The advantages and disadvantages of mobile apps in education

At present, almost everyone aged 10 to 60 years old have mobile devices. Consequently, mobile applications are always relevant. Most users do not fully use their devices, do not reveal the potential invested in it by the developer. And this means that students are poorly aware of the provided capabilities of a smartphone and other smart add-ons. The results of many studies show that, for the most part, adolescents are only familiar with the gaming side of computer life. At the same time, there are no facts about using mobile applications, a smartphone, etc. smart add-ons to obtain additional knowledge in the field of educational motivation.

Advantages and disadvantages

It is worth noting that there are both advantages and disadvantages of introducing mobile learning into the educational process. This type of training at its formation stage becomes real in successful implementation. UNESCO scientists highlight some advantages of mobile learning:

Mobility. Modern smart gadgets make it possible to organize and optimize the educational process, regardless of place and time. There are two aspects to this kind of mobility: firstly, the possibility of implementing educational programs despite the location of a qualified specialist. Secondly, ease of access from different devices through the use of cloud storage systems. In the event of a change in a cell phone, the student will have access to all previously available information. Besides, they can easily use different devices to complete tasks of varying degrees of difficulty.

Permanent education. Compared with previous years, the use of information technology was focused on stationary devices. But at this stage of the formation and development of technology, they require continuous access to the information base. Since mobile devices are often located and belong to the same owner, they make the education process continuous: therefore, it is possible to complete tasks at any time convenient for them, and teachers can transfer the passive share of instruction outside the classroom. Mobile applications provide the opportunity to conduct continuous training in places of military conflict and even in disaster areas, which is a demonstration of another manifestation of continuity.

Personalization of training. Mobile applications provide the student with the ability to independently choose the content of certain courses, the level of difficulty, and other content. And also, advance to the next level of difficulty depending on personal preferences and acquired knowledge, independently evaluate your results, and perform additional tasks to consolidate the material. Also, a mobile phone allows each student to study the material in the form in which it is more convenient. That is, to improve the quality of the essay writing services provided, the creator of educational software, must adopt the same information, as well as the ways of reproducing it (text, graphics, video, audio) to increase efficiency.

Improving the quality of communication. Mobile devices allow ease in building fast and high-quality communication between the teacher and the student. Feedback from students allows teachers to track student performance separately for a given student.

Additional advantages of mobile applications in education

There are other advantages presented below:

• Providing some dialogue opportunities;
• The use of mobile devices spurs interest in learning from those students who behaved constrainedly and did not show enthusiasm in the traditional presentation;
• Offline learning and information sharing;
• Sorting information to facilitate the search according to certain criteria;
• Practical work with various kinds of technologies – access to materials not only about the topic being studied, but also additional knowledge, the possibilities of using various kinds of technologies, which allows students to achieve the required level of education;
• An overview of materials of various types of formats (educational video and audio materials);
• Chance of development in step with the times, etc.

Disadvantages of mobile applications in education

• With mobile applications, there is a decline in the development of sociability, as the contact between the student and the teacher will be minimized. Therefore, this form of training will inhibit the development of such qualities as sociability, confidence, leadership, as well as the ability to work in a team;
• Difficulties with free access to the Internet in some regions, necessary for using convenient work of applications on gadgets;
• Capital financial costs for launching a high-quality mobile application;
• If you are unable to work with a technical device, other difficulties may arise in the study of the material, as well as in its assimilation;
• Loss of concentration when reading voluminous text excerpts that are not available in some mobile applications.

Final thoughts

But, despite these shortcomings, some of them can be completely or partially eliminated. So, for example, you can increase ease of use using step-by-step instructions.

Today, the number of mobile applications is about 1.5 billion units, which exceeds the number of desktop computers by almost three times. And one cannot neglect such a factor as the relevance of the mobile application platform. As for access to different types of information, the use of mobile devices is much more convenient. Often students use smart devices, communicators, and tablet computers not only for gaming but also for educational purposes.

In conclusion, it can be argued that mobile learning does not replace traditionally. Still, it can be used as an addition to the learning process in higher education and as a component of blended learning. The active use of mobile learning does not aim to replace computers with portable gadgets, but rather expands and complements the educational environment with interesting and relevant methods, which are increasingly preferred and more accessible for students.