Mobile devices and the future of free education

Abstract

The major technological trends supporting the view that "equal" or "free" education is becoming possible are those involving the new mobile devices: digital divergence - the growth in popularity of dedicated wireless devices for transmitting information; combined with digital convergence - the growth of all purpose devices where the cell phone is no longer just for speaking, but also for text messaging, photography, radio, even digital TV, web browsing etc. using mobile phones, personal digital assistants, handheld computers,ebooks and other devices. Other positive developments include the growth of the World Wide Web, the Open Source/Open Archive initiatives, low cost course development with mass customization, and new modes of elearning.