In this paper, the Gartner Group's hype cycle is used as the basis for categorizing and analyzing research on the educational use of ubiquitous computing. There are five phases of the hype cycle: the technology trigger, the peak of inflated expectations, the trough of disillusionment, the slope of enlightenment, and the plateau of productivity. Research on the educational use of mobile technology is divided in this paper into four stages: (i) a period of mobility and personal digital assistants (PDAs); (ii) the era of wireless internet learning devices; (iii) the introduction of social mobile media; and (iv) a ubiquitous future. In addition, three empirical case studies are used as examples of these developmental stages. These case studies demonstrate the diversity of contexts, methods, and technologies used, ranging from the workplace to nature trails, from inquiry learning to collaborative knowledge building, and from PocketPCs to smartphones. The four stages of educational use in the context of the hype cycle and the case studies together emphasize that pedagogically grounded instructional design is needed to put emergent technologies to effective use to promote learning skills, namely self-regulated learning and collaboration, and to prepare people for the 21st century learning society.