mLearning: the classroom in your pocket?

This paper reports the findings of a 1 year project which focussed solely on the potential of handheld computers for teacher professional development. The paper considers the fit between theory and practice, viewing the developing literature on mLearning as it might apply to teacher professional development, in the light of research evidence from project teachers using handheld computers. The teachers themselves used the analytical framework for teacher professional knowledge developed by Banks, Leach and Moon to consider their own experiences with the handheld computers. The study finds that handheld digital tools hold a number of pedagogic and pragmatic advantages over laptop or desktop computers for teachers, especially in rural communities; however, further technical development is required to fully orient the devices to classroom rather than office practices.