Wireless bridges : the laptop experience in the learning environment

Abstract

The Laptop experience has changed the way people work and interact with learning space. The integration of technology in learning environments affects the usage of space and produces new learning patterns. However, new learning patterns do not come automatically with new technology. Technology, space and social behavior affect each other, and cannot have their full effect without adjusting to one another. Therefor, in order to optimize the use of wireless technology, both spaces and social behaviors have to change. To understand and design space which accommodates the new technology, we need to observe and see how people interact with space and what kind of learning and interacting patterns emerge with mobile technology. This thesis begins this process of observation and analysis through an examination of how several students at MIT utilize wireless laptops during the semester.