mLearning: Mobile Learning and Performance in the Palm of Your Hand

WAN, MAN, LAN, PAN

Now that we’ve piqued your interest with devices and potential functions, let’s take a step back and look at the networking technology that enables these devices. While there are whole books written on this subject, we will try to give you a quick snapshot so that you can begin thinking about what technologies are available. We will also attempt to demystify some of the common technologies and categories, beginning with the cryptic acronyms in the section title: WAN (Wide Area Network), MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), LAN (Local Area Network), and PAN (Personal Area Network). Let us categorize wireless technologies into these areas, which are roughly based on the breadth of geography they can cover.