Future Directions in Mobile Learning

The shape of mobile learning (m-learning) depends very much on the complex cultural, social, political, economic and, above all, educational ecologies in which mobile technologies are embedded. Focusing primarily on the developed world, this chapter begins by surveying our contemporary technological context, highlighting new forms of hardware and emerging patterns of usage. It then turns to our contemporary educational context, outlining seven major trends-towards contextualisation, personalisation and diversification of learning; towards student support, engagement and creativity; and towards wider collaboration-which reflect aspects of the broader cultural, social, political and economic landscape. It is suggested that the future of digital learning generally, and m-learning in particular, will take shape at the point where ongoing technological developments intersect with ongoing educational trends.