Anywhere Anytime Learning with Wireless Mobile Devices

Abstract

We are increasingly mobile and connected. It is easier now than ever to access people or content using one of the many available wireless mobile devices. For example, global smartphone sales topped $69 million in 2006, with projected sales of $190 million by 2011. The number of cellular subscribers worldwide is expected to grow from 2 billion in 2005 to 3.2 billion by 2010. Europe and North America are reaching nearsaturation points, and China had the highest number of subscribers with 400 million at the end of 2005. In addition, the global market for mobile-phone content, including music, gaming, and video, is expected to expand to more than $43 billion by 2010 (Computer Industry Almanac, 2005, 2006). The evolution from mainframes to wired desktops and now wireless mobile devices has caused fundamental changes in the ways in which we communicate with others or access, process, create, and share information (e.g., Castells, Fernandez-Ardevol, & Sey, 2007; Ito, Okabe, & Matsuda, 2005; Roush, 2005). Just like the introduction of the mechanical clock altered our perceptions of time and the invention of the magnetic compass changed our view of physical space, continuous and wireless access to digital resources is redefining the ways in which we perceive and use our dimensions of social time and space.