Distance learning using mobile devices

Even 10-20 years ago, full-fledged distance learning was almost impossible. The need to move to another city or even a country was probably one of the most frequent reasons why local universities were given preference instead of going to the universities of their dreams. Yes, there is a correspondence education, but we are well aware that in most cases this form of education is just for a tick. Fortunately, now there is an opportunity to learn, there would be a desire. For those who desire everything is in order, please under the cat.



A tablet or phone is an initial investment in your education.
')
Almost everyone already has a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Recently electronic reading rooms have been added to them. How can you effectively use these devices?

Video lectures

Better to see once than to hear 100 times. There are a huge number of training videos on the Internet, ranging from solving a differential equation to a guide to tying shoelaces. I would also like to mention the wonderful site TED.com , where a huge number of motivating videos of up to 18 minutes are collected, which you can watch while you are going to work. You can also subscribe to thematic channels on Youtube, Vimeo and get the latest information on topics of interest.

Where else to go for video content? Here is a small list:

1. Video from events that take place in Digital October ;
2. TechDays.ru - video from Microsoft conferences;
3. Channel9 - interviews with people who create Microsoft products and services;
4. Pluralsight.com - video lectures and courses on modern technologies;
5. O'Reilly Videos - video lectures by the authors of O'Reilly.

Looking for more? Here is another small list of sites with educational videos.

Participation in professional communities

Interested in programming? Participate in professional communities such as Stack Overflow, which combined Q & A elements, a forum, a social network and chat rooms - the perfect combination for a pleasant and rewarding pastime and learning. Ask questions, answer questions from other participants - this will help raise both the level of English and your professional level. For mobile devices, customers have been developed for almost all popular services.

From local professional communities I can highlight ineta.ru , GTUG , AppClub .

Online Courses

Over the past few years, a large number of resources have appeared that offer distance learning from the best teachers in the world. Coursera, Udacity, iTunes U - an incomplete list of resources offering this feature.

Want more? Here is a more detailed list published on Quora:

1. UMass Boston Open Courseware ;
2. Khan Academy ;
3. MIT Open Courseware ;
4. Free-ed ;
5. Learning Space: The Open University ;
6. Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative ;
7. Tufts Open Courseware ;
8. Stanford on iTunes U ;
9. Utah State Open Courseware ;
10. Kutztown On-Demand Online Learning ;
11. USQ Australia Open Courseware ;
12. University of California Irvine Courseware ;
13. EdX ;
14. Coursera ;
15. Udemy ;
16. Connections Academy ;
17. K-12 ;
18. GED for Free ;
19. Free World U ;
20. CosmoLearning ;
21. Open Culture ;
22. New York University ;
23. Open Yale Courses ;
24. Gresham College ;
25. Notre Dame Open Courseware ;
26. JHSPH Open ;
27. Open UW ;
28. Udacity ;
29. University of the People ;
30. Academic Earth ;
31. Textbook Revolution ;
32. The Library of Congress Files ;
33. Alison ;
34. Webcast Berkeley ;
35. GCF LearnFree ;
36. Google Code University ;
37. e-learning center ;
38. Saylor ;
39. Master Class Management ;
40. Brigham Young Free Online Courseware ;
41. University of Michigan Open ;
42. NLC Open Learning Courses ;
43. FlexiLearn ;
44. Nixty ;
45. Capilano University ;
46. TU Delft ;
47. United Nations University ;
48. Weber State University ;
49. Universaid Colombia ;
50. Kendal College ;
51. NPTEL ;
52. Getting Started - Codeacademy .

Want to become an MBA? Check out the list of online MBA programs of the best universities in the world.

Electronic books and magazines

I remember how I stayed in the library for hours, as they rarely gave my rare book home, but I wanted to read it. Now there is no need to spend so much time in the library, as it became possible to read e-books using a phone or tablet, at a time convenient for you.

I will name the main advantages of electronic books:

• no need to wait for the book to be delivered by mail;
• the whole library is now in your pocket;
• You can find books that are either difficult to find in the printed version (for example, I am now reading Richard Feyman’s book “What do YOU ​​care about what others think?”, which is very difficult to buy at retail), or they are very expensive .

The same with magazines: you can subscribe to world or local editions and get the latest issues directly to your device.

Conferences and Broadcasts

I love to attend conferences in person. But this, unfortunately, is not always possible. Most of the conferences are held in the form of live broadcasts, which when broadcasting in Full HD creates a little bit, but still the effect of presence.

So I watched Microsoft TechEd Russia 2012, TechCrunch Moscow 2012, and Felix Baumgartner's jump from the stratosphere.

Educational applications and reference books

With a modern smartphone or tablet, you can download hundreds of applications (both paid and free) that are optimized for learning.

For example, LinguaLeo - for learning English, Pex4Fun from Microsoft Research - for learning programming, reference books and dictionaries Lingvo, Britannica, etc. Moreover, applications can provide not only the display of information, but also interactive on its assimilation and verification.

Remember, a smartphone and a tablet are not only VKontakte, Instagram and Angry Birds, but also an excellent companion for distance learning.

PS If you know good resources or examples of interesting use of mobile devices for learning that are not mentioned in this article, share them in the comments.