Mobile Learning: the Virtual "Paper" Advantages and Characteristics

Even in distance learning institutions, the students choose in 80% of the cases paper as data medium. Researches have shown that they are primarily motivated by the mobility of the medium itself and the mobility granted to its user. It seemed interesting to examine to what extent currently available mobile devices can offer the students greater mobility and to evaluate their multimedia integration. Paper is the most used data medium in e-learning, but also offers the least possibilities from a technological point of view. At the University of Applied Sciences Valais, several experiments were conducted on mobile technologies (mobile phones, PDA1, Pocket PC), enabling students to interact with an e-learning platform. The development platform used was i-learn, the platform implemented at the University of Applied Sciences Valais. This paper points out the concrete advantages of mobile learning and describes the development of two types of PDA in relation to an e-learning platform: Palm Pilot and Pocket PC. The technologies and languages used were .net and C++. The pedagogical, technological as well as communicational aspects were taken into account.