Introduction to the special issue on wireless and mobile technologies in education

摘要

This special issue is a sequel special issue of the same topic in Vol. 19, No. 3, September 2003. This issue features revised and elaborated versions of best papers presented at the two international conferences on mobile learning. The Second IEEE International Workshop in Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE) was held at the National Central University in Chungli, Taiwan, in March 2004 with the theme of mobile support for learning communities. The Third European Conference on Mobile Learning (MLEARN) was at Lake Bracciano, Italy, in July 2004, with the theme of learning anytime, everywhere. Together, these events presented the considerable progress in research into learning across contexts, through emerging wireless and mobile technologies. They represent distinct though interlinked perspectives: wireless and mobile technologies bring new opportunities for learners to be more intensely connected, either face to face or at a distance, extending one's learning community to friends, teachers, mentors, parents, and beyond; to enhance learning in an age of mobile technology we must explore and support learning in multiple contexts, across a lifetime of cognitive change and social interaction.