Educators Struggle to Design Mobile-Learning Content

How do educators develop meaningful lessons that fit the constraints of small-screen devices?

Figuring out how to put cellphones into the hands of students—complete with data plans and security features—is often seen as the most daunting step for districts eager to tap the potential learning benefits of mobile technologies. But once those logistics are conquered, another big question looms: How can educators find or develop meaningful, standards-based lessons that fit the visual and data constraints of a small-screen device?

In the push for mobile learning as a way to utilize tools that students are adept at using and are enthusiastic about, the quest for creating and finding high-quality content is proving a challenge. But as more schools decide to incorporate portable technologies into the school day, demand is growing for curricula developed with a three-inch display window in mind. And as more educators start to move beyond the simple mobile applications for education, like multiple-choice quizzes, flashcards, and polling, they are learning that adapting existing lessons to the miniature viewing area of a cellphone or personal digital assistant, or PDA, does not always work.

“You can’t just take something you use on a big screen and move it to a little screen and have it work well,” says Thomas Greaves, an education and technology consultant based in Encinitas, Calif. “There are not near as many people developing applications for small devices as there are for large ones, because the...