Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

I am frequently asked about why the Campus changed its approach to eLearning and abandoned its vision of Laptops for all. The answer is neither singular nor straightforward. Laptops are incredible devices but it is their holistic nature that is their achilles heel. If the PSU on your desktop fails, you spend £15 on another one. Right?

Now, if your laptop PSU fails, you get on the phone to an 'authorised stockist' and get relieved of £60 in order to get the thing going again. The same can be said for the hard disk, screen, keyboard, DVD drive, in fact any and every part of the device that may fail. Also, it isn't usually possible to visit your friendly neighbourhood PC guy with a laptop problem. He'll refer you to the manufacturer. Another issue is where exactly do you plug 30 of the things in once the batteries are used up?
Answer- get some extension leads. Not good.

Ever tried photo or video editing on a 802.11A network? I thought not. I have and its murder. Ever seen what happens to a laptop when it gets dropped by a stroppy thirteen year old? Try seeing it 10 times a day.

Centrino processors? Still won't make it through the whole school day.

It may seem like a backward step, but we eventually bought the bullet and invested in Desktop PCs. We were of course working flat out to get our students Pocket PCs in order to close the inevitable information gap that resulted. We think that we have struck the happy medium: Desktop PCs, Laptop PCs and Pocket PCs for all is the way to go. You still get omnipresent access to the internet and email but with significantly less hassle.

All I need is a decent OS and time to browse handango.

See you all on Friday

I just wish that the software world would catch up a bit.