Abstract:

When talking about the impact of mobile technology, there is no question that it has been one of the most rapidly adopted technologies in history. Just to have a number and picture it clearly, 1.5 billion smartphones were sold throughout the world in the year 2016 (Statista, 2016). For instance, in Costa Rica, there is a huge number of cellphones, 8.3 millions (Lara, 2017) in a country with 4,5 millions of inhabitants, it means that every person has almost two cellphones. Unfortunately, many schools have banned this kind of devices from its facilities, it is seen as an enemy or distractor. Contrary, studies (Thomas, 2016) have shown that it opens the opportunity to see how the mobiles can be brought to the class.

Data from a study on the efficiency of m-learning (mobile learning) helped prove the effectiveness of mobile technology in teaching and training even more. The survey compared how well participants retained information from a live lecture compared to a podcast that was displayed on a mobile device. The results were not surprising at all. Podcast viewers ended up scoring nine out of one hundred more than the attendees of the lecture on average proving that the new technology was much more efficient for teaching and training purposes.

If students have access to the mobile technology, it would be appealing for them, they are part of their outfit and some peers even sleep next to them. Educators should seriously consider using them as a tool in the classroom because mobiles are part of their lives already, but having access to technology and not knowing how to use it properly is a surefire recipe for disaster, that’s why students and teachers should learn how to handle it correctly. When educators talk about how m-learning can be implemented in the classroom, the first thing to work on is planning because a good way to start is to outline the context and situations where mobile learning will prove to be more efficient and beneficial than other conventional techniques and approaches.

When instructors use mobiles as a teaching tool, the learning and students go outside of the classroom, making the learning process to go beyond the classroom. Teachers can expand the educational experience to everywhere because mobiles are not limited by wires or cables. Students will not only have access to information during computer lab time. They can look up information from anywhere on the school. Also, students love technology, so they are likely to be excited about it and continue learning outside of school hours.

One of the main points about M-learning is the flexibility. Students can access any content anywhere at anytime, it is by far one of the aspects that people love most about this kind of learning. Picture this, a student is copying from the board, suddenly the bell sing s and it is time to go home, he did not finish so he goes to his house with the incomplete information; with m-learning this situation will no longer be an issue because he could have his content on his cellphone. Parents and students understand how the flexibility factor can be beneficial for them which is exactly why they don’t shy away from consuming content and making use of all of the information that has been made available to them. According to a survey (Ozan, 2010) this convenient feature has also allowed consumers to finish courses about 45% faster than consumers who used the conventional approach to learning.

Keywords:

English teaching, communicative, four skills, input, output, strategies, mobile learning, feedback, realia, technology, cellphone, smartphone.