REVISTA DE ESTUDIOS E INVESTIGACIÓN EN PSICOLOGÍA Y EDUCACIÓN eISSN: 2386-7418, 2017, Vol. Extr., No. 13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17979/reipe.2017.0.13.3229 Correspondence: Ana Francisca Monteiro, amonteiro@ie.uminho.pt Selección y peer-review bajo responsabilidad del Comité Organizador del XIV Congreso Internacional Galego-Portugués de Psicopedagogía Challenges of mobile learning – a comparative study on use of mobile devices in six European schools: Italy, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Turkey Desafios do mobile learning – estudo comparativo sobre a utilização de dispositivos móveis em seis escolas europeias: Itália, Grécia, Polónia, Portugal, Roménia, Turquia Ana Monteiro, Marco Bento, José Lencastre, Marcelo Pereira, Altina Ramos, António J. Osório, Bento Silva University of Minho Abstract Although mobile technology is not yet widely used in schools, and in some cases even prohibited by internal regulations, the truth is that this technology, besides being a hallmark of contemporary life, is a powerful tool that challenges teachers and students to innovate in teaching learning practices. This article intends to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon. The article is part of a project called "Bringing life into the classroom: innovative use of mobile devices in the educational process" (BLIC & CLIC), which aims to diagnose the use of mobile devices in the educational context for the development of digital skills by students and school teachers. This diagnosis will be the first "output" of the project, and the results will allow the (re)design of the future interventions that will respond to the general objectives of the project. Keywords: mobile learning, pedagogical innovation; advantages and disadvantages Resumo Embora a tecnologia móvel não seja, ainda, um dispositivo utilizado com muita frequência nas escolas, sendo em algumas até proibido por regulamentos internos, a verdade é que esta tecnologia, para além de ser condição de marca da vida contemporânea, é uma ferramenta poderosa que desafia os professores e os alunos a inovar nas práticas de ensino aprendizagem. Com este artigo pretende-se dar um contributo para a compreensão deste fenómeno. O artigo surge no âmbito de um projeto, denominado “Bringing life into the classroom: innovative use of mobile devices in the educational process” (BLIC&CLIC), tendo como objetivo efetuar uma análise diagnóstica sobre o uso de dispositivos móveis em contexto educativo para o desenvolvimento de competências digitais por estudantes e professores de escolas. Este diagnóstico será o primeiro “output” do projeto, devendo os resultados permitir o (re) desenho das futuras intervenções que responderão aos objetivos gerais do projeto. Palavras-chave: mobile learning, inovação educativa; vantagens e desvantanges Introduction Schools are crowded with smartphones and tablets continuously connected to the internet. The popularity of these devices among the newest generation of students has increased so much that teachers feel the challenge to innovate teaching by integrating mobile technologies into the pedagogical designs they propose. This necessity of developing a mobile online environment allows the mobile learning (Lencastre, Bento, & Magalhães, 2016). Mobile learning meets the needs of today’s students, who want to use the tools they use outside of class for learning inside. Mobile learning is defined as learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices (Crompton, 2015). This definition makes it clear how mobile technologies can extend the learning spaces, not limited anymore by regular or specific classroom hours, but by learning and pedagogical pluralism (Pachler, Bachmair, & Cook, 2010). With mobile technologies, students can learn both in the formal classroom and outside of school context. This gives the student the opportunity to learn autonomously and intuitively by combining formal and informal learning processes (Trentin, & Repetto, 2013). Mobile learning provides an active, participatory, motivated and personalised student experience, distinguishing modes of communication, collaboration, and interaction with information (Sharples, 2013); empowering ubiquitous learning, networking, and lifelong learning. All this flexibility requires the teacher's openness to perform new roles in the teaching and learning processes using active and participative methodologies (Attewell, & Savill-Smith, 2014). This article presents a comparative study on mobile learning using the data collected in the scope of the project ‘Bringing life into the classroom: innovative use of mobile devices in the educational process’ (www.blicclic.com). This project, funded by the Romanian Agency for Erasmus plus (ANPCDEFP), addresses the use of mobile devices in educational context for the development of digital skills in students and teachers from six European schools: Colegiul Tehnic Edmond Nicolau Focsani (Romania), IS M. Filetico