London, November 13:

While a debate rages over permitting mobile phones inside classrooms, a Scottish university professor is planning to deliver lecture notes to students through mobile phones.

Ayse Goker, from the school of computing at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, is planning to run a trial of a new communication system in her lectures from next year. The system, called AmbieSense, uses hi-tech chips in lecture rooms that are capable of beaming information to mobile phones nearby.

“The system gives people a way of interacting with their environment and obtaining information that might be useful in that situation,” The Scotsman quoted Goker as saying, “Most people have smart mobile phones with large memories now and it has increased what we are able to do. We have already used it at the university to help visitors obtain information about the areas they are in and browse through it on their phones like a website.”

She added, “In an education context, it could be useful to give people timetables and lecture notes. I am hoping to demonstrate the system in some of my own lectures.” AmbieSense was developed in a Europe-wide project to provide intelligent interactive tools in different environments. The system has already been piloted in Seville in France and at the Oslo Airport to give useful information to tourists.