How did mobile learning develop?

As time moves forward, systems must innovate in order to remain relevant. In education, we are starting to see a widespread adoption of technology based products.

The spark of this was initiated through eLearning, in which individuals were able to access information on their computers and mobile devices. Although very convenient, eLearning basically acts as an alternative medium to display information instead of actually improving the learning process.

It wasn't until recently that mLearning started gaining traction. Although it applies to all mobile devices, smart phones are the key in making this type of learning successful. It is the one piece of technology that individuals are attached to at the hip at nearly all times of the day. We do everything on them - text, talk, browse the internet, play games etc... So why not use them for learning as well? How convenient would it be to learn on your phone instead of always having to be confined to a desk and a chair?

Unlike eLearning, it's extremely difficult to port over textbooks directly to phones due to the large amounts of information that would need to be displayed inside such a small screen. The user experience would most likely suffer if this were the case. When it comes to smart phones, people typically want exactly what they are looking for in the least amount of time. By giving people this type of satisfaction for learning, these devices could provide immense benefit.