I liked the idea of social space as hyper-local – but I’m still not sure about the local emphasis. Am I not m-learning if my wearable computer is connecting me to a seminar on psychology from Australia while I am walking down the road? Not connected with the location but very much mobile learning.
As you point out, m-learning need not exclusively imply a situated learning paradigm; however, using mobile technologies to situate learning is certainly one of the emerging paradigms of m-learning, and one that I and my co-author explored in a white paper of our own (“Learner-Centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning” https://olt.qut.edu.au/udf/OLT2006/gen/static/papers/Low_OLT2006_paper.pdf).
One of the great advantages of mobile technologies is that they provide the ultimate opportunity to “immerse” a learner in a learning context, and it is from that aspect of digital mobility that situated mobile learning approaches derive their strength.
However, as you correctly point out, situatedness is not the *only* advantage of digital mobility. Another primary strength of digital mobile devices – convenient and functional ubiquity – is also useful for other mobile learning approaches. You mention a “live” connection with an educational event in Australia, but I’m sure other educators agree that listening to an audio podcast (or lecture recording) on a bus can also support learning.
Really, what I’m trying to say is that you’re both right. It isn’t a contradiction to say that mobile devices can be used for *both* localised/situated learning experiences, as well as non-situated (but convenient) ones. Rather, mobile devices are powerful and flexible enough to be used in a range of learning contexts, and that in itself could be a compelling reason for exploring the use of mobile technologies in education!
Hi, We all enjoyed your input to the session and came away with buzzing heads. Some interesting comments and links above. I think there is something really personal about mobile phones which make them great for informal learning. I wonder if wearables mentioned above will really take off? Details of London Met mobile work can be found at: http://www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk/dissemination/mlearn_papers.htm
Notes form ALT-C 07 symposium feedback session
Tag: alt-20071216
Issues
· Weather dependence
· Glasgow Caledonian distinguish between quite area and social area
· Dead spots and costs of networks
· Location-based blogging surrounding citizen-oriented journalism
· Civic commerce space, would corporates want all these ‘free’ services?
· Different qualities of attention (multimodal)
· Cultural shifts involved in ‘policing’ different spaces
· What about silver surfers, contextual matters e.g. kiosks?
· Is it possible in some city centres? Seattle and San Francisco are putting wireless into low income areas.
· Cooperative apace: 3G, GPRS, geotagging then upload
· What about informal infrastructure over city?
· Why just city centres? What about the unintended consequences of all these people using mobile phones.
Yes, there are! I’ll be talking about this on Thursday morning in SP 1172.
More comments on this session can be found at http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com
I liked the idea of social space as hyper-local – but I’m still not sure about the local emphasis. Am I not m-learning if my wearable computer is connecting me to a seminar on psychology from Australia while I am walking down the road? Not connected with the location but very much mobile learning.
http://www.helenwhitehead.com/blog/2007/09/tensions-between-personal-space-and.html
Hi Helen,
As you point out, m-learning need not exclusively imply a situated learning paradigm; however, using mobile technologies to situate learning is certainly one of the emerging paradigms of m-learning, and one that I and my co-author explored in a white paper of our own (“Learner-Centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning” https://olt.qut.edu.au/udf/OLT2006/gen/static/papers/Low_OLT2006_paper.pdf).
One of the great advantages of mobile technologies is that they provide the ultimate opportunity to “immerse” a learner in a learning context, and it is from that aspect of digital mobility that situated mobile learning approaches derive their strength.
However, as you correctly point out, situatedness is not the *only* advantage of digital mobility. Another primary strength of digital mobile devices – convenient and functional ubiquity – is also useful for other mobile learning approaches. You mention a “live” connection with an educational event in Australia, but I’m sure other educators agree that listening to an audio podcast (or lecture recording) on a bus can also support learning.
Really, what I’m trying to say is that you’re both right. It isn’t a contradiction to say that mobile devices can be used for *both* localised/situated learning experiences, as well as non-situated (but convenient) ones. Rather, mobile devices are powerful and flexible enough to be used in a range of learning contexts, and that in itself could be a compelling reason for exploring the use of mobile technologies in education!
For more ideas on mobile learning, check out my m-learning blog at http://mlearning.edublogs.org . 🙂
Hi, We all enjoyed your input to the session and came away with buzzing heads. Some interesting comments and links above. I think there is something really personal about mobile phones which make them great for informal learning. I wonder if wearables mentioned above will really take off? Details of London Met mobile work can be found at: http://www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk/dissemination/mlearn_papers.htm
Notes form ALT-C 07 symposium feedback session
Tag: alt-20071216
Issues
· Weather dependence
· Glasgow Caledonian distinguish between quite area and social area
· Dead spots and costs of networks
· Location-based blogging surrounding citizen-oriented journalism
· Civic commerce space, would corporates want all these ‘free’ services?
· Different qualities of attention (multimodal)
· Cultural shifts involved in ‘policing’ different spaces
· What about silver surfers, contextual matters e.g. kiosks?
· Is it possible in some city centres? Seattle and San Francisco are putting wireless into low income areas.
· Cooperative apace: 3G, GPRS, geotagging then upload
· What about informal infrastructure over city?
· Why just city centres? What about the unintended consequences of all these people using mobile phones.