Dynamic-PDA-Use for learning: an undergraduate student

Abstract

The paper reports on a one-year case study of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) use for learning by an undergraduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at a university in Hong Kong. Data was collected through student e-journals and artifacts, observations, in-depth and retrospective interviews. In the data analysis, both categorization and contextualization strategies were adopted to provide a well-rounded account of the inquiry. The research results are presented and discussed. The paper proposes the concept of dynamic-PDA-use for learning, and suggests that understanding and adopting this concept in learning will help improve PDA educational practices, and allow dynamic and flexible PDA use for varied learning activities.