Mobile learning: a new paradigm in electronic learning

As mobile phones become popular, with many people being able to afford them, the demand for mobility is extended to teaching and learning purposes. One recent and significant change in learning environments is the demand for mobility. We introduce a proposed framework of mobile learning. It consists of four functional levels: (1) mobile learning applications, (2) mobile user infrastructure, (3) mobile protocol and (4) mobile network infrastructure. The framework can simplify the design and development so that different parties (e.g. vendors, service providers, designers, developers) can address individual levels. A single party can build on functionalities provided by others. The functions of these four levels are described with some examples. Moreover, practical knowledge management and learning community are two major issues in mobile learning.

1: Introduction

When wireless and mobile networks are developing, mobile learning follows soon. How must wireless technologies change to support this learning style? Electronic learning continues to grow phenomenally but most e-learning development involves wired infrastructures. It is believed that emerging wireless and mobile networks will provide new applications in mobile learning [2].