The compact and convenient nature of mobile technology is such that cellular phones, PDAs, laptops or netbooks are everyday accoutrements for the business and domestic user alike.

Many of us choose to use such devices alongside their non-portable equivalents, but not everyone has this luxury. In some parts of the world, mobile technology performs a primary, rather than supporting role.

The features which make mobile technology so attractive to us, make them essential in remote parts of the world, where they can be used to improve the delivery of vital services.

It’s a fact that has sparked collaboration between the University of Wolverhampton and Stanford University, one of the world’s leading research universities. Together experts from both universities are exploring opportunities for learning offered by portable technologies, particularly in developing countries.

Mobile classrooms

The partnership brings together the University of Wolverhampton’s Learning Lab with the Stanford University School of Education (SUSE). The link was formed through the British Council’s PMI2 Connect Fund. The partnership will include collaborative research projects, the creation of courses using digital technology and the development of a joint Masters programme.

Experts from Stanford and Wolverhampton will work on projects with Birzeit and Hebron universities, in Palestine. They hope to develop capacity in using digital technology for delivering education in difficult environments. Professor John Taxler, Director of the Learning Lab at the University of Wolverhampton, explains:

"The universities of Palestine are attempting to work in some of the most challenging situations in the world and we now have funding to work with both those of Hebron and Birzeit. We have built up a substantial record of experience using innovative technologies in areas where the environment and infrastructure present major problems and barriers".