What Is Mobile Learning

In South Africa the use of mobile phones, tablets and other connected devices is increasing, along with the access to wireless technology. All of these are also becoming more affordable, allowing South Africans to benefit from being connected. Because students are generally early adopters of technology, technology-rich activities can increase engagement… this is one of the key driving forces for mobile learning.

Mobile learning is the process of providing or obtaining educational content via mobile devices. Educational content is not limited to text and can also include video and podcasts for example. The notions of mobile learning is important for the following reasons:

• It encourages learning, regardless of location
• It can reached communities where physical resources are scarce
• It leverages current online social interactions to stimulate collaboration
• It gives students a personalized learning experience

Mobile learning has huge potential for South Africa, especially in an environment where the educator to student ratio is too high to support efficient growth in the education of South African youth.

There are however several challenges in implementing mobile learning in South Africa:

• Bandwidth costs are still expensive
• The cost of smartphones cannot always be afforded by all social-economic groups
• Software development can be costly
• Due to the rapid development of technology, it is often difficult to ensure that the software is compatible across all versions of most platforms
• Privacy of information and content security is a risk

There are however tangible results for projects that has used platforms like MXit, the South African mobile social network with over 6.5 million users and that works on over 8 000 different devices. Dr Math on MXit is an initiative where school pupils could ask Dr Math questions who would help them with mathematical queries. Bookly is a mobile literacy app on MXit, offering students access to a variety of books on their mobile phones. Earlier this year, the app developed into a website (www.bookly.co.za) which is also a writing platforms, allowing anyone to write a ‘bookly’ for others to read. This works on the premise that more content can be generated by peers.

Mobile learning could be the start to building a literate and educated nation, despite the challenges.

Celebrating 18 Years of Unlocking Potential

Since 1996, Eduloan has delivered financial solutions to South Africans looking to further their education, no matter the level of tuition. March 28, 2014 marks our 18^th birthday, allowing us to celebrate the more than 720 000 study loans to the value of over R3.7 billion that we have awarded to South Africans looking to further their education.

 Eduloan remains the leading education finance specialist offering loan solutions to students – whether it is school, college, technicon or university. We understand the real cost of education and because of this we extend loans to students who require funds for textbooks, accommodation, study-related equipment as well as laptops or tablets.

Fund and bursary management has also evolved through the introduction of our Eduxtras solution. We pioneered the smartcard solution – geared to help students manage their bursary funds while the bursar has peace of mind that the funds are being allocated and spent as intended. Funds are loaded into pockets for accommodation, books, study-related equipment, food and tuition (or customised pockets depending on what your bursar specified) and can only be spent on the intended purpose.

In the past 18 years we have also assisted employers by providing accessible education finance to their staff. Eduloan has a long standing partnership with government and institutions which allows government employees easier access to obtaining a loan.  Similiarlee Eduloan has applied the same model to corporates for their employees.

Dedicated to providing educational finance and bursary fund administration solutions, we pride ourselves on being the only financial company solely focused education.

We commit to innovate more solutions to unlock even more potential in South Africa.

Happy birthday Eduloan!

Eduloan Unlocks More Potential on Jacaranda’s Good Morning Angels

This month, Eduloan committed to assisting two students to unlock even more potential on Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels. Elphus Sibara and Millicent Mokwape both received financial assistance from Eduloan to support their dreams. Here are their stories…

Elphus Sibara

Elphus is a 22-year old young man, carrying the hopes of his family on his shoulders. He is the eldest son of five children, to an unemployed, single mother. With financial assistance from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, Elphus has completed the first two years of his studies at the University of Limpopo. Elphus desperately wants to assist rural communities to contribute to the agricultural sector. 

(Please avoid usage of figures) Eduloan has stepped in to assist Elphus with his outstanding balance so that he can continue to work towards completing his studies and make a difference to his family and his community’s lives.

You can listen to the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/jacaranda-fm/good-morning-angels-elphus

Millicent Mokwape

Wanting to study a post-graduate degree in education, Millicent Mokwape applied and got a bursary for her 2014 studies. Unfortunately Millicent still has outstanding fees for the 2013 academic year, which will have to be settled, else she will lose her bursary. With the help of her mother, She managed to raise 62%  required to settle her tuition fees for the 2013 academic year.Eduloan stepped in and assisted Millicent to settle the last bit required to make her dream come true.

To view the story on Jacaradafm’s  website click here:

http://www.jacarandafm.com/post/good-morning-angels-extra-millicent-mokwape/

As the leading education finance specialist, Eduloan caters for all levels of tuition. Whether you need to settle your outstanding balance, looking to continue your studies or if you are already working and hope to improve your skills, we have a study loan solution for you. Visit our website for more information or SMS “edu” to 32150 & we’ll call you back! (SMS charged at R1).