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Essential peer review 1 - Ubiquitous learning, anytime anywhere. Is the Author becoming a ghost?
Ubiquitous learning can be simply discussed as learning environment assisted by technology (Ogata et al. 2009). Ubiquitous learning allows learners to access the course content anytime and anywhere (Hwang et al. 2008). This learning process can shift traditional classroom in to student-centered classroom, customized according to learner’s characteristics and requirements. Technology plays a vital role as a medium in this learning environment, however technology alone cannot be considered as major source of knowledge and learning. Technology by itself it is pedagogically neutral. Education technology could help to better reach pedagogical objectives. In fact, ubiquitous learning shifts the knowledge activity from the direct instructional guidance: the instructor must be in the learning environment, with two kinds of confinement spatial and temporal, to learning anywhere and anytime. As an Italian mother of a newborn I can access to this MOOC on line anywhere - actually from my house in Italy, Europe - and anytime - when my child sleep, in particular but also during my time zone.
As a Contract Professor at University of Milan I tested how engaging is for students reading all the answers and updates from colleagues. A learner understand that a topic has a complexity – formed, for example, from all the answers and from all the contributors points of view and references and personal experiences. Knowledge activity become dialogical, that means that the sources of knowledge are not just textbooks and facts learned by hearts, and all that is in the long term memory but also information found on Internet and the lived experience of learners. This shift from knowledge containted in textbooks and students personal artifacts is particularly interesting to me. As Professional Content Developer for a publisher (McGraw-Hill Education) since more than 10 years I find that ubiquitous learning breaks the rule of copyright. Who really is the Author in the ubiquitous learning? How can I (publisher) find and reward who create the original content (Author) if other people manipulate and share many versions of the contents? Ubiquitous learning increases the complexity of “original content” adding personal stories, considerations, to a content create by someone else or new ways of communicating a content – for example adding a video. With ubiquitous learning the student is ask to produce an artifacts and this change the role of the “main” Author too. In the figure an example of the manipulation of a content to create a personal artifacts for ubiquitous learning.
Ciao Alessandra,
I enjoyed your comment and it made me stop for a minute and think. Thank you for that!
I do have a question, though...you say that copyright is an issue for ubiquitous learning. I guess I don't see it that way. You can't copyright an idea or a concept. You can copyright the way that you wrote about it (the words) or graphically depicted it (the images). So, it seems the issue is the ethics (and legality) of what people are doing with the material. If they are using the exact words or images and passing them off as their own, then that is wrong. If they are using the ideas and mixing them with what they know to create their own ideas, then that is ok. As Windee commented, there are no new ideas really, just ideas that get recycled, altered, and adapted to the person and situation. As long as someone respects and gives credit to the sources, then no problem as I see it.
Hi Allesandro - what a great question you ask, who really is the Author in the ubiquitous learning?. These blurred lines make this evolution of how to educate difficult for classroom teachers like me. Are there right answers anymore or is it only a consensus of as many people as one can ask? I struggle with these questions. I teach history and in my way of thinking, educator's roles in classrooms are now to facilitate and steer students to experts in the field of history, and to their peers. Where I think peer collaboration is valuable in my classes is in the discussions surrounding the implication of what students encounter, not just the facts. Teachers are especially important in asking the right questions to facilitate meaningful discussions.
So, to your points, I think the pedagogy must shift to allow for new affordances provided by available technology.
As to who the author is, I think the answer depends on from which source one is consulting and is ever-evolving.
I agree that teachers are especially importanti in asking the right question for meaningful discussions - instructors also need to select carefully sources and Authors.
We have to remember that not everything is on the internet right now and we can suggest to students some niche Authors. I think instructors help students to enrich their points of view...
Hello Alessandra,
Thank you for sharing how the dialogical relationship idea changes the way you see things. I think your question about authorship is really interesting. Are there any original ideas? By reading your post I began to appreciate how new contexts engender original ideas and I also think about how important it is for the online teacher in a discussion forum to balance authority with the right questions since teachers have the power to influence content. I will think about this more as I aim to revise my approach to teaching. Best of luck to you.