A common picture from studies on mobile learning is a group of students standing somewhere outdoors around a mobile device "like bees around the hive". This paper questions the design of learning activities that lead learners to spend time focusing on the device at the expense of interacting with other learners while exploring the outdoor environment. We approach the question in relation to a field trial we have conducted on geometry for middle school students. The objective of the trial was to find out, from an interaction design perspective, how to help users to balance their attention on the device and the outdoor physical environment. We found that the careful design of pedagogical activities and the redesign of mobile devices, to have different roles and to function as tools within the activity, can serve to balance focus between devices and the outdoors environment.