Adam P Rusch
William Cope
Jason Berg
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Heather A Ochmane-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates
Ubiquitous Learning - Spatio-Temporal Dimensions of Learning
Ubiquitous Learning—so that learning extends beyond the walls of the classroom and the cells of the timetable. Learning that breaks out of these spatial and temporal confinements, should be as good as, or even better than, the best traditional classroom learning. It should also produce habits of mind appropriate to our times, producing lifelong learners, able to learn and to share knowledge throughout their lives, in all contexts, and grounded in those contexts.
Videos:
Comment: Make a comment below this update about the ways in which ubiquitous learning technologies can change the nature of learning. Respond to others' comments with @name.
Post an Update: Make an update introducing a ubiquitous learning concept on the community page (not your personal page - because only peers will see that!). Define the concept and provide at least one example of the concept in practice. Be sure to add links or other references, and images or other media to illustrate your point. If possible, select a concept that nobody has addressed yet so we get a well-balanced view of ubiquitous learning. Also, comment on at least three or four updates by other participants. Ubiquitous learning concepts might include:
- Ubiquitous computing
- Cloud computing
- Web 2.0
- The flipped classroom
- Blended learning
- Over-the-shoulder learning
- Virtual schools
- The internet of things
- Mobile learning
- Social media learning
- Networked learning
- Informal learning
- Lifelong and lifewide learning
- Work and community-based learning
- Learning management systems
- ePortfolios
- Collaborative workspaces
- MOOCs
- Suggest a ubiquitous learning concept in need of definition!
Update on Blended Learning
Blended learning is transforming education by combining traditional face-to-face instruction with online learning experiences. This hybrid model creates a flexible, engaging, and personalized approach to teaching and learning, leveraging the strengths of both physical and virtual environments.
Key Features of Blended Learning
Flexibility: Students can learn at their own pace and revisit content as needed.
Personalization: Educators can tailor instruction using data from online interactions to address individual learning needs.
Engagement: Multimedia resources, interactive activities, and virtual collaboration tools enhance student involvement.
Accessibility: Students can access materials anytime, breaking down barriers of time and geography.
Common Blended Learning Models
Flipped Classroom: Students engage with online materials (e.g., videos, readings) before class, allowing in-person sessions to focus on active learning and problem-solving.
Station Rotation: Students rotate through different learning stations, including online activities, group discussions, and teacher-led instruction.
Enriched Virtual: Students attend occasional in-person sessions while most learning happens online.
Benefits of Blended Learning
Improved Outcomes: Studies show that combining in-person and online learning can enhance understanding and retention.
Collaboration: Platforms like Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace foster real-time collaboration among peers and educators.
Skill Development: Students build digital literacy and self-regulation skills vital for lifelong learning.
Lifelong and lifewide learning
The internet has reinforced the need for lifelong and lifewide learning, which was already being considered in the 1940s. Some of the guiding documents have yet to explore this issue and it has yet to go beyond adults of working age and vocational training. These moments, to mention more than one concept explored in this module, can occur through informal learning or community-based learning.
A practical example of this is the work carried out in Portugal by Senior Universities and other projects, such as Smart-eu, which, using approaches with seniors only or intergenerational approaches, deal with media literacy issues with these audiences, whether in a face-to-face or online format.
Your comment highlights an important and often underexplored dimension of lifelong and lifewide learning—its application beyond vocational training to include informal, community-based, and intergenerational contexts. The example of Portugal's Senior Universities and initiatives like Smart-eu is particularly inspiring, showcasing how tailored approaches can address media literacy among seniors and foster intergenerational collaboration.
This not only emphasizes the inclusivity of lifelong learning but also demonstrates how it adapts to evolving societal needs, such as digital proficiency. The flexibility of offering both face-to-face and online formats ensures accessibility and relevance, especially in a rapidly digitalizing world.
Your focus on learning as a continuous and holistic journey is a reminder of its transformative potential, enriching lives across generations.
Flipped classroom
Ubiquitous learning processes can take place anywhere, anytime. It doesn't matter whether classroom walls surround us with a teacher and classmates, or if we are located somewhere outside and trying to share our learning experiences through the internet or any technology-mediated learning. This is especially helpful when teachers are pressed for time and are obliged to assign something as a homework assignment; however, it might not be limited to only homework assignments but can also be changed to an e-learning context.I implement a flipped learning approach to enhance my students' listening comprehension skills. Due to time constraints and curriculum requirements, I take the initiative to flip the listening activities myself. I provide my students with audio tracks from listening tactics books that feature three levels: Basic, Developing, and Expanding, allowing them to choose four tracks that match their individual proficiency levels. I ask them to listen to these tracks at home while employing active listening techniques. They listen until they reach the limits of their short-term memory and can no longer retain more information, after which they articulate the information they heard aloud. This method gradually builds their concentration, short-term memory, and overall comprehension. After completing the listening activities, I facilitate discussions in class where students share their experiences, progress, and thoughts about the tracks with their classmates. This collaborative dialogue reinforces their learning and fosters a supportive classroom environment.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of e-learning, Context-Aware Learning emerges as a groundbreaking concept that leverages the ubiquity of technology to enhance educational experiences by adapting to the learner's context. This concept integrates real-time data about the learner's environment, preferences, and needs to tailor educational content and interactions, creating a more personalized and effective learning experience.Context-Aware Learning involves the use of sensors, data analytics, and adaptive algorithms to deliver educational content that is sensitive to the learner's immediate context. This context can include factors such as location, time, current activity, and even emotional state. By analyzing these contextual cues, educational systems can adjust content delivery, recommend resources, and provide support in ways that are more relevant to the learner’s specific situation.
Good point. This reinforced the need for personalisation and non-homogenisation of teaching.
Blended learning, blended learning, or blended learning is a formal learning program that combines learning in a class with a teacher and learning via the Internet. In this program, the student receives education partly online and also in class with the teacher. In this method, the student controls the time, place, path, and speed of learning to a greater extent than with traditional learning programs. Advocates of this method believe that it has two advantages that enhance learning: the ability to collect data about student learning and customize educational materials and examinations that suit students’ learning styles.
Reason for naming Blended learning is a translation of the term (in English: Blended learning), which was launched by Epic in 1999 to describe the way it relies on computers in its educational programs. With the development of the Internet, the term was used to describe the way technology was adopted into regular classroom education. There are many Arabic translations of the term, including “blended learning,” “blended learning,” “combination learning,” “blended learning,” and “hybrid learning.”
Definition There are many definitions regarding blended learning as the combination of several styles of learning, such as e-learning with traditional face-to-face learning and self-learning. Blended learning means blending traditional teacher roles in traditional classrooms with virtual classrooms and the electronic teacher. That is, it is a learning that combines traditional learning and e-learning. The best key to integration is the one that combines several different methods to obtain the highest productivity at the lowest cost. The American Society for Training and Development defines it as “the planned combination of any of the following: live face-to-face interaction, synchronous or asynchronous collaboration, self-paced learning and tools to improve performance.”
Advantages and disadvantages Advantages Asynchronous communication technologies via the Internet provide the experience of collaborative learning and independence in determining the best methods for self-learning that the student adopts according to his personality and requirements, which increases the rate of his satisfaction and success in learning. Studies have proven that the use of information and communication technologies improves students’ access to educational materials and improves their behavior toward their learning. A study by Alexander and McKenzie in 1998 demonstrated that integrating information technologies into classroom projects improved the teacher’s communication conditions with his students, especially part-time students. It also made it easier for students to self-evaluate their understanding of the material through the use of computer-based assessment modules. One of its advantages is access to scientific content from anywhere in the world.
Disadvantages One of the disadvantages of blended learning is that it relies on technologies that are still unproven. For example, the Internet is still ineffective in many places in the world. Also, using it effectively requires the student to be familiar with using technology well. As a 2008 study noted, only 40% of students watch learning videos.
@Deepanwita Purkayastha,@Yulia Kurkina,@Adam P Rusch,
Blended learning, blended learning, or blended learning is a formal learning program that combines learning in a class with a teacher and learning via the Internet. In this program, the student receives education partly online and also in class with the teacher. In this method, the student controls the time, place, path, and speed of learning to a greater extent than with traditional learning programs. Advocates of this method believe that it has two advantages that enhance learning: the ability to collect data about student learning and customize educational materials and examinations that suit students’ learning styles.
Reason for naming Blended learning is a translation of the term (in English: Blended learning), which was launched by Epic in 1999 to describe the way it relies on computers in its educational programs. With the development of the Internet, the term was used to describe the way technology was adopted into regular classroom education. There are many Arabic translations of the term, including “blended learning,” “blended learning,” “combination learning,” “blended learning,” and “hybrid learning.”
Definition There are many definitions regarding blended learning as the combination of several styles of learning, such as e-learning with traditional face-to-face learning and self-learning. Blended learning means blending traditional teacher roles in traditional classrooms with virtual classrooms and the electronic teacher. That is, it is a learning that combines traditional learning and e-learning. The best key to integration is the one that combines several different methods to obtain the highest productivity at the lowest cost. The American Society for Training and Development defines it as “the planned combination of any of the following: live face-to-face interaction, synchronous or asynchronous collaboration, self-paced learning and tools to improve performance.”
Advantages and disadvantages Advantages Asynchronous communication technologies via the Internet provide the experience of collaborative learning and independence in determining the best methods for self-learning that the student adopts according to his personality and requirements, which increases the rate of his satisfaction and success in learning. Studies have proven that the use of information and communication technologies improves students’ access to educational materials and improves their behavior toward their learning. A study by Alexander and McKenzie in 1998 demonstrated that integrating information technologies into classroom projects improved the teacher’s communication conditions with his students, especially part-time students. It also made it easier for students to self-evaluate their understanding of the material through the use of computer-based assessment modules. One of its advantages is access to scientific content from anywhere in the world.
Disadvantages One of the disadvantages of blended learning is that it relies on technologies that are still unproven. For example, the Internet is still ineffective in many places in the world. Also, using it effectively requires the student to be familiar with using technology well. As a 2008 study noted, only 40% of students watch learning videos.
Ubiquitous learning refers to any learning that can occur anytime and anywhere due to technology, using smartphones, tables and computers. It makes life easier, you can learn what you want, when you need it and wherever you want to. By learning this way, ones' education gets more accessible and personalized because ubiquitous learning is flexible and could fit any lifestyle.
For example, imagine you are on a bus on your way to work and you want to learn French, with this kind of learning, you can use a language learning app on the phone to practice French. These apps may even send you reminders to study by offering exercises or content that is going to help you learn. This way, you can use your travel time to learn something new, making learning a part of our daily routine.
By using AI, the app might even be smart enough to know when you usually have some time off and suggest lessons accordingly. These apps use everything they can have access to in order to fit your lifestyle, this could include your choice of preferences, times in which you do the most work, or just music you may enjoy more, this makes learning more personalized.
This kind of learning often includes more interactive elements to keep you motivated, these apps ma have quizzes, games. you can also connect with other learns, ask questions and share your progress, making the whole experience more social and supportive.
In conclusion, ubiquitous learning can make your everyday moments into learning opportunities, where you are traveling, commuting, relaxing at home, you can always find a way to learn and grow. This kind of learning is more flexible, accessible and tailored to an individual needs, helping you succeed in your goals more efficiently.
References:
Burbules, N. C. (2012). Ubiquitous learning and the future of teaching. Encounters in Theory and History of Education, 13, 3-14.
Cárdenas-Robledo, L. A., & Peña-Ayala, A. (2018). Ubiquitous learning: A systematic review. Telematics and Informatics, 35(5), 1097-1132.
Even so, I know from experience that the design and social/playful logic of the apps stimulates many people - from the youngest to the oldest.
It's easy to think of practical examples, like Duolingo. However, it's important to question whether people are really retaining the information they learn through these apps - these seem to me to be results and hypotheses that still need to be further investigated.
Ubiquitous learning comes from an update in the education system, which became necessary with the advancement of information and communication technologies; the growing need to consider new teaching methods, due to the pedagogical limitations in the classic educational system; the growing relevance of adaptability and personalization of learning, so that it meets the needs of different types of people; the social need for the democratization of access to information and the growing development of shared and networked knowledge.
Ubiquitous education transcends the spatial and temporal limitations of classical didactic education, which is confined to a classroom in which the architecture and organization of students follows a hierarchical and standardized logic. Thus, this concept allows education to occur anywhere and at any time, in a more autonomous, collaborative, horizontal, accessible and even customizable way. Through ubiquitous learning, education becomes more accessible and horizontal, giving people the opportunity to take the lead in their cognitive and social development, while having the support and mentoring of teachers, who help students in their journey towards knowledge, rather than representing the only figure who holds knowledge.
In this context, there is no correct way to learn nor an ultimate goal that all students should achieve. The search for knowledge occurs freely, using different means and strategies, according to the needs of each student. One example is the concept of over-the-shoulder learning, in which one can learn by watching someone else perform a task. There are many advantages to this teaching method, such as the reduction of pressure on students, who can learn through observation and interact directly with the instructor; and the possibility of learning from the real world, not through theoretical memorization.
With regard to the technologies used in education, the potential for transformation lies not in the technologies themselves, but in the way they are used, based on a new education system that prioritizes the production and not the memorization of knowledge.
Reference
Cope, B; Kalantzis, M (2017) E-Learning Ecologies: Principles for New Learning and Assessment - Chapter 1: Conceptualizing e-Learning
(This is an updated version of my previous update with additional context and citations.)
Over-the-shoulder learning
Over-the-shoulder learning occurs when an individual gets informal help from a colleague, peer, teacher, or mentor to learn something. This typically occurs in the context of a specific problem or goal. The learner reaches out to someone who they think might have the knowledge needed to get them to a solution. The interaction is typically a two-way conversation.
This occurs easily in an in-person setting such as a classroom, lab, or office environment. When it comes to ubiquitous learning, various technologies can be used such as instant messaging apps, email, video chat, screen share, and remote desktop access. In general the simpler and quicker the medium, the less it gets in the way of solving the problem. (Twidale, pg 19) Additionally, technologies that provide more context are more effective. For example, screen share is better than telephone, which itself is better than just text. (Twidale, pg 15)
A recent example for me is logging into Amazon Web Services (AWS) for my company only to find that none of our services were displayed. I guessed the cause might have to do with permissions. I sent a Slack message to a colleague who I know has deep knowledge of AWS and also potentially the ability to adjust my permissions. My colleague fairly quickly suggested that I check the selected region in my AWS console–something I would not have considered. He also shared a screenshot of his AWS console showing the correct region for reference. Indeed, I had the wrong region selected. After changing the region, my problem was solved. The entire incident took less than five minutes.
Over-the-shoulder learning has several advantages. First, this learning is likely to be effective because it is problem-based. Adult learners (which is my context), in particular, learn best when trying to better perform a task or solve a problem (Putting Adult Learning Principles to Practices, pg 3).
A second advantage is that because the consultant is close to the learner, they already have a large amount of contextual information that will help them quickly understand and answer the learner’s request. Not only can they quickly understand what the learner needs but they can also articulate the answer in a way that is meaningful and understandable to the learner. The answer is also tailored to the context, eliminating possible knowledge and solutions that may address the core question but are not applicable in the larger context. This closeness is both situational and relational. The relational aspect means that the participants already have established patterns of communication that should help them communicate effectively.
Contrast this with a call to a help center. With a help center call, the first advantage of talking with an expert exists, but the second advantage does not. It may take some time and frustration to fully communicate the context and verify assumptions on both sides before a truly relevant solution can be reached.
A potential disadvantage of over-the-shoulder learning is that the consultant may lack the skills to communicate and teach effectively. They may solve the problem without ensuring the learner acquires the understanding and ability to repeat the solution or develop sufficient understanding to apply it more broadly.
References:
- Twidale, Michael & Ruhleder, Karen. (2004). Over-the-Shoulder Learning in a Distance Education Environment.
- Putting Adult Learning Principles to Practices, accessed 3 June 2024
Over-the-shoulder learning
Over-the-shoulder learning occurs when an individual gets help from a colleague, peer, or mentor to learn something. This typically occurs in the context of a specific problem or goal. The learner reaches out to someone who they think might have the knowledge needed to get them to a solution. The other individual explains or (more helpfully) demonstrates a solution.
A recent example for me is logging into Amazon Web Services (AWS) for my company only to find that none of our services were displayed. I guessed the cause might have to do with permissions. I sent a Slack message to a colleague who I know has deep knowledge of AWS and also potentially the ability to adjust my permissions. My colleague fairly quickly suggested that I check the selected region in my AWS console–something I would not have considered. He also shared a screenshot of his AWS console showing the correct region for reference. Indeed, I had the wrong region selected. After changing the region, my problem was solved. The entire incident took less than five minutes.
Over-the-shoulder learning has several advantages, the first of which is that the learner is consulting someone who is an expert or at least has some level of knowledge to bring to bear on the specific situation. This typically means that information will be both accurate and quickly obtained.
A second, and perhaps more significant, advantage is that because the consultant is close to the learner, they already have a large amount of contextual information that will help them quickly understand and answer the learner’s request. Not only can they quickly understand what the learner needs but they can also articulate the answer in a way that is meaningful and understandable to the learner. The answer is also tailored to the context, eliminating possible knowledge and solutions that may address the core question but are not applicable in the larger context. This closeness is both situational and relational. The relational aspect means that the participants already have established patterns of communication that should help them communicate effectively.
Contrast this with a call to a help center. With a help center call, the first advantage of talking with an expert exists, but the second advantage does not. It may take some time and frustration to fully communicate the context and verify assumptions on both sides before a truly relevant solution can be reached.
A potential disadvantage of over-the-shoulder learning is that the consultant may lack the skills to communicate and teach effectively. They may solve the problem without ensuring the learner acquires the understanding and ability to repeat the solution or develop sufficient understanding to apply it more broadly.