Abstract
The Pacific Island communities face challenges such as digital divide, shoestring budgets, and escalating costs in the delivery of quality education to their people. In addition, the widely scattered nature of islands and communities requires proper communication infrastructure for learners to access education. This chapter heralds the emergence of mobile learning (mLearning) initiatives in higher education in the Pacific region. As a case study, the study focuses on the introduction of mLearning at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in the Pacific which developed a fit-for-purpose mLearning infrastructure that primarily utilized the short message service (SMS) for its delivery and services. The USP hosts an in-house setup open-source SMS gateway that facilitates its custom-made SMS services such as course notifications, exam timetable information, and online quizzes. More recently with the proliferation of smartphones in the Pacific, USP has invested largely on web-based services and mobile apps. The chapter presents the recent journey into the use of smartphones and tablets to access education and promotes lifelong and life-wide learning in the Pacific.
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Sharma, B. et al. (2019). Use of Mobile Devices for Learning and Student Support in the Pacific Region. In: Zhang, Y., Cristol, D. (eds) Handbook of Mobile Teaching and Learning. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41981-2_9-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41981-2_9-2
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Use of Mobile Devices for Learning and Student Support in the Pacific Region- Published:
- 29 October 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41981-2_9-2
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Use of Short Message Service for Learning and Student Support in the Pacific Region- Published:
- 14 April 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41981-2_9-1