In today’s class room mobile phones are seen as a nuisance, but they can be the key to a new, personal way of learning. Says prof. dr. Marcus Specht of the Open Universiteit Nederland in his inaugural dissertation on Friday 11^th September 2009. Today’s learners - of all age groups - use their mobiles in nearly all their daily activities. Mobile media enable learners to access information and learning support whenever they need. “The students of the future will demand the learning support that is appropriate for their situation or context. Nothing more. Nothing less. And they want it at the moment the need arises. Not sooner. Not later. Mobiles will be a key technology to provide that learning support”, says prof. dr. Marcus Specht, professor for Advanced Learning Technologies of the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC) at the Open Universiteit Nederland. Digital nomadsMore than 50% of the world population use a mobile phone today. In the Netherlands almost all children of 15 year old have a mobile phone. Digital natives (those who grow up with computers, internet and mobile devices) use mobile media as tools for informal learning and for everyday living. This influences the way they communicate, live and learn. The key question is what this use of mobile learning tools means for learning. In other words: how can we unleash the power of contextual effects with ubiquitous technology for learning. It calls for a rethinking of education with its classical educational settings. As a start to answering this question, Marcus Specht has developed a conceptual model to describe patterns of contextual learning support with mobile media. He presents this model on 11 September 2009 in his inaugural address entitled 'Learning in a Technology Enhanced World' at the Open Universiteit Nederland in Heerlen.

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