Mobile computer-supported collaborative learning

Mobile computer-supported collaborative learning may have different meanings depending on the context in which it is applied. Mobile CSCL includes any in-class and out-of-class use of handheld mobile devices such as cell phones, smart phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to enable collaborative learning.

The adoption of mobile devices as tools for teaching and learning is referred to as M-Learning. M-Learning is a rapidly emerging educational technology trend. The New Media Consortium has listed adoption of mobiles for teaching and learning on a "One Year or Less" Adoption Horizon. M-Learning research comprises a range of mobile devices and teaching and learning applications. However, the research available for collaborative applications that involve mobile devices is limited. Examples of collaborative mobile learning applications can be found in examples from early adoption of PDA technology, and in recent examples of location-based, mobile collaborative games.

Wireless-enabled handheld devices have been used as early as 2004 to facilitate collaborative learning. Devices such as PDAs and PocketPC's traditionally lack cellular connectivity, but are capable of wireless connectivity. This connectivity enables collaborative learning through software-based, decision-making tools and shared display of learning material.

Wireless interconnected handhelds have been used to foster collaborative construction of words among elementary school students. Students in a first grade classroom in Chile were organized into groups and asked to construct words from syllables. Each student was issued a handheld which identified their group and presented one syllable. Students had to read the syllable and communicate with the rest of their group and decide the appropriate syllable sequence required for word formation. The mobile system employed incorporated a group-based answer approval system that allowed students to submit responses and decide whether more words could be created from the available syllables.

Cooties, is an interactive, collaborative simulation designed for wireless handheld devices. Originally designed for middle-school students, Cooties enables students to study the spread of infectious diseases. In Cooties, a teacher can select which student(s) to infect and which students to give "degrees of 'immunity'". The device displays icons for all students, and differentiates those with and without infection. As students move about, they "spread" disease. As the simulation progresses, students can then form a scientific hypothesis about how the disease is spread.

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