I thought this article from ReadWriteWeb about using mobile devices in the classroom was interesting. I can certainly see how useful the mobile device could be in the classroom. I can think of many games that are educational. (Spb Brain Evolution to name just one) But if we cannot even afford some basic essentials - like text books - in our schools, I can't see many schools adopting this.

What a great topic!

And what interesting results this should produce.

I think that PDAs can and could play a very useful role in the classroom, but not as a teaching aide. We all thought that PCs and laptops would revolutionize the classroom but when we look today they are still rarely seen outside of the IT class.

In terms of a Mobile Device in every student's hand delivering the content of the lesson, the screen is surely too small for too small to spend upto an hour staring down on. I think an electronic whiteboard at the front of a class holds more benefits; space for information and the right height so people don't get strained necks from looking down.

But, swapping the exercise book, the notes, the planner for a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device makes sense.

A centralized timetable per student with daily on screen reminders to show which lessons/lectures are to held that day, network based, text entered notes, backed up nightly and available for the teacher/tutor to mark, homework/coursework as tasks with evening on screen reminders of due dates and then the use for online research.

Wireless hotspot onsite plus a data only plan out of hours to keep costs down.

This question has certainly got me thinking about it!

Biomehanika:

We all thought that PCs and laptops would revolutionize the classroom but when we look today they are still rarely seen outside of the IT class

I live in Silicon Valley - with HP, Apple, and Microsoft within a few miles and many of their top executives living nearby with children in the local schools. I have to say that PCs are definitely in our classrooms. The teachers routinely use PowerPoint presentations to teach the children and make presentations to concerned parents. When I used to go to the annual open house I used to be more fascinated by the technology that they had in the classroom more than what the teacher had to say

Wow! now there is somewhere that I would like live/work.

I'm currently in Central England and even our local IT Specialist High School only has PCs in the IT Classrooms.