Harnessing Mobile Technology for Classroom Learning

Abstract

Educational institutions are reluctant adopt mobile computing and Wireless technologies. This is because this technology remains relatively expensive compared to traditional computing technologies, mobile devices are inherently personal and can be difficult to use as a teaching tool to groups of learners, and Short Message Services and Multimedia Message Services (SMS/MMS) are expensive and limited in functional scope despite their popularity amongst young people. In this paper, we describe a component of a prototype learning environment named 'Quest' where we propose a new way of harnessing mobile technology for learning that negates these drawbacks. In Quest we have demonstrated that the information gathering capabilities of mobile phones can be harnessed to aid learners' research.