ABSTRACT
Mobile learning, an obvious and understandable extension of the now commonplace moniker “e-learning,” has substantiated its presence as a critical area of interest for academic design, development, integration, and research, as well as an attractive headline in national news, educational policy, and government funding. The fields of instructional design, educational technology, learning sciences, and educational psychology have rich histories detailing the oft-enthusiastic exploration of education in the digital landscape. However, these fields also share an observable track record of “jumping the gun” with new technologies, promising considerable learning gains with repeatedly little return. The well-documented journey (cf. Saettler, 1990) through vast landscapes of instructional libraries, radio broadcasts, motion pictures (with and without sound), television, the PC, and most recently the Internet is fraught with elevated expectations of transformation balanced with lackluster outcomes. The “Great Media Debate” notwithstanding (cf. Clark, 1994; Kozma, 1994), these advances in technology are routinely perceived as means to an end and solutions to a problem, rather than opportunities to transform.
