THE BLACK BOARD AND SMART PHONE IN LEARNING

So many issues has been presented,when it comes to understanding if the black board can still offer the Nigerian student the vital Educational ingredients which will in-turn transform the child's understanding of a particular topic.Mobile learning research has considered a broad range of technologies, especially those that have emerged for the general consumer: mobile phones, PDAs, and cameras, for example. However, it has been difficult to define mobile learning. Early definitions concentrated on the mobility of the technology (Sharples et al., 2009) and generally overlooked the significance of the personal, portable and ubiquitous nature of the devices, the new locations and communities that became available to the learner due to connectivity, the impact technology can have on engagement in environments as diverse as labs, the work place and lecture theatres, and how this can affect approaches to teaching and learning, learner engagement and control, formality and situatedness.For some, therefore, the term mobile learning emphasises learning on the move; for others it is the personal, ever-present, and immediate nature of the devices (Kukulska-Hulme and Traxler, 2005). Both views emphasise mobile learning as a process characterised by the gaining of knowledge through exploration and conversation across a variety of environments. El-Hussein and Cronje (2010) offer a taxonomy to comprehensively understand mobile learning: mobility of technology, mobility of learners and mobility of learning. Others have described mobile learning as learning that happens anywhere, with anyone, and anyhow (JISC, 2005; Stoyanov et al., 2010). All of these views, and others, point to the changing possibilities for learner engagement. Vavoula (2004) proposed that mobile learning has the potential to transform learning from being highly intentional, structured, and directed, to an experience that is able to value informal and open learner-centred activity more.The prevalence of smartphone devices, and latterly tablets like the iPad, because of their widespread consumer acceptance demonstrated in their exponential growth in sales (Gartner, 2010), demand that higher education explores the potential for enhancing learner engagement and prepares itself to address student expectations for a more mobile learning experience