TECHNOLOGY,
EDUCATION
and the
DEVELOPING
WORLD
As more students in emerging
economies use their cell
phones as learning devices,
mobile technology is poised to
revolutionize education.
BY GUY PFEFFERMANN
30
July/August 2013
BizEd
KAM R UZ ZAMAN RATAN /G ETTY I MAG ES
A
revolution is coming to business education, and
it's being ushered in by technology. In developed
countries, students might pay US$50,000 annually
to attend on-campus lectures for 15 hours a week, but in
developing nations, students are increasingly consuming
education that's delivered via mobile devices at very little
cost. As developed worlds adopt online models, technology could transform educational institutions everywhere,
from kindergartens to universities.
Three interrelated trends are having the most impact:
the improvement of online education, the adoption of
new technology by major universities, and the mobile
delivery of education. The first two are creating massive
