"Neomillennial" Learning Styles Propagated by Wireless Handheld Devices

As the digital-aged learners of today prepare for their post-classroom lives, educational experiences within classrooms and outside of schools should reflect advances both in interactive media and in the learning sciences. Two recent research projects that explore the strengths and limitations of wireless handheld computing devices (WHDs) as primary tools for educational innovations are Harvard University’s Handheld Devices for Ubiquitous Learning (HDUL) and Schrier’s Reliving the Revolution (RtR). These projects provide rich data for analysis using our conceptual framework, which articulates (a) the global proliferation of WHDs; (b) society’s movement toward “ubiquitous computing;” (c) the potential of WHDs to enable sophisticated types of instructional designs; and (d) WHD’s fostering of new, media-based learning styles. In this chapter, our primary focus is the last of these four themes. 36 Dieterle, Dede, & Schrier Copyright © 2007, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Introduction In the latter half of the twentieth century, first generation handheld computers left research laboratories and entered the marketplace (Polsson, 2005). Driven by advances in software, hardware, and networking, mobile computing has now moved beyond single purpose functionality (e.g., cellphones, gaming devices, personal Chapter Framework understood through "Neomillennial" Learning Styles Propagated by Wireless Handheld Devices Four complementary social trends that make WHDs increasingly important to study The proliferation

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