Conclusion
The dominant discourse of mobile learning is as revolutionary and/or necessitated by
demand of the 21st century student. This research with 135 students, all of whom had
access to iPads loaded with the Blackboard Mobile Learn app, over two semesters,
presented a challenge to this discourse. The students did not demand mobile learning
and were in fact mostly neutral about the experience. Likewise, they did not perceive a
notable improvement to their learning. The lesson learned from the relativist
perspective of the students should be applied to pedagogical decision-making and
instructional design. The students did not oppose mobile learning or Blackboard Mobile
Learn, instead accepting it as a natural and yet non-extraordinary part of their
university experience. Perhaps educators should not be overly concerned when
contemporary students use their mobile devices for in-class purposes other than
learning, such as reading Facebook and surfing the net, because it is not categorically
different from their now-professors who used their pen and paper to doodle and write
letters. Educators are to be encouraged to use mobile learning in their suite of
approaches to quality teaching and learning in higher education.