The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

mConnect -- an Affordable Mobile Learning Platform -- to Reduce Skills Gap in Emerging Markets

Publisher McGraw-Hill and Indian software firm Wipro made an interesting announcement yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland:

The McGraw-Hill Companies, a premier global financial information and education company, and Wipro, a leading technology solutions provider, will work together to develop "mConnect," an open-standard mobile learning platform designed to bridge the skills gap in emerging markets.  Initial pilots in India will focus on the most critical needs for India's students and workers:  test preparation for entrance into universities that will best prepare them for the workplace and English-language training, an increasingly essential skill in the global economy.  The intention is to extend this program later to other countries in Asia and in Africa.

mConnect will offer low-income, rural or otherwise underserved students and workers personalized, adaptive education and assessment programs that can provide direct feedback in multiple modalities through cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices.  For students who want to establish and advance their careers by learning English, for example, mConnect will provide opportunities to hear conversations, review new vocabulary delivered via SMS and get personalized instruction that customizes the pace and presentation of material to match their learning needs.

Sounds like a great usage of text messaging. Read the entire release here.

TellMyCell Creates A Useful Guide For Texting Beginners

We recently created a new and extremely helpful 'texting dictionary'. It includes 70 texting terms and definitions which prove to be extraordinarily useful while texting. Every new texter has to read this!

To check it out, click here. 

Report: Over Two-Thirds Of Parents Would Like Their Children's Schools To Text Them

FamilyFirst Alerts is one of the leading providers of text message notification services to schools across the country - and they recently upgraded their platform to work off of TellMyCell. While our focus here is SMS-based mobile marketing, we want to share an important news story that shows just how pervasive texting has become.

According to a survey by Becta over two-thirds of parents would like to be kept up-to-date about their child’s progress though text messages and email – as this would give them a more frequent overview of their little ones development.

Due to the busy working lives of many parents the request to communicate with schools in this way is influenced by the way people can find out their bank balance, as many find it more convenient to receive information via txt or email.

Seventy-four per cent of parents said they monitor their bank balance online or on the phone at least once a month whereas only 15 per cent of parents surveyed were informed of their child’s progress once a month – a shocking 85 per cent say they are updated four times a year or less.

What's even more interesting is when this news story was published - September 2008. Since then a couple million more moms have gotten iPhones. The time for your school district to deploy a text messaging system, for information, or for emergency alerts, is now. Visit FamilyFirst Alerts to learn more.