Background and objectivesWhile e-learning is becoming an increasingly important part of education (Giannakos & Vlamos, 2013), many developed and developing nations now use it as a potent tool for the development of human resources (Seyoum, 2012). However, it is a big challenge for teachers to help students to concentrate and be involved in an online course in an environment that is full of Internet allure with its array of shopping websites, free online games and social networking websites (Tsai, 2011a; Tsai & Shen, 2009). Teachers are attempting to design appropriate online teaching methods and integrate them with online technologies to improve students' learning motivation and interest, maintain students' concentration, and enhance students' learning (Shen, Lee & Tsai, 2011; Tsai, 2011a). Moreover, the introduction and development of online technologies in higher education bring many challenges for faculty, not only in learning new functionality, but also in deciding how to use tools in pedagogically effective ways (Macdonald & Campbell, 2012). Many educators in the online learning field adopt an innovative teaching method, problem-based learning (PBL), and explored its effects in online learning environments (Alamro & Schofiel,

Recently, several studies have tried to use ICT to support the achievement of ML (e.g., Karppinen, 2005;Rendas et al, 2006;Rick & Weber, 2010). After decades of research, various elements of ML have been proposed. According to Jonassen (2003), computers can be used to support ML when technologies engage learners in five ways: (1) knowledge construction, not reproduction;(2) conversations, not reception; (3) articulation, not repetition; (4) collaboration, not competition; and (5) reflection, not prescription. The use of technology and ML raises serious and significant issues as to how they can best be used for students' learning. This study aims to review ML studies published in influential international journals from 2003 to 2012. The research questions of the current study are the following:

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In this paper, the authors reviewed the empirical mobile technology (MT) studies, and those focused on adopting and designing MT for students’ learning, published in SSCI journals from 2003 to 2012. It is found that the number of articles has significantly increased, particularly after 2008. Among the 74 published papers, most of them were conducted in higher education, as well as on computing domain. Furthermore, the quantitative research method was used more in MT and e-learning research. The findings in this study may provide potential direction and help policymakers in governments and researchers in professional organizations to allocate the necessary resources and prepare for supporting future research and applications of MT.

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