E-learning and M-learning: Experiences, a Prototype and First Experimental Results

The importance of the utilization of modern technologies in education is continuously growing. One of the recently widely discussed fields is the one of mobile learning (or m-learning) where different mobile devices are used for educational purposes. This paper describes a system called Mobile ELDIT (m-ELDIT) that is under development at the University of Trento, Italy. It is a mobile version of an existing language learning platform (ELDIT), developed at the European Academy of Bolzano, Italy. While the ELDIT system can be accessed from any desktop PC having an internet connection, the mobile system can be accessed from PDAs and offers any-time anywhere access to the learning base of ELDIT. It means that both online and offline access can be provided to the users. A prototype of m-ELDIT is already being used by some learners as an additional tool for the preparation for the bilingualism exam, but also just for studying the Italian or German languages. The goal of this paper is to share design principles and the practical experience collected from the first experiments with the prototype.