At the British Educational Training and Technology (BETT) Show in January, Takuya Homma, marketing director at international edtech startup Quipper School delivered a speech about why Southeast Asia is leading the world in mobile learning. For those who don’t know, BETT is a yearly convention in the UK that showcases the use of information technology in education. Homma was one of the few speakers talking about edtech in Southeast Asia.
Mobile learning (m-learning) is the use of mobile tech to share educational content, making it accessible from virtually anywhere. Homma’s speech highlighted three defining characteristics of the region that may cause Southeast Asia to become the next hotbed for m-learning. Here’s what Homma brought up.
1. Mobile-first growth
Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in terms of population and GDP. Mobile learning is no exception, he says. Mobile penetration is expected to grow fivefold between 2013 and 2019, and mobile data consumption is expected to grow more than eightfold.
Also, Southeast Asia is a well-known ‘mobile first’ region. Since mobile devices and network are more advanced and faster than the current computers and wifi here, everything is being built to suit mobile users. This includes mobile payments solutions, agriculture, healthcare products, and even education. Homma mentioned that there are several interesting mobile learning apps sprouting up currently, such as Kelase from Indonesia.
2. Bring your own device (BYOD)
BYOD in education is a practice in which students are allowed to use their own computers, smartphones, or other devices in the classroom. Homma says this trend is growing quickly. However, when it comes to ‘mobile’ BYOD, it is still not mainstream. Homma says that after talking with many edtech leaders, government officials, as well as school principals and teachers in Japan, mobile BYOD is not widely adopted because it lacks security and effectiveness. He estimates that only around 10 to 15 percent of the students in the country have ever engaged in any significant learning related activities via their own mobile devices at school.
However, the situation is very different in Southeast Asia. When Homma visited schools in Indonesia, he was surprised to see students working on Quipper School with their own devices. When Quipper surveyed more than 1,000 students and 200 teachers in Indonesia and the Philippines, a staggering 95 percent of students said that they’re allowed to bring their own devices to complete the Quipper School tasks in the classroom. 55 percent of the students are already actively doing so.
Homma further explains that this trend is driven by several factors. One is that the region is leapfrogging laptops and wifi in favor of mobile tech. Secondly, government officials in countries like the Philippines are very supportive. They not only allow students to bring devices, but they actively encourage them to do so. This is because they acknowledge that mobile learning may be a key to improving their country’s education, and perhaps the economy further down the line.
3. Test preparation
Asian countries are famous for having very competitive test prep cultures. In Japan, for example, entrance exams for kindergarten start when children are three years old. The New York Times and Washington Post wrote very compelling articles describing this culture in China and South Korea, highlighting the fact that test preparation has been integrated into education itself. This trend is also growing very quickly in Southeast Asia. A lot of review centers and private tutor centers are cropping up in the region.
Students naturally expect this test preparation to happen on mobile as well. Homma says that when Quipper School surveyed its users, more than 70 percent of the students expect to receive private tutoring online, stating that it’s more convenient and even fun. Nearly 80 percent parents agreed. He further adds that it won’t be too long before we start to see many interesting innovations in mobile education. Mobile learning is likely to play a very important role in Southeast Asia, according to Homma.
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