We report and reflect on three projects, carried out by us as educators and technology researchers over a four year period, that explore the use of mobile technologies in the fieldwork of Australian tertiary students of architectural history, landscape history and urban design. Treating these as three case studies, our focus is on the emerging process of designing, developing and deploying different forms of mobile-inspired fieldwork to complement class-based learning. The first two cases involve the development of apps that work as guides for students to explore places of architectural and historical significance in Melbourne, while the third case invited students themselves to create designs for a mobile app intended to communicate the influence of urban design thinkers on a particular place in Sydney. We consider how the iterative development and deployment of the apps and field exercises, over successive semesters, became one of extended co-design between students, tutors and teaching staff.