Impact of mobile app development on the education sector
Mobile apps have changed the way we interact with education. Today, mobile learning is becoming the most popular way of delivery. Mobile learning has become popular for many reasons.
A study conducted by researchers at Baylor University found that college students spent an average of eight to ten hours daily on their cell phones.
Why are Mobile Apps Becoming Popular in the Education Sector?
The first reason is that it’s affordable. You can now create your own curriculum using mobile apps. It’s cost-effective, and it saves you a lot of money. The second reason is that it’s a compelling way to teach. It allows students to learn new things while interacting with it and can help them build their confidence and knowledge. It’s an ideal way to make learning fun and interactive.
Thirdly, mobile apps are a lot easier than traditional methods. They make it easy for students to keep track of their progress and review lessons they haven’t mastered yet. The fourth reason is that it’s highly customizable. You can design your own curriculum and tailor it to your students’ learning styles. This is why mobile apps are so popular in the education sector. Mobile apps help to revolutionise education.
This just proves how tech-savvy the current generation of students is. They have an almost instinctual grasp of all things mobile, be it games or apps. So, it makes sense that kids learn faster when taught digitally via apps instead of the more traditional methods like printed books and blackboards.
Open Colleges states that 81 per cent of US teachers believe tablets improve classroom learning, while 86 per cent think tablets make learning more efficient. All this has given fresh impetus to mobile app development in major tech hubs, such as Florida and California. But the big question is, to what extent can mobile app development help the education sector? Take a look below.
Efficient Learning is Possible Due to Mobile App Development
New mobile applications that facilitate and improve learning have made teaching fun. Using mobile apps enables students to enhance efficiency and precision due to the following factors:
Independent Learning: Thanks to mobile app development, the learning process is no longer limited to the confines of the classroom. Students can now gain knowledge and resolve their queries from the comfort of their homes.
More Options: The sheer variety of applications available for learners on their tablets or smartphones is astounding.
Easy Access to Administrative Resources and Knowledge: Educational courses become visually lasting thanks to e-learning applications.
Improved Student Engagement: Some apps enable students to learn from an audio-visual medium, helping them retain the information for longer periods. When an individual watches videos or listens to audio files, they begin to understand and retain a concept better than in textbooks.
What Goes into the Making of Mobile Apps for Education
A lot more goes into app development than just technical know-how. Money is at the top of the list. While the development tools are often free, things like licenses and associated servers incur multiple charges. This is why some educational institutions prefer to do the job in-house; they hire mobile designers and developers to keep their apps up-to-date. Some institutions even outsource their work.
Some applications provide access to private information, like grades. These apps need secure coding. In fact, some institutions have begun to use single sign-on to assure both privacy and security of data.
One can prevent any mobile app development issues through proactive communication between the network security team and the developers. Some security teams even review the codes before launching apps. Once the app goes live, the biggest challenge for developers is to keep pace with the rapidly evolving mobile marketplace.
Mode of Development
Some institutions have resorted to using an open-source middleware framework for creating apps for students and faculty. Architecturally, this framework seeks to create a mobile web page template and then make it available for various smartphone models. Thus, it all comes down to cross-platform compatibility. This makes sense as most mobile apps adopt a browser-based approach for promoting their application.
It was only a matter of time before the education sector went digital, and mobile apps served to hasten the process. It comes as little surprise that mobile app development is in demand in Florida and other forward-thinking places. Using mobile apps makes teaching fun and learning easier for students.
Conclusion
Mobile apps have helped to transform education by making it more affordable, interactive, personalized and engaging. Mobile apps have replaced traditional methods of learning. And it is estimated that mobile learning will continue to gain ground in the education sector. The growth of the mobile app industry is expected to bring in a new wave of learning tools and technologies.