Introduction to the special issue on wireless and mobile technologies in education

This special issue is a sequel special issue of the same topic in Vol. 19, No. 3, September 2003. This issue features revised and elaborated versions of best papers presented at the two international conferences on mobile learning. The Second IEEE International Workshop in Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE) was held at the National Central University in Chungli, Taiwan, in March 2004 with the theme of mobile support for learning communities. The Third European Conference on Mobile Learning (MLEARN) was at Lake Bracciano, Italy, in July 2004, with the theme of learning anytime, everywhere. Together, these events presented the considerable progress in research into learning across contexts, through emerging wireless and mobile technologies. They represent distinct though interlinked perspectives: wireless and mobile technologies bring new opportunities for learners to be more intensely connected, either face to face or at a distance, extending one’s learning community to friends, teachers, mentors, parents, and beyond; to enhance learning in an age of mobile technology we must explore and support learning in multiple contexts, across a lifetime of cognitive change and social interaction. This special issue reveals the productive interaction between new ecologies of learning and wireless and mobile technology. Three of the papers focus on extending learning outside the classroom. We will introduce these first, followed by the four papers that focus on intensifying learning inside the classroom. Corlett and colleagues evaluated the use of a mobile learning organizer implemented on a personal digital assistant (PDA). Students were given a PDA loaded with tools such as a study timetable, a course manager, and a concept mapper. They used these tools for 10 months. The most striking results are that students changed their usage patterns over time. This is an important reminder that a personal mobile device may grow with the student or fall out of favour after the initial interest wears off. The other main conclusion is that no single tool stood out in helping students to manage their learning, an indication that learning management is a complex process that may best be enhanced by a subtle combination of mobile technologies and human assistance. Schwabe and colleagues designed and evaluated a mobile game used to orient incoming students to the university campus. They also use a PDA, but whereas Corlett et al. employed the PDA as a tool, Schwabe and colleagues use it to create a mixed reality in which physical space is augmented with contextual information. Their study reveals the technical challenges of implementing location-aware educational applications. They also show that students became more engaged and motivated, especially with map-based and competitive activities. Although the results are preliminary, providing an information and social activity overlay to a university campus appears to be a promising direction for future work. Of the three outside-classroom applications, Thorton and Houser make the most direct connection to learning. In contrast to the first two papers, they begin with a survey of how Japanese university students are already using mobile devices, finding that 99% send e-mail on their mobile phones and exchange 200 messages per week! They then creatively exploit students’ existing patterns of use to intensify learning: they send students small text and video messages that relate to upcoming English lessons. Students who received mobile e-mail learned more. Their creative Correspondence: Jeremy Roschelle, SRI International, USA. Email: jeremy.roschelle@sri.com