Mobile technology has changed our lives forever. Smartphones have become such an essential part of our daily lives that most people can’t imagine life without one.
According to a report by Bankmycell, over 6.64 billion smartphone users worldwide today — that’s more than 83% of the global population owning a smartphone.
Today, we can communicate with anyone across the globe, listen to music, read books, play games, take pictures, create & edit documents, and do many more things on our smartphones.
Because of this diverse capability, people spend more and more time on their smartphones, creating new opportunities for individuals to start a career in this field.
If you’re thinking about starting a career in mobile computing and wondering how to get started, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, I’ve described what mobile computing is exactly, the different approaches you can take to learn the said topic, and the top 5 courses you can consider enrolling yourself in to learn mobile computing.
What is Mobile Computing?
Mobile computing is the technology that enables data, voice, and video transmission from one mobile device to another without any physical link.
Today, mobile computing is used everywhere, be it a business application, consumer market, industrial & entertainment industry, or any other vertical.
And even though desktop computers offer more advanced capabilities, most end users prefer mobile devices, making mobile computing a great career option for individuals in 2023.
That said, when it comes to learning mobile computing, there are different approaches you can take.
For starters, you can begin by watching free mobile computing courses on YouTube. Or, you can consider opting for a professional mobile computing course that teaches you everything in a step-by-step process.
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Besides this, another approach you can take to learn mobile computing is participating in Bootcamps.
A bootcamp is a technical-concentrated course that provides real-world training for people seeking to develop skills and eventually start a career in computing and IT.
Today, you can find tons of bootcamps resources online to participate and learn new skills in your desired fields.
In short, Bootcamps are an excellent way to gain hands-on experience in any particular technology or skill. However, if you’re planning to join a mobile computing bootcamp, it’s better to consider this option only after you’ve learned the basics of mobile computing.
That means if you’re starting from scratch, it’s best to enroll in a professional mobile computing course since it is highly technical.
To help you get started, we’ve already researched and compiled a list of the top 5 mobile computing online courses to choose from.
Top 5 Online Courses to Learn Mobile Computing
Let’s look at five different mobile computing courses you can take online and what you’ll learn in each course.
Introduction to Mobile & Cloud Computing Course by Alison
Introduction to Mobile & Cloud Computing by Alison is a free online course for learning mobile computing. It will teach everything you need to know about mobile & cloud computing.
The course starts with exploring mobile communication, different types of mobile devices, and the impact of wireless technology on mobile communication.
Next, the course will cover the Android operating system and dive deep into cloud computing and the services it allows.
By the time you finish this course, you’ll have an in-depth understanding of mobile computing and cloud technology.
That said, this course is best suited for individuals who want to learn more about mobile & cloud computing technology and understand how software interacts with hardware in a mobile device.
Mobile Computing Course And Certification by SIIT
The Mobile Computing Course and Certification by SIIT is another great online course you can take.
It covers everything about mobile computing starting from basics, such as concepts, components, features, and benefits, transitioning to more advanced topics, including routing, application design, query processing, and more.
At the end of the course, there are a variety of exams to be cleared to earn your certification in Mobile Computing.
Overall, this course is worth pursuing to make a career in the Mobile Computing field.
Developing Android Apps with App Inventor
With over 50K students, developing Android Apps with App Inventor is a popular mobile computing course on the Coursera platform.
The course provides hands-on experience to newbie developers in building Android apps from scratch.
The best part is that even if you don’t have any prior experience, you can still enroll in the course and learn to develop Android apps using the MIT App Inventor.
For those who don’t know, MIT App Inventor is a block-based programming tool that enables newbie developers to learn how to program and build fully-functional Android apps for various Android devices.
In a nutshell, if you’re planning to start a career as an Android developer, this course will help you learn about Android app development, and by the end of this course, you’ll be developing simple Android apps on your own.
Online Undergraduate Certificate in Mobile Computing by American Military University
The Mobile Computing Undergraduate Certificate Course by American Military University (AMU) is famous for helping individuals to learn about the evolution of mobile computing and the impact of mobile technology in societies worldwide.
The course helps to gain useful knowledge in mobile computing, website and application design and development, testing, and implementation skills from scratch.
Apart from this, the course also teaches object-oriented programming languages, which are essential for building mobile applications for different platforms.
In short, I would say that enrolling in this course is certainly worthwhile because you not only gain knowledge about mobile computing evolution but also practical experience in building modern mobile applications.
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Kotlin for Java Developers
The last course on the list is Kotlin for Java Developers on the Coursera platform.
For the uninitiated, Kotlin is a modern, cross-platform programming language that lets you build Android apps faster compared to traditional Android app programming languages.
Kotlin is 100% compatible with Java programming language and all its frameworks, making it a pragmatic language that can be easily grasped by Java Developers.
This course will cover the basic overview of the Kotlin programming language and teach about Java interoperability, basic syntax, nullability, object-oriented programming, and functional programming with Kotlin standard library.
This course is well-organized, excellently explains core Kotlin concepts, and comes with awesome assignments & quizzes on top of video lectures by two expert instructors.
Concluding Thoughts
We’re living in the mobile computing era, where consumers have become accustomed to using mobile devices to perform their everyday tasks.
Mobile computing enables people to work from wherever they choose, provided that they have fast internet connectivity.
And given the variety of jobs mobile devices help to carry out, they’re going to become more mainstream in the future, making a career in the mobile computing field a smart choice.
Disclaimer: The author is completely responsible for the content of this article. The opinions expressed are their own and do not represent IEEE’s position nor that of the Computer Society nor its Leadership.
