Integration of Mobile Devices into Computer Science and Engineering Curriculum

The area of Mobile Computing has been growing tremendously in recent years. A major aspect of this growth has been the addition of networking technologies, operating systems, and database management systems to mobile devices. Today, mobile devices might be one of the most pervasive pieces of electronic equipment in our society. A recent study has estimated the total number of subscribers of mobile phones in the world to be three billion. As the use of mobile devices within society is quickly expanding, mobile learning (m-learning) has emerged as a potential educational environment to support learning. Mobile devices can be integrated into classroom teaching to promote excitement in learning. The three aspects of Mobile Computing are mobile communication, mobile hardware and mobile software. The first aspect addresses communication issues in ad-hoc and infrastructure networks as well as communication properties, protocols, data formats and concrete technologies. The second aspect focuses on the hardware, i.e. mobile devices or device components. The third aspect deals with the characteristics and requirements of mobile applications. Widespread use of mobile devices makes an opportunity for the computer science and engineering programs to integrate the use of mobile devices into their curriculum in order to enhance and promote new ways of teaching and learning. Since young people are very excited about these devices, mobile devices can be used as motivators for attracting and retaining students in the computer science and engineering fields. Educators now must come up with innovations on how to integrate mobile devices into their curriculums. This paper is a study of different approaches that are used by different colleges and universities around the world to integrate Mobile Computing into their computer science and engineering curriculums.