Mobile learning, or m-learning, is learning mediated through digital mobile devices like smartphones or tablet computers (including the iPad). M-learning is one of the fastest growth areas in the field of ICTs in education, with the 2011 Horizon Report predicting that mobile devices would be widely adopted within education in the coming year (Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, & Haywood, 2011).

 Digital technologies, especially those which relate to web 2.0, lend themselves to collaborative, learner-centred pedagogical approaches (Pegrum, 2009).  Mobile digital technologies, whose benefits include portability, any time and any place connectivity, flexible access to resources, immediacy of communication, empowerment and engagement of learners, and active learning experiences (JISC, 2005), potentially signal a further shift in this direction.

 Universities worldwide are beginning to explore m-learning. Evidence is starting to emerge of improved student motivation as well as, significantly, improved learning outcomes on traditional assessments (Pegrum, Oakley, & Faulkner, 2012). However, it is apparent that the use of mobile devices is often pedagogically limited (Patten, Arnedillo Sánchez, & Tangney, 2006) or indeed “pedagogically regressive” (Herrington, Herrington, Ferry, & Olney, p. 24).

 Apple’s iPad was released in 2010, the iPad 2 in 2011, and the iPad 3 in 2012. This device is being widely adopted in different educational sectors, including universities around the world. In Australia, for example, Trinity College at the University of Melbourne loaned iPads to mid-year entry students across all subjects before deciding to roll them out more widely (Jennings, Anderson, Dorset, & Mitchell, 2010); the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Sciences gave an iPad to all incoming first year students (iPads reinvent, 2011); and the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Education loaned iPads to all first year students in the Master of Teaching in Early Childhood and Primary programs (Pegrum, Howitt, & Striepe, 2012). In all cases staff and students were encouraged to explore and exploit the devices’ capabilities to support teaching and learning.

 Given the newness of iPads, much of the published discussion of their role in education to date is largely anecdotal in nature. In one of the earliest trials, underpinned by surveys and interviews, Trinity College concluded that the pedagogical benefits of the iPad 1 related to four main areas: active learning techniques; individualising content for students; real time access to information; and collaborative learning (Jennings et al., 2010). Further empirically grounded studies are necessary to more fully establish the pedagogical benefits, especially since the release of the iPad 2, with its additional camera and accompanying creative apps, and the iPad 3 (which has an improved processor and display but does not differ fundamentally from the iPad 2).This paper reports the findings of a research project which investigated the value of the iPads in supporting learning from the perspective of pre-service teachers, with a view to developing recommendations on how this device can be used to promote learning for all university students, whatever their subject area, level or location.  The central research question was: How do pre-service teachers use iPads as learning tools?  

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