Handheld and Mobile Computing and Contributed by Organizations or Campuses

"Be warned: One researcher says the iPhone could become the "perfect spying device," thanks to multiple security flaws."

A system that tracks students through their mobile phones is among the new technologies being developed to help improve security at America's universities - something increasingly of concern since the tragic events at Virginia Tech in April 2007.

When cellphones become safety monitoring devices, students, parents, and administrators can worry less.

The UC Berkeley People Locator is a web-based contact system to provide information to members of the UC Berkeley community and to their families and friends in the event of an emergency affecting the campus.

This entire issue of The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 8, No 2 (2007), is focused on mobile learning. This special issue addresses some of the issues and challenges of mobile learning, and provides suggestions and recommendations for mobile learning and for research on mobile learning.

"The two hours it took for Virginia Tech officials to eMail students a warning about a gunman on campus last month have raised the question of how schools can get critical news out faster in a crisis--and how technology can help."

"Since 9/11, some security experts have pushed the idea that peer-to-peer alert systems that rely on openness and the crowd can save lives, particularly when centralized communications and decision-making break down. That argument is back in force following Monday's mass slayings of 32 people at Virginia Tech."

Contemporary learning theory emphasizes the importance of student engagement during class. For example, the National Research Council encourages educators to provide "active learning environments for all students, even in large section, lecture dominated courses." Contrast this with the traditional classroom where a teacher writes copiously on a blackboard while each student's energy is devoted to mechanically copying the instructor's board work. Students are often so busy copying that they only occasionally find time to listen to the teacher, engage with the material, and exchange ideas with others in the class. Even when teachers use technology such as PowerPoint to enhance their presentations, students are rarely engaged in interactive learning activities. In this context, PowerPoint is being used as a presentation system to direct a message to the students; however, providing the active learning environments urged by the National Research Council requires moving beyond the old concept of a presentation system to a new concept called an interaction system.

The College of Science and Engineering (CSE) at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) had been wrestling with the issue of implementing a laptop initiative for several years. A variety of factors, including strong student opposition in several fields and cost concerns, held back the initiative.