In educational contexts, mobile devices have been mainly used for the following collaborative activities: gathering responses from students (classroom response systems), participatory simulations, and for collaborative data gathering.

Although mobile devices are nowadays used and studied rather intensively throughout the world from the learning point of view, there is not yet rigorous empirical evidence of the benefits of mobile devices for learning (and collaboration and interaction). Empirical evidence indicates that mobile devices can support collaborative activities in several ways: by strengthening the organization of the learning material and information, supporting communication among group members, and helping the coordination between the learning activities.

Concerning user experiences, several issues have been reported thus far: greater student engagement, more effective collaboration, and increasing interaction between students and between the students and teacher. Teachers have reported that mobile devices allow more and better use of technology for a wider range of students and circumstances. In addition, mobile devices were seen to contribute positively to students’ autonomy, anonymity, and motivation. In general, both teachers and students have found mobile devices convenient to use, and they seem to adapt easily to using these small tools. The most successful use of mobile devices tends to involve rich social practices built around rather simple but functional and reliable technology.

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