ARIS Mobile: helping to define the future of mobile learning

The following article deals with the question on how mobile technology is able to change and enhance the distribution of knowledge. After defining the term \´mobile learning\´, a summarization of how learning processes can be supported electronically is given. Moreover, chances and risks in the intersection between technology-enhanced learning and mobile business are revealed. Apart from that, prospects for the future of mobile teaching environments are scrutinized and delineated, based on the results of a research project carried out by the Institute of Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. Deploying the prototype "ARIS Mobile", which is embedded in an integrated electronic learning environment, several test scenarios were examined in order to obtain information about matches and mismatches between state-of-the-art technology and actual applicability at the professional level.