Who Helps When the Tutor Is Asleep?

While many computer tutoring systems have long been delivered as desktop applications, these systems have only recently begun to appear on mobile devices. In this work we apply principles of mobile human computer interaction and mobile learning to the design and development of an intelligent tutoring system delivered on a personal digital assistant. We developed a proof-of-concept mobile tutor for business math and tested it in a course designed for first-year college students. Our experiences with the tutor suggest that a tutor based on principles of both mobile learning and mobile human computer interaction can provide a mobile tutoring system capable of providing support to students consistent with mobile device usage patterns.