A joint ITU/UNESCO Policy Forum on mobile learning was held in Paris, France on 11 March 2016, under the framework of the ITU m-Powering Development Initiative. The purpose of the Forum was to envisage ways to harness mobile technology to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education.
The Forum brought together, for the first time, Ministers of Education and Ministers in charge of ICTs to examine the role that policies and cross-sectoral collaboration can play to foster innovation and use of mobile technology to improve the quality, equity and accessibility of education.
The Policy Forum was held during this year’s UNESCO Mobile Learning Week whose theme was “Innovating for Quality”
“Information and communication technologies will go a long way towards achieving inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all, as envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “Mobile technology, due to its growing power, affordability and ubiquity, offers unprecedented power to enable governments to make great strides in lowering the barrier to education and connecting teachers and students to a wealth of resources on mobile devices.”
“Meeting the full promise of mobile learning calls for supporting innovation and scaling up what works,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. “Success calls for comprehensive mobile learning policies and a shared political framework encompassing access, equity and teacher training. By drawing a bridge between telecommunications and education stakeholders, this Forum provided a unique platform to build partnerships that will foster mobile learning environments that work for all.”
“This Policy Forum marks the start of an important collaborative effort between the education and ICT sectors to design policies that will build comprehensive and sustainable strategies for mobile learning,” said Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.
“Using ICTs and mobile devices for learning is about empowerment. It is about empowering teachers with extremely rich resources for improving their teaching methods and allowing students to take a more active role in their own education both inside and outside the classroom,” he added.
The Forum featured a Ministerial High level Roundtable where Ministers of Education and Ministers in charge of ICTs discussed how newly affordab
le digital devices can help address urgent educational challenges and meet the needs of students, teachers and administrators. The Ministers also explored ways to create synergies between national policies in the areas of technology, education, telecommunication and innovation.
During the forum, participants from Latin America discussed how m-learning was being used in the region to address key education issues such as literacy, access and retention. An interactive dialogue between public and private sector stakeholders was also held examining how to establish strong public private partnerships for infrastructure provision, technical support and learning resources development.
The m-Powering Development Initiative is designed to create a resource and an action plan to deploy ICT services, from m-Health, m-Learning, m-Governance to m-Commerce and m-Sport.
The UNESCO Mobile learning Week is an annual event which brings together experts from around the world to share experiences and views on how affordable and powerful mobile technology – from basic handsets to the newest tablet computers – can accelerate learning for all, particularly people living in disadvantaged communities.
Monica Albertini Communication Officer, BDT
Tel: +41 22 730 5317 Mobile: +41 79 808 6065
E-mail: monica.albertini@itu.int
Sarah Parkes Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
Tel: +41 22 730 6135 Mobile: +41 79 599 1439
E-mail: sarah.parkes@itu.int
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About ITU
ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology. For nearly 150 years, ITU has coordinated the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, worked to improve communication infrastructure in the developing world, and established the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems. From broadband networks to new-generation wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, satellite-based meteorology and converging fixed-mobile phone, Internet and broadcasting technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world. www.itu.int
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