Mobile learning and social inclusion – The hopes and the reality

In the last decades international bodies have emphasized the role that ICTs can play in promoting the social inclusion of disadvantaged groups. Several initiatives based on the use of ICTs in education and e-learning to enhance participation have been promoted by governments and institutions, sustained by strong enthusiasm and multiple promises. This has sometimes led to rhetoric discourses and unwarranted optimism. Big hopes for m-learning are now emerging too, but its effective potential for social inclusion is still an open issue. This paper aims at reflecting on the present status of mobile learning practice and to highlight gaps and issues which still divide hopes and reality, especially in disadvantaged contexts. It will focus on two European projects on mobile learning for social inclusion and show that digital inequalities still impede individuals in taking advantage of the so-called knowledge society’s opportunities.