Some of us no longer actually sit in a classroom when we “take a class.” Instead, we can sit in front of a computer and learn through material available online.
And now, some universities have taken it one step further: Can we really take a class via our cell phone?
It’s true. Cyber University in Japan will offer a course on the pyramids whose content will be delivered through lectures and PowerPoint shows that are downloaded to students’ cell phones, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Interestingly, the only cell phones that will be compatible with the course are the cell phones manufactured by the corporation that owns a major share of the university.
Athabasca University in Canada began a similar experiment earlier this year, someone mentioned in a response to the Chronicle article. This distance-education school created text messaging-based lessons for people who wanted to learn English as a second language.
What do you think? Is this the way to bring education to people with busy lives, or do you think classes via cell phone would be useless?
