41 ›› Introduction This chapter aims at identifying some trends in the practice of mobile learning in adult education and at providing some recommenda- tions for policy, practice and research. It is based on the work presented in the previous chapters, on discussions in team meetings and on experience gathered by partners. More specifically, the scenarios described in Chapter 4 were tested in a series of workshops, which took place in 2011-2012 in respective partner countries. These activities, which are described in the reports available on the project web site (http://www.mymobile-project.eu), as well as the considerations offered by partners in their scenario presentations, help us to identify some trends that have emerged from experience and to draw relevant suggestions for policy and practice. As background for our synthesis, we adopt the socio-cultural ecological perspective introduced in Chapter 3 combined with Hart’s ap- proach to the social workplace learning continuum. However, prior to presenting our synthesis, it is worth recalling some basic concepts relating to adult education. Since the 1970s the expression ‘adult education’ refers to › “the entire body of organized educational processes, whatever the content, level and method, whether formal or otherwise, whether they prolong or replace initial education in schools, colleges and universities as well as in apprenticeship, whereby persons regarded as adult by the society to which they belong develop their abilities, enrich their knowledge, improve their technical or professional qualifications or turn them in a new direction and bring about changes in their attitudes or behaviour in the twofold perspective of full personal development and participation in balanced and independent social, economic and cultural development” (UNESCO, 1976, p. 4). This wide definition of adult education has since converged with the concept of lifelong education meaning that all educational processes are understood as being carried out within the context of lifelong learning or adult education (Martínez de Morentin de Goñi, 2006, p. 13). Another defining characteristic of adult education is its inclusive nature. The same UNESCO declaration (UNESCO, 1976) states that adult education: › “should meet […] the specific needs of development, of participation in community life and of individual self-fulfilment. […] In defining the content of adult education activities priority should be given to the specific needs of the educationally most underprivileged groups” (p. 7). During the 1990s, the concept of lifelong education was expanded through the addition of the specification “for all”: lifelong education is for all. Briefly, the concept of adult education includes: (a) the idea of education as a permanent process converging with lifelong education; (b) the emphasis on the social, economical and cultural development of the person; (c) the need for increasing inclusion and participation of disadvantaged groups through the education for all. With this in mind, in the following sections we will attempt to identify strengths and weaknesses of our scenarios in practice in order to derive implications for practice and policy for mobile learning and adult education. Scenarios in practice: Strengths and Weaknesses Looking at Strengths Mobile devices as cultural / learning resources. Viewing mobile devices as cultural/learning resources opens the doors to a vision that considers them not so much for their technical functionalities but for the role they may play in people’s everyday life as strategic tools for identity formation, social interaction, the derivation of meaning, and entertainment (Pachler, Cook, Bachmair, 2010). People appropriate mobiles according to their personal needs of socialization and deriving meaning. It is the recognition of people’s agency in this media ap- propriation process that allows us to qualify media as cultural resources. This recognition in turn is a starting point to transform a cultural resource into a learning tool, particularly with disadvantaged people who are often at the margins of formal educational settings and need to be more motivated than others. In this perspective, mobile devices can provide multiple learning opportunities such as: (1) supporting Mobile learning in adult education : lessons learnt and recommendations › Maria Ranieri and Isabella Bruni 1 › 5 › 1 Even though this chapter has been jointly conceived, Isabella Bruni edited the Introduction and the section Scenarios in practice: Strengths and Weaknesses - Looking at Strengths, and Maria Ranieri the section Scenarios in practice : Strengths and Weaknesses Looking at Weaknesses, and the section Implications and recommendations.