Three Converging Trends in Learning Environments

Remember this picture and you'll remember all three topics.

There are three learning environments and technologies that I expect to converge in the next ten years: tablets, virtual worlds and learning hubs.

Even though "mobile technology" has been part of mediated communication ever since papyrus (Farman, 2012; see Kindle edition), these tools and learning environments will give rise to a next step in the evolution of edtech and learning environments: augmented learning environment.

Tablets are the mobile devices that bridge the gap between computers and mobile phones; virtual worlds are 3D online communities accessed by an avatar; and learning hubs are physical communities of practice that combine formal and informal learning, offline and online, schools and working life.

Grab'n'go: tactile tablets

Tablets have already now proved they are an important class of their own. They have created a completely new culture of collecting, presenting and sharing information. Touch screen is a change of paradigm: user can feel they interact with the data when their fingers fly, swipe and pinch. From a grounded cognition perspective, the use of a multi-touch-screen versus mouse-input should yield better learning. (Black, Segal, Vitale, & Fadjo, 2012) Also the mobile interface is more focused and less cluttered than a typical computer interface. These affect the ways creating and presenting information. For example: instead of an essay written in Word and emailed to my professor, I blogged a set of entries and replaced four pages of concept definitions with a Popplet map with links to various online resources; instead of reading a sweeping machine manual the building maintenance students scan a QR code and watch the instructional video other students have made.

Tablets are handy for collaborating in authentic learning environments. In the institute I work for, learners grab their iPads and take notes on Evernote, learn languages on SonicPics, and make learning material and show their competence on iMovie. Nearpod lets the facilitators have control or give it to learners, just as they please.

There are some cons related to the school use of tablets. Some cloud services are still a bit clumsy (Wikispaces, certain features of GoogleDocuments), 1-to-1 is hard to reach in classrooms, and many ICT departments have been harnessed to take care of desktop pc's and they are not agile enough to manage mobile tools.

More on mLearning in my presentation: Vocational Learning On the Go

Engagement in immersive worlds

Virtual worlds like Second Life have turned out to be a great extension to real environments: identities and social networks have possibilities we do not encounter in "1st life"; it is easy to get hooked in and immersed into the reality so similar and yet so different from the physical one; and simulating things and real professional procedures in real environments is cost-effective and effortlessly repeatable. (Heiphetz & Woodill, 2010) I have seen all these positive outcomes materialize, and yet my experiences in facilitating VW learning has shown that there are certain challenging issues: deep technical learning curve and system requirements on the computer may turn the learner down early on, and in many cases the virtual communities of practice tend to die gradually out.

Not only fantasy: Yearning for distance learning is a short video describing the learning environment of Sotunki upper secondary school & Sotunki Distance Learning Centre that we created in the Second Life a couple of years ago.

Learning by doing and by experience in a virtual world is a short presentation I gave in Madrid last December about learning literature and about collaborative learning in the Sotunki VW.

Encounterings in a learning hub

InnoOmnia, part of vocational institute Omnia, is a good example of a learning hub. It is a new, out-of-the-box solution to vocational education and training. Students, staff and entrepreneurs representing over ten different fields of business mix and mingle. The brand new facility is built for collaborating and encountering people, both familiar and extraordinary. Cloud-based web platforms and mobile technology are natural extensions to everyday life in InnoOmnia. The focus is on lifelong learning, building career, innovation and ICT skills.

The Learning Solutions team which I belong to, designs, carries out and evaluates new kinds of projects on learning and technology. (Lius, 2012) The support of the community, the benefits of having entrepreneurs under the same roof, and technological possibilities along a building that represents new thinking in school architecture form a wonderful and authentic framework - or a hub.

As a new and creative department, there are some things to be ironed out: information flow is not always adequate, best practices are not documented and a smoother way of dealing with a traditional ICT department is to be found.

Click here to reach the shared Popplet map.

The future of learning environments

I see the future of learning tools and environments converging: the immersivity and simulations-capacity of virtual worlds, the ease of use and mobility of tablets and the importance of networking face-to-face will be united.

Nowadays we speak about augmented reality. Google is pushing its "Glasses" to the market right now, and a couple more years afterwards we wonder why there ever was a frame between our learning environment and the digital data. So, augmented reality may be the weak signal – or a clear trend already – of a megatrend that leads way to the learning environments we find a commonplace in 2020 or 2030.

Of course, as such not even a versatile and rich learning environment can substitute, if pedagogy or communication is lacking. Some ideas about how to pave the way can be found from my presentation Changing the Way We Learn.

Bibliography

Black, J. B., Segal, A., Vitale, J., & Fadjo, C. L. (2012). Embodied Cognition and Learning Environment Design. In D. Jonassen & S. M. Land (Eds.), Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments (2nd ed., pp. 198–223). New York / London: Routledge.

Farman, J. (2012). Mobile Interface Theory: Embodied Space and Locative Media (Kindle ed.). London and New York: Routledge. Retrieved from Amazon.

Heiphetz, A., & Woodill, G. (2010). Training and Collaboration with Virtual Worlds: How to Create Cost-Saving, Efficient, and Engaging Programs. McGraw-Hill.

Lius, E. (2012). Four Components of 21st Century Learning. October 2012. University of Helsinki. PDF here.

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This was originally an assignment for the MOOC 'Designing a New Learning Environment' in Stanford University Venture Labs.

Components of 21st Century Learning as a tanka poem

Now, there it finally is: Four Components of 21st Century Learning (pdf). Done and sent!

Here's the complete study, crystallized in a tanka poem:

Nature of edtech 

has components like seasons: 

technical, social, 

epistemological, 

and cognitive. Use em all!

Here's a longer version, shortened from the Abstract:

As the Learning Solutions team that I work in was to arrange a new course called "Edutech bootcamp" for teacher trainees at the time of finding a research subject for this study, I felt it fitting to apply a pedagogical model and to evaluate how it would help us in planning and analysing the course. 

I ended up using the pedagogical infrastructure framework developed by Minna Lakkala in her dissertation. I decided to study the framework itself: How practical and comprehensive would this model be in planning the course? What is my opinion of Lakkala's model compared to other similar models like TPACK and Learning by Design? 

The pedagogical infrastructure framework is a useful all-around tool that pays attention to all the essential spheres of a socio-constructionist learning process. It is particularly useful in pinpointing the areas in need of improvement, like the cognitive component in this case of Edutech bootcamp. 

All in all, the teacher's experience and didactic competence are more essential factors for a successful course than choosing the right model or framework.

Future of education right here, right now

I'm reading this a forum discussion about the future of education while watching presentations by groups of teacher trainees on a course on special education & multi-cultural issues in the Uni of Helsinki.

E.g. this presenting group played a difficult situation at school but finding the solution was left for the audience (other students) by making them to choose a solution from a matrix of nine approaches. Audience votes were added to Excel and the pie diagramm showed the popularity of solution alternatives immediately. That was completed with further discussion.

And now, the next presentation is an entertaining video juxtaposing Indiana Jones and ordinary teachers that the students have interviewed. (great editing!) Question is, are teachers the heros who have to solve the problems alone? 

A very student-centric way, and a most suitable way to organize a mass course on a topic that requires personal involvement. So, right now I feel that this is the future of higher education happening today. What surprises me most, is that we're studying in this old-fashioned learning environment.

Four Components of 21st Century Learning

Now, I've written and revised it. Phew! Must take a break now and place it far off for a few days before the final round.

Here's a link if you are eager to read it now when your comments might make a change:

Four Components of 21st Century Learning: Applying 'Pedagogical Infrastructure Framework' on a Course on Educational Technology (pdf in my Dropbox via bitly, updated 16th Oct)

It's about the Edutech bootcamp that I wrote about three weeks ago.

Mediakasvatusta epäonnistumisen päivänä

Internet on toisenlainen hiekkalaatikko kuin hermeettinen tutkijankammio. Olen kirjoittanut tekstejä tähän blogiin tunnisteella Ainedida2. Niiden piti muodostaa verkkoessee uuslukutaitojen ja käytäntöyhteisöjen samankaltaisuuksista ja siitä miten näitä kaltaisuuksia voi hyödyntää mediakasvatuksen opetuksessa.

Aloitin kirjoittamalla monta liuskaa käsitejargonia, joka vaihtui miellekartaksi. Aloitin tieteellisen diskurssin englannilla, mutta ensimmäinen postaus olikin arkisuomea. Toivoin vuorovaikutusta lukijoiden kanssa – ei tullut ensimmäistäkään kommenttia.

Eilen – sopivasti kansallisena epäonnistumisen päivänä – päätin vaihtaa näkökulmaa vielä kerran. Totesin, että koulutehtävävastauksen tyyli ja rakenne oli täysin epäonnistunut valinta. Sen sijaan tästä setistä tulee reflektiivinen analyysi siitä, mitä itse opin, miten mediakasvatus osuikin omaan nilkkaan.

Hyvänä esimerkkinä toimii teksti Medialukutaitoa ovia avaamalla. Kirjoitin sitä varten kolme liuskaa käsitteiden ja toimintakentän määrittelyä. Tehtyäni sen tajusin, että käsittelytapa oli blogiin aivan väärä. Se ei kiinnostaisi ketään, ja minulle, omalla oppimisprosessilleni, se oli jo tehtävänsä tehnyt: olin hahmottanut toimintakentän tekstiä laatiessani. Niinpä tulostin käsitykseni käsitekentästä visuaaliseen muotoon miellekartaksi.

Mediakasvatus on kuin ameeba, joka valejalkojen ansiosta näyttää muuttavan muotoa koko ajan. Tilanne, väline ja muut vuorovaikutuksen osatekijät vaativat notkeutta – ja välillä myös nöyryyttä tunnustaa, että ohi meni.

"Who needs a university when we have Google?"

 "Who needs a university when we have Google? All the world's digital knowledge is available at a search."

Jeff Jarvis wrote a few years ago an interesting book What Would Google Do? Among other spheres he googlefies education.

"We can connect those who want to know with those who know. We can find experts on any topic."

This is easy, to shoot down Jeff's ideas. It's sufficient to say that not everyone has a trustworthy friend who's a pro in the field that one wants to learn. And finding some other expert... well, the web is packed with experts of everything...

And yet, as Jeff continues painting a picture on new educational ecology

"where students may take courses from anywhere and instructors may select any students, where courses are collaborative and public, where creativity is nurtured as Google nurtures it (...) where universities teach an abundance of knowledge to those who want it rather than manage a scarcity of seats in a class."

I feel at home on this MOOC on current/future higher education. I bet that there will be opportunities to return to Jeff's thoughts along the course.

Higher education and radical equality

The MOOC on current/future state of higher education started with presenting two current trends that were said to be opposing: there's a need for bigger and better universities but for smaller costs.

Without profound changes they are of course incompatible. It's like Encyclopedia Britannica would have wanted to double its volume (or amount of sold books) without adding costs. We know how the story wound up.

There are several thousand classmates attending this CFHE12 course. Input-wise: so far so good. How about quality of learning? How about dropouts? If there are enough (and free) raw materials to be spared, does it matter in the end of the production line?

The fundamentals of higher education lay on hierarchies. Now, the model of crowd-sourcing knowledge like Wikipedia did is a very different one.

What would a university be like, if it was not based on line organization but on something else, like matrix organization or perhaps a neural network? Would that change the way you defined "higher" education?

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PS. Radical equality in the title refers to Juha Suoranta's and Tere Vadén's article in Learning the Virtual Life: Public Pedagogy in a Digital World.