile phones, PADs, Smart Phones, and Tablets are used to achieve flexibility and interaction in the teaching and learning processes anytime and anywhere.
Mobile learning is also referred to as “that type of education that takes place through mobile phones through the services they provide, such as the short message service (SMS), the multimedia service (MMS), the WAP service, Wireless Application Protocol, and the public packet messaging service. For radio (GPRS), Bluetooth wireless technology, and others.
Mobile learning characteristics:
Mobile education has many advantages, the most important of which are:
- Mobile learning happens anytime and anywhere
- Mobile learning allows the learner to quickly communicate with the information network
- Mobile learning is characterized by the ease of exchanging messages between learners with each other
- The cost of this technology is relatively low, and it is cheap and common
- The small size of this technology makes it easy to carry around
- High and fast access capabilities
- Contribute to providing a new model for the educational process
Educational benefits of mobile learning
mobile learning apps
With the development of mobile devices and the emergence of new devices for mobile e-learning, the development of wireless networks, and the emergence of the fourth and fifth generation networks, many new applications have appeared that support rapid communication between users, as well as the emergence of various other applications in various fields.
As for mobile learning applications, they are educational programs compatible with the operating system of smart and mobile devices, such as the Google Classroom application, which is downloaded from the Google Play Store, and is used at any time and from anywhere in managing the mobile learning process based on the Internet.
The use of mobile devices is no longer limited to exchanging messages or running educational applications or games, as new applications for mobile devices have appeared that can be employed within the classroom, in the library, or in the school yard and training halls, and they are classified as follows:
1- Class Management Apps
They are applications that use smart phones and tablets in class management by the teacher, such as taking attendance and absence, recording activities, keeping notes, and so on from the work done by the teacher.
2- Applications for communication and management of educational offers
They are applications based on screens between the teacher’s device and student devices, and the teacher controls the students’ devices during the educational presentation, and exchanges files between his device and their devices. The most famous of these applications is the Near Pod application, which works on Apple devices and Android devices.
Mobile learning application skills
The skills of employing mobile learning applications is a set of performances for using and employing the Google Classroom application in the management of mobile learning, which must be developed among students, taking into account the accuracy and speed of performance, and the economy of the effort.
The processes of using and employing mobile learning applications take place in organized steps, and each step includes basic skills, which must be performed and mastered by students and teachers, in order to activate a successful mobile learning system that achieves the desired goals. Among the basic skills for using mobile learning are the following:
Challenges and problems facing mobile learning
There are some challenges facing mobile learning, including:
Second: e-learning
Despite a lot of overlap between mobile learning and e-learning, there are many differences between them that many do not know, and knowing these differences may help to understand the way each educational system employs and define its fields.
If mobile learning is defined as: “The use of smart devices to learn through the applications that they provide.” E-learning is defined as: “a method of learning using modern communication mechanisms such as computers, networks, and multimedia, in a synchronous or asynchronous manner, or both.”
What is e-learning?
E-learning can be defined as “an educational system for providing educational or training programs to students or trainees at any time and anywhere using information technology and interactive communications such as (the Internet, television channels, e-mail, computers, teleconferences…) in a synchronous manner. or asynchronous.”
E-learning can also be considered a method of education that depends on providing educational content and communicating skills and concepts to the learner on information and communication technologies and their various media in a way that allows the student to interact actively with the content, the teacher and colleagues simultaneously or asynchronously in a time, place and speed that suits the learner’s circumstances and ability And managing all educational scientific events and their requirements electronically through the electronic systems designated for this.
Fundamentals and concepts of e-learning
A - Direct E-Learning:
The term direct e-learning means the method and techniques of education based on the Internet to communicate and exchange lessons and research topics between the learner and the teacher, where the spread of the Internet provides an opportunity for interaction and adoption of direct e-learning via the Internet in order to simulate the effectiveness of realistic educational methods.
B - Computer-based e-learning:
Computer-based e-learning (CBT - Computer-Based Training) is a method synonymous with traditional basic education and is considered a complement to the usual methods of education and not a break with it. One of the methods and techniques, for example, if it is difficult to broadcast the educational video over the Internet, there is no objection to presenting it on CDs as long as this contributes to raising the quality and level of training and education.
E-learning and information technology are not a goal or an end in themselves, but rather they are a means of communicating knowledge and achieving the known purposes of education and education, including making the learner ready to meet the requirements of practical life in all its aspects, which have become dependent in one way or another on information technology and its rapidly changing nature.
e-learning hubs
What distinguishes e-learning from the traditional conventional education is:
Pros of e-learning
There is no doubt that there are justifications for this type of education that are difficult to enumerate in this article, but it can be said that the most important advantages, justifications and benefits of e-learning are the following:
Types of e-learning
Distance Education: It is one of the learning methods in which the available means of communication and communication play a key role in overcoming the problem of long distances separating the teacher and the learner.
Blended Learning: A model in which direct learning strategies in traditional classrooms are combined with online e-learning tools. Also called blended learning.
Mobile learning: It is the use of small and portable wireless devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, and small personal computers (tablet PCs), to ensure that the learner has access to educational content from anywhere at any time.
Synchronous Learning: The learning style brings together the teacher and the learner at the same time using learning tools, such as: virtual classrooms, Bb Collaborate, instant chat, or text chatting.
Asynchronous Learning: Among the tools for asynchronous learning are the following: educational forums, social networks, digital educational content, e-mails, blogs, and private encyclopedias.
Features of the e-learning management system
The e-learning management system can be defined as an integrated computer system for distance education service, as this system aims to facilitate the process of interaction between the student and the teacher.
A - Features of the e-learning management system:
B - Components of the e-learning management system:
Online e-learning resources
It is not possible in any way to limit all e-learning sources, given that the world of technology and technology is developing every day. But some examples can be mentioned, including:
Third: The difference between mobile learning and e-learning
There are many differences in the characteristics and nature of use between the mobile learning and e-learning systems. We review them in the comparison between e-learning and mobile learning by showing the similarities and differences between the two systems: