In the past decade, the Internet has spawned many innovations and services that stem from its interactive character. There are numerous indications that the ongoing process of adding mobility to interactivity will transform the role of the Internet and pave the way for yet another set of innovations and services. The convergence of computing and communication is a process that is about to turn phones and mobile terminals into powerful multimedia units. The XML-based Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL), for instance, is devised for the distribution of sophisticated multimedia content. These forms of interactive multimedia offer new possibilities as to the way we learn, think, and communicate. 

The use of information and communication technologies in education and training has undergone several paradigm shifts over the last three decades (Bransford et al., 1999). Very recently the notions of e-learning (learning supported by digital "electronic" tools and media) and m-learning (e-learning using mobile devices and wireless transmission) have emerged. Handheld devices are emerging as one of the most promising technologies for supporting learning and particularly collaborative learning scenarios; mainly because they offer new opportunities for individuals who require mobile computer solutions that other devices cannot provide. Thus, many researchers as well as academic and industrial practitioners are currently exploring the potential of mobile and wireless devices for supporting learning. The challenges are manifold: adapting and appropriating the technology for learning in a way consistent with learning goals and principles, the setting up and testing of prototypical applications and scenarios, the development of specific software tools and architectures, among others.

The idea that new technologies will transform learning practices has not yet led to the collaborative ideal. The task of designing effective computer support along with appropriate pedagogy and social practices is simply much more complex than imagined (Stahl, 2002). If these new mobile technologies are used to support active and/or collaborative forms of learning, the expected gain or added value is typically defined quite differently: Handheld computing devices allow for exploratory activities not bound to a special location, for example field trips, without losing the potential of taking electronics notes and retrieving information of various types (Gay et al., 2002). Such notes, ranging from data collections and digital images to handwritten annotations, can be easily exchanged and downloaded. If combined with wireless transmission, these activities can be continuously monitored and coordinated between places. But even in classrooms and training settings with more or less fixed locations, the use of mobile and wireless technologies may lead to substantial changes in that small handheld or embedded devices are no longer dominating the interaction in the same way as an "explicit” computer does. This can help us to bring the technology to the background and to set the focus more on inter-personal relations and on the task at hand (Roschelle  et al., 2002). 

We at CeLeKT, have recently initiated a research effort to explore new design approaches and innovative uses of wireless and mobile technologies in a variety of collaborative educational settings.  Our research aims at investigating the challenges of designing and using mobile technology for:

- providing learners with new mobile computational tools to explore and share their knowledge with other peers;
- providing teachers with  new communication channels to visualize students' ideas;
- fostering collaboration among students and among students and teachers.

Our vision is not simply to provide novel mobile and wireless computational tools, but rather to explore new and varied educational activities that become available while applying innovative approaches for designing a new kind of educational technologies. 

During my presentation I will discuss more in details some of the issues mentioned above. Moreover, I will make an attempt to provide a multidisciplinary perspective to the issue of "The Social Science of Mobile Learning" by integrating some key ideas from disciplines such as educational research, social science and engineering. My claim is that we need to develop a broad framework which integrates all these views  in order to discuss and to understand the impact of these new technologies in education and their implications for the future of learning.
 

References:

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Gay, R., Rieger, R. & Bennington, T. (2002). Using mobile computing to enhance field study. In Koschman, Hall & Myake (Eds), CSCL 2: Carrying Forward the Conversation (pp. 507-528). Mahwah (New Jersey): Lawrence Erlbaum. 

Roschelle, J., & Pea, R. (2002). To Unlock the Learning Value of Wireless Mobile Devices, Understand Coupling. In Proceedings of WMTE  2002 (pp. 51-60). Växjö, Sweden. August  2002.

Stahl, G. (2002) Contributions to a theoretical framework for CSCL. In Proceedings of CSCL 2002, Boulder, CO, USA