The "smart class" is on the phone

Publicado en LE MONDE 

Doing your homework or learning English on your cell phone? This is already a reality for 1.2 million secondary school students in Chile. In 2006, the government and Fundacion Chile jointly launched an online education portal to help secondary teachers and their students prepare the PSU (Prueba de Seleccion Universitaria), the university entrance exam. Via their cell phones or a computer, students can hook into a program tailor-made to suit their level.

Ana Maria Raad, director at the EducarChile program, a 2012 Wise Prize finalist, says: "Chile's geographical oddities have made it a highly centralized country. In terms of access to education, this means marked inequality between students in the provinces, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those in the big cities. By bypassing the geographical obstacles, EducarChile aims to provide them with the same tools and the same chance of going to university." The results so far are encouraging: 62 % of those using the program live in the provinces, and in 2011, twenty of them were among the top scorers in the national exam.

The idea of using cell phones as a teaching tool has been getting attention in international research centers for ten years now. "The cell phone is the most widespread technological tool around, including in the poorest countries",comments David Atchoarena, director of Unesco's division for planning and development of education systems. "As costs fall, the cell phone penetration rate rises exponentially. This is a great opportunity for mobile learning."

At the end of 2011, there were 6 billion cell phones in the world, with 80% of new accounts being opened in the developing countries and the advent of tablets likely to boost the trend. Thailand recently announced that all pupils starting primary and secondary school - 1.7 million children - will be provided with a tablet. Meanwhile, India is embarking on production of low-cost tablets aimed at its students. The smartclass is just around the corner.

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