In this presentation we discuss current and future prospects for small, ubiquitous, mobile computing devices in higher education. The first part of the presentation describes a pilot project with Pocket PCs (PPCs) as an adjunct resource for nursing students in a clinical practicum. We describe the technical setup, strategies of implementation, and plans for evaluation. Collaborative meetings between the university information technology systems division, school of nursing faculty, and the clinical facility information technology department was imperative to determine feasibility and implementation strategies. In this pilot project, clinically relevant software was purchased and loaded on to PPCs, documents were created for clinical preparation, and 46 students and 2 faculty members were oriented to the PPCs prior to clinical experiences. The project started in August 2003 and included 12 weeks of clinical practice in a hospital-based unit. In the second part of the presentation, we outline the requirements for an advanced software infrastructure that will connect students and faculty in a truly 24x7 mobile learning environment (MLE). The proposed infrastructure will give students and faculty the ability to collaborate regardless of time or location, using the most effective educational tools. The MLE infrastructure includes smart mobile devices with wireless connectivity enabling rich data sharing and efficient multi-way communication, collaboration tools and reusable modules for rich data sharing, team productivity tools compatible with multiple platforms and devices, and robust multimedia server architecture with integrated support for multiple database management systems. To fulfill the goals of the MLE environment, integration with university administrative computing systems will be required.