Defining Mobile Learning in the Higher Education Landscape

Introduction The evolution of handheld portable devices and wireless technology has resulted in radical changes in the social and economic lifestyles of modern people. Today, many technological devices are produced in portable form and people have become accustomed to them. These devices are reshaping users daily lives in different ways. But the development of digital technologies has so far been limited to social communication and few people have regarded mobile learning as a core pedagogical activity in higher institutions of learning. Although this model has been used as a minor adjunct to learning activities such as lectures and assignments, it is still not the primary mode of delivery in higher education. Currently, the instructional technology transmitted by means of mobile technology is mainly social and, to a lesser extent, economic. Advanced mobile devices such as "smart" cellular telephones are very popular among people primarily because they are wireless and portable. These functionalities enable users to communicate while on the move. The popularity of these devices is therefore a consequent of their ability to function at multiple levels. Moreover, the intense commercial competitiveness in the mobile device industry is forcing manufacturers to be very innovative, constantly striving to introduce new features that can give them a competitive edge. Against this backdrop, visionary educators, designers and developers should begin to consider the implications of these devices for the modern teaching and learning environment. In such an environment, contents and services can be relayed to a university student by personal wireless mobile devices. This will add another layer to the personal computer-based model of teaching and learning. This also means e-learning will take place in conditions that will be radically different from those educators and learners are familiar with. Providing university students with services, content instruction and information outside the traditional learning space is becoming more acceptable among education providers who predicate their services on the routine use of advanced information and communication technologies. This article seeks to provide a comprehensive definition of mobile learning and attempts to understand why actual learning practices are changing very rapidly while the learning theories that support educational practices are not. To find viable answers, the article will describe the different components of mobile learning that reflect on the increasing mobility of learners, learning and learner technology. The emergence of revolutionary technologies has had a significant impact on educational technology. It has increased the potential of e-learning as a mode of delivery in education. By definition, mobile learning (or "m- learning") is learning by means of wireless technological devices that can be pocketed and utilised wherever the learner's device is able to receive unbroken transmission signals (Attewell & Savill-Smith, 2005). For example, Laouris and Eteokleous (2005) have reiterated the need for a definition of mobile learning that takes into account all the aspects of the mobile learning process Nyir (2002) has also contributed to a philosophy of mobile learning that relies on Dewey's insights into democracy and education. Nyir and his contemporaries argue that mobile devices are responsible for undermining and, in many cases, eliminating the fixity of traditional classrooms such as lecture halls, laboratories and all the paraphernalia of traditional education. For decades, these traditional spaces have depended on static models of communication and devices for subject delivery. Significantly, mobile devices are revolutionary because they transcend the boundaries of the structural stasis of classrooms and lecture halls and their associated modes of communication--they do not have to be confined to one particular place in order to be effective. …