This study takes a fresh look at the role of mobile learning in Higher Education (HE) by drawing on the opinions of students. With rapidly evolving mobile technologies and assumptions of mobile learning abound, it is critical that HE institutions keep up-to-date in their knowledge of the type of mobile devices owned by students, how students currently use their mobile devices and how students would like to use them in the context of formal and informal education. We conducted a Student Mobile Device survey (SDMS) to address these questions. Survey results showed that virtually all students owned a mobile phone, the majority (but not all) owned smartphones and many use their mobile devices for web browsing, email and VLE access. Many students want to use their mobile devices to download lectures and receive grades and feedback, however use in the classroom was unpopular. We conclude that nearly all students want to use their mobile devices for learning in some way; however approaches to this are diverse. It is therefore the institution’s responsibility to ensure that its educational tools and materials are accessible to enable all students to build their own personalised learning environments on the mobile device of their choice.