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2. Meanings of "Ubiquitous Learning"
- University of Illinois Press
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2 Meanings of “Ubiquitous learning” nicholas c. burbules This collection invokes the term “ubiquitous learning.” Here I would like to examine the different meanings this expression might have—different kinds of ubiquity, and in relation to that, different ways in which we ought to rethink teaching and learning. The most ordinary meaning is captured in the expression “anytime, anywhere” learning. In contemporary markets, the instantaneous and highly customizable availability of services and information is becoming a standard branding device. This ranges from 24/7 customer service hotlines to being able to send and receive text messages from your cell phone. In education, online programs are frequently marketed around the convenience of asynchronous and flexible class schedules, allowing people to study and complete assignments on their own timetables. This has led to a broader shift in attitudes toward such courses and programs, in which students-as-customers expect an even higher degree of customization and accommodation to their preferences, not only in terms of scheduling. As customers, they know they can take their business elsewhere. In this essay, I want to press the idea of ubiquitous learning beyond an “anytime , anywhere” marketing slogan and to suggest six interrelated dimensions along which its meaning can be fruitfully extended. First, there is a spatial sense of ubiquity (the “anywhere” half of the previous slogan). In developed societies, digital technologies are always around: not only in computers and other overt computing devices, but in cars, in public kiosks, and so on. Regional wi-fi means that Internet access is only a click away, wherever you are. Constant access to information, however, also entails that others have constant access to you. Citizens and workers, in developed urban areas particularly , are situated in networks that make them available to others—whether 16 . burbules they choose to be or not. The dystopic implications of these trends have been played out in popular films like The Net or Enemy of the State, but at the same time these trends reflect an increased public tolerance, if not even expectation, of perpetual digital presence. A colleague of mine had his computer bag stolen in a hotel in London, and within hours he held in his hands video printouts of the act taking place—while other surveillance cameras recorded the thief as he got on a public bus, rifled through the contents of the bag, and got off a few stops later. In a post-9/11 society, more and more people interpret this state of surveillance as increased security. From a learning standpoint, spatial ubiquity means continual access to information to an extent that we have never witnessed before. The traditional distinction between formal and informal education is blurred once we recognize that physical location is no longer a constraint on where and how people learn; the processes of learning and memory themselves may be changing as people are less required to carry around in their heads all that they need to know to get through a day effectively—if you need something, you can always look it up. I will return to this theme later. Second, there is a portability aspect to ubiquity: handheld computing devices, even “wearable” devices, are becoming more commonplace. Portable devices can be always with you—which tends to establish and reinforce a social expectation that they should always be with you. The portability of these devices, in turn, creates new kinds of social practices—young people who no longer wear watches but use their phones to keep track of time; the many uses and conventions of text messaging that are created simply by virtue of the expectation that others will be constantly online and available. A program in Ireland, intended to help young people learn and preserve the Celtic language, gave them free phones that were loaded with grammar and vocabulary software. The instructors wanted to be sure that wherever the students were, they could immediately access linguistic information , and it made more sense to use a device that young people would always have with them, knew how to use, and that was already seamlessly integrated into their daily social and linguistic practices. (Of course, they were constantly using the phones as phones too.) I cannot think of a better, simpler encapsulation of the principles of ubiquitous learning—in this case, learning reinforced by portability and practical integration into the activities of daily life. Third, there is ubiquity in the sense of interconnectedness. Automobiles now come equipped with GPS units and dashboard devices that...