Digicel Fiji is delighted to partner with the University of the South Pacific to support Mobile Learning which is commonly known as mLearning.
Mobile Learning will benefit students in the Pacific region in many ways, which invariably includes; facilitating flexible learning, empowering learner control, improving learner confidence, and providing an interactive and well informed student environment for learning. The mLearning committee has set up USP’s own SMS Gateway to send and receive SMS services. These services are not limited to campuses in Fiji but mLearning team is effectively able to provide SMS related services to the USP region as well. While the mLearning team is currently providing a number of services and apps, it continues to venture into new and unchartered areas, with an arterial aim to provide learning support to each and every student of USP. There are plans to extend these services to secondary schools in the near future.
As part of the mLearning project, USP has also embarked on a Tablet Learning Project (TLP) to enhance learning in the region by handing out tablet to its students this year. The new initiative from the Vice Chancellor and the President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra has seen several regional students receive a tablet each to use for free.
“Tablet learning can be seen to be a stepping stone for mLearning and the positive outcomes of this pilot project certainly herald an exciting future of mLearning at USP” states the mLearning Chair, Dr. Bibhya Sharma. Student can now register their numbers with the University and receive SMS services like reminders, lecture notices, important announcement, dates and events from their lecturers. Also, students can access their assessment details through SMS and even inquire for their exam details.
Digicel Fiji Product Manager Ms. Keshni Devi states, “Students using Digicel, based in Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu can enjoy this service at no cost. Students can also send messages to USP via the designated short-code 6013 to request for their assessment marks and exam timetable”.
“Mobile learning rides on the popularity and massive boom of the telecommunications industry in Fiji and the region. It serves as a new way of inter-connecting everything and everyone from teachers, tutors, students, study groups etc. in a trusted way for sharing information and knowledge,” said Ms. Devi.
“The objective of mLearning is to provide the learner the ability to assimilate learning anywhere and at any time. mLearning focuses on the mobility of the learner, interacting with portable technologies, and learning that reflects a focus on how society and its institutions can accommodate and support an increasingly mobile population,” said Ms. Devi. mLearning creates a vibrant educational stage which explores new frontiers of knowledge and matches it with the dynamic needs of the global market.
DIGICEL