Mobile Computing At School Central Challenges Using the Example of a School Trial for the Introduction of Tablet PCs

Abstract

The use of digital media at school, at least at secondary schools, has so far mainly taken place in the computer room. Many educators find this situation restrictive due to a lack of flexibility and limited computer availability, among other things. Theoretically, these problems could be solved if all students and teachers had their own computers that they could use at any time. Some schools (especially in the US and the UK) have already taken this step and equipped students and teachers with laptops or tablet PCs. The latter differ from laptops primarily in that the screen also functions as an input medium that can be operated with a special pen or the fingers. In Germany, mobile solutions have so far been based primarily on work with so-called laptop classes. The equipment of entire schools with such devices has so far failed, among other things, due to the question of financing. With the increasing spread of netbooks, an affordable alternative seems to be emerging. Against this background, as well as the overall increasing relevance of the use of a wide variety of mobile devices for learning and educational processes, the penetration of schools with ubiquitous or pervasive digital learning infrastructures seems to be only a matter of time (Breiter/Welling 2006; Hug 2010; Holleis et al. 2010).