TSU Expert Helps Promote Importance of Mobile Learning in Higher Education at UN International Conferences

Dr. Nicole Kendall

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – A Tennessee State University expert on higher education online training and consulting just returned from Europe where she participated in two mobile-learning conferences sponsored by the United Nations.

Dr. Nicole M. Kendall, an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, took part in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Mobile Learning Week in Paris Feb. 16-21, where participants explored how mobile technologies can meet the needs of educators and help them improve their effectiveness.

Under the theme, “Empowering teachers with technology,” the UNESCO Mobile Learning Week, called MLW 2014, considered the benefits and challenges associated with mobile learning, such as ensuring equity of device, online safety, limited mobile –friendly content, and the need for teacher training.

Kendall said the conferences provided a positive spotlight on the global desire to implement what she called m-learning initiatives.

“The U.S. is at an advantage (in m-learning) in that its application of mobile learning is beyond cellular devices and includes tablets, gadgets, and intricate standards to support teaching and curriculum development,” she said. “It (the conference) further positions higher education institutions to model m-learning measures that would attract international and millennial students.”

Following her weeklong stay in Paris, Kendall went onto to Madrid, Spain from Feb. 28 – March 2, for UNESCO’s Mobile Learning 2014 International Conference, where she joined other participants in discussions on how to develop mobile learning research that illustrates developments in the field.

Kendall, a former online mentor and instructor for the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Degree Program, described the Madrid conference as “research-centered on the impact of mobile learning” on teaching and learning.

“It is refreshing to see aspects of legal, culturally social and, instructional commonalities that countries are facing with the use of mobile learning,” Kendall said, adding, “It supports the need for a strategic plan at all levels so that student retention and instructional effectiveness is not compromised.”

Dr. Kendall, who returned home recently, also serves as a senior member of the National Education Association’s Content Quality and Review Board, which recommends online professional development courses to the NEA Academy.