The concept itself of Ubiquitous Learning involves having access to learning opportunities and materials anywhere and at any needed time or occasion. It is presented as in opposition to the traditional classroom method and the physical need, of the learner, to be in the same room as the teacher, as well as bounded to the timetable that was provided by the learning institution, for the student’s grade and scholarly needs.

Where the opportunity of continuous learning and the accessibility and transparency of materials available are concerned, I completely believe that Ubiquitous Learning is a wonderful and witty solution for most learners. It is crucial that a interested student should not be limited by the timetable of a class, so that he or she can fully immerse into the learning experience, and feels free to navigate deeply the topic at hand. It is so true, what was said in the lesson, about being motivated to know more and more about a very interesting topic and being awoken by the bell, and subsequently unable to continue the learning experience once the flow has been broken. The student then has to follow up on their own or wait for the next learning occasion.

This has a lot of pros, but also some cons, in my personal opinion. When talking about a university student or a higher education learner it is easier to stick to a programme, and ensure that all parts of the curriculum are equally followed and that time is dedicated to all subjects. So diving deeper in a specific area of a topic is not a risk to the overall learning experience. We may not find the same applies for lower education and in younger subjects, where the attention span varies greatly amongst the topics up for learning in their curriculum. If a student enjoys learning about maths a lot more than he or she enjoys a literature lesson, being outside of the constraints of space and time may lead them to disregard the latter topic for the first, and spend way more time learning and diving into what they like. Is this a bad thing? I am uncertain about this, as on the one hand it highlights a specific gift, a passion and a fire that should not be extinguished towards a specific subject, that gives that learner joy and pleasure in learning. On the other hand I am uncertain whether not being bound to a timetable or a classroom, where time is necessarily dedicated to the less enjoyable topic, helps that student potentially finding more interesting sides to that subject, by being pushed to spend time on it, or even succeeding in the course itself, by making sure that the minimum requirements to pass that subject are met by being encouraged to spend time learning about it in class.

But when we look at the overall infinite possibilities of learning wherever we are, it in unconfutable that it makes our minds more flexible, and available to receive new information and data even outside of the hours we dedicate to a course. We learn from google, from the internet in general, from videos, films, and particularly from peer interaction, discussions and challenges to our own beliefs. Therefore, I think that the perks and positive values added from Ubiquitous Learning are far greater than the possible downsides mentioned above.