Steve Yuen's Library tagged mobile learning →  View Popular, Search in Google

A PDA plays audio, video, and Flash movies; displays and permits editing of text documents; lets users access e-mail and Web content; supports IM and text messaging; and can be used for mass storage.

PDAs support interactive, collaborative learning. Students can use them to present projects; conduct research; word process documents (with a peripheral input device); and take notes in class.

Benefits:

• Great for people on the go.
• Anytime, anywhere access to content.
• Can enhance interaction between and among students and instructors.
• Great for just-in-time training or review of content.
• Can enhance student-centered learning.
• Can appeal to tech-savvy students because of the media-rich environment.
• Support differentiation of student learning needs and personalized learning.⁷
• Reduce cultural and communication barriers between faculty and students by using communication channels that students like.⁸
• Facilitate collaboration through synchronous and asynchronous communication.
• May make it easier to cheat.
• Could give tech-savvy students an advantage over non-technical students.
• Can create a feeling of isolation or of being out-of-the-loop for non-techies.
• May require media to be reformatted or offered in multiple formats.
• Might render some content outdated because of rapid upgrades—here today, outdated tomorrow.
• Could require additional learning curve for non-technical students and faculty.
• May be used as a new high-tech package for the same old dull and boring content.

• Learning will center on the individual learner's environment rather than the classroom.
• Learning will involve learners making meaningful connections to resources and other people.
• The ability to instantly publish their observations and reflections as digital media will empower learners to become investigators of their own environments.
• The ability to easily capture and record life events will assist learners in recall and collaborative reflection.
• Distributed collaboration and mobile team opportunities will be greatly enhanced.

• What is the rationale for implementing mobile learning technologies?
• Will increased use of shorthand in synchronous and asynchronous communication affect students' writing ability in the long term?
• Will brevity of expression trump depth of knowledge?¹²
• Will it become easier for students to cheat during tests? Is this issue relevant to twenty-first-century learning?
• What course content is suitable for transmission to mobile computing/communication devices?
• Will the quality of communication and interaction be enhanced or diminished by adopting mobile learning pedagogy?
• Do mobile devices allow students to interact with peers and instructors at the same level and quality as if they were participating using a PC?
• Will a shift in emphasis from e-learning to mobile learning increase the gap between the haves and have-nots?
• Will the quality of the instructional content be improved, enhanced, or downgraded by transferring to a mobile-compatible format?
• What types of resistance to change will faculty and students experience?
• How will the instructor's role change?