When I left from working in a high school, it was back in 2011. Our school policy at the time was that students were not allowed to be on their phones during class hours. The reasoning behind this decision from the administration was because we as an institution emphasised face-to-face communication and socializing as an element of the learning experience. While I suppose that teachers could have used their phones for learning purposes, not a lot did and I would assume that more than a few would feel it as contrary to the goal of the school to build community. However, when I left, the iPad had just come out and quite a few teachers/administrators were excited about the possibilities of the new device. It took the school until 2013 but they did end up implementing an iPad program for all the students. So there obviously a change took place within the administration’s idea about mobile learning technology. Coming from the tech support side of things, I could see many management and administrative obstacles with regards to going with a campus-wide mobile environment. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to be a part of that rollout.
Personally speaking though, mobile devices have really transformed my life as a student. It is really amazing to use my iPad to load up all my reading materials, plan out my schedule, and browse the web easily and seamlessly. I am a big advocate of using mobile devices and I look forward to seeing them mature in educational environments.