EME 7465L Ubiquitous Learning & IOT

Nov 17th, 2022 at 4:39 pm

Introduction

Some of you may not have already taken EME 5053 or EME 6465. It is in those courses that we introduced the concept of ubiquitous learning. Some of you may or may not have had the opportunity to be introduced to this concept, as we only recently added this module to those courses. Others of you may have taken the courses when it did include that module but may need a refresher. To that end and to level the playing field, take a moment to first revisit and review this lesson on ubiquitous learning.

Our purpose here is to help you become more knowledgeable about what uLearning is, how it has evolved and its impact on designing highly interactive learning environments.

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If you feel you need a review, go ahead and click on the Review Spoiler below:

(to open click the plus sign.. to close, the minus sign)

Review: What is uLearning?

Evolution of uLearning

The concept of Ubiquitous Learning (uLearning) has evolved in direct relationship to the natural progression of technology innovation. In fact, it has developed in direct parallel to the evolution of PC/laptops into mobile devices.. with the over-arching development and emerging omnipresence of the Internet (which, in itself is being redefined and superseded by cellphone/Wi-Fi technology). As far as its history perspective is concerned, its evolving definition has deep roots in distance (eLearning) and embedded systems (physical computing). So, eLearning USED to equate with distance learning. But as you are now finding out, eLearning now stands for electronic learning platforms. EBooks (iBooks), and all electronic embedded systems.

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So, we cannot properly describe uLearning without some review of these corresponding concepts:

    1. First of all, how does the Internet play into all of this? Hopefully, this is self-evident. The concept of eLearning is not solely tied to any particular computing device. One can access the Internet using any or all of them in isolation or in conjunction with one another. So the idea of distance or eLearning is not mutually exclusive of uLearning, but rather a pre-existing facet. NOw that the concept of eLearning has expanded the lines between eLearning and uLearning are blurring even more. In this lesson we will explore the lengths to which the evolution has taken us.

So, then, what is Distance Learning?

So, we do need to explore uLearning from its roots. But remember, tying devices together is no longer dependent on the Internet. Cell technology has evolved to the point where folks sometimes do not even khnow HOW they receiving information. Local inter-connectivity can be reached using BlueTooth or as you will see RFID technology.
It used to be that the Internet would be used to connect folks at a distance, ergo the title “distance” learning”. Distance Learning is actually a teaching modality/delivery platform. Its popularity has not only been driven by market forces but also economic ones. So, one can question the catalyst for the Florida Senate to pass bill HB 7197 in 2001, that requires all Florida public school students to take at least one online course prior to graduation. Some believe that it was driven to provide students with ‘real world’ experiences. Others believe it was put in place to save school construction costs. The truth of the matter is that several unintended consequences have resulted… including setting the pace for the evolution of uLearning as new devices have been presented to the marketplace that provide even more mobile points of entry for folks to access the Internet and its descendant technologies.

  1. Just for the record:Here is an article about the passing of Senate Bill HB 7197

    As this instructional delivery method became more common, so evolved the concept of eLearning and all that goes with it:

    Wikipedia’s take on eLearning


Ok, so how did the introduction/evolution of ‘mobile’ devices play into all of this?As stated above, the increased popularity of the Internet and the advent of e-learning, people began to require smaller, more portable devices to gain access. The laptop computer evolved into the iPod/iPad/Android. The concept of a ‘computer’ evolved into being APPliances for which APPS were built. So, the concept of ‘mobile learning’ was born:Wikipedia on mLearning

Next, along comes embedded systems (physical computing)The idea that virtual media capabilities were only to be embedded into Internet/4G networks is not the whole story. More and more interactivity can, and has, been developed to devices together in the physical (real) world.
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So what, then, is Ubiquitous Learning (a.k.a. uLearning)?

The stage has now been set for the formalization of the concept of Ubiquitous Computing/Ubiquitous Learning. The concept is that with the advent of all the above progression of devices/technology, learning is all around us and takes place mostly in informal settings. It was once estimated that nearly 80% of all that we learn in our lives happens outside of school. While one may or may not have agreed with that estimate before, the evolution described here certainly makes a strong case.

We can also get a great sense of things from the following descriptions:

Wikipedia’s take on the subject

Here is an article that adds some depth into exactly what a ubiquitous learning environment is and how it ties back to e-learning and m-learning:


uLearning ReduxuLearning and Distributed CognitionThe Internet of Things (IoT)

To restate, in this course our goal is to extend our understanding of uLearning, to brainstorm about its impact on designing interactive learning environments, and to explore some additional issues surrounding the impact it has on knowledge acquisition.

Now that you have either gotten the basics, or have reminded yourself about what uLearning is, here are some concrete examples of ubiquitous classrooms and tools to help get our creative thoughts moving:

Digging Deeper

First, there are plenty of resources, here are two:

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This is a video of a panel of educational leaders who discuss the design of a ubiquitous classroom:

Lastly, take a look at this video that won the 2014 White House Competition on Technology in the Future Classroom


So far, we have been focusing on the hardware/device aspects of u-Learning. Know that there are also software/content issues associated with the notion of pervasive computing. One such idea is the concept of (socially) distributed cognition. From Wikipedia, we offer the following introduction:

Distributed cognition is a psychological theory developed in the mid 1980s by Edwin Hutchins. Using insights from sociology, cognitive science, and the psychology of Vygotsky (cf. cultural-historical psychology) it emphasizes the social aspects of cognition. It is a framework (not a method) that involves the coordination between individuals, artifacts and the environment. It has several key components:

  • Embodiment of information that is embedded in representations of interaction
  • Coordination of interaction among embodied agents
  • Ecological contributions to a cognitive ecosystem

 

There is much more to this, as you can see on Wikipedia. But for now we need to understand the impact u-learning has on knowledge acquisition.... (more from Wikipedia) on the application of the concept:

Distributed cognition as a theory of learning, i.e. one in which the development of knowledge is attributed to the system of thinking agents interacting dynamically with artifacts, has been widely applied in the field of distance learning, especially in relation to Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and other computer-supported learning tools. Distributed cognition illustrates the process of interaction between people and technologies in order to determine how to best represent, store and provide access to digital resources and other artifacts.

Collaborative tagging on the World Wide Web is one of the most recent developments in technological support for distributed cognition. Beginning in 2004 and quickly becoming a standard on websites, collaborative tagging allows users to upload or select materials (e.g. pictures, music files, texts, websites) and associate tags with these materials. Tags can be chosen freely, and are similar to keywords. Other users can then browse through tags; a click on a tag connects a user to similarly tagged materials. Tags furthermore enable tag clouds, which graphically represent the popularity of tags, demonstrating co-occurrence relations between tags and thus jump from one tag to another.

Distributed cognition can also be seen through cultures and communities. Learning certain habits or following certain traditions is seen as cognition distributed over a group of people. Exploring distributed cognition through community and culture is one way to understand how it may work.

With the new research that is emerging in this field, the overarching concept of distributed cognition enhances the understanding of interactions between humans, machines and environments.

Further, we also need to identify its ties to copyrights, and crowd-sourcing. Take a look at these three articles:

Wikipedia is now being maintained essentially by humans.. in the not-so-distant future, computers will be creating entries and adding to knowledge base WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION...so, the next generation Wikipedia will become an automated 'aggregator' of information based on algorithms similar to those used today by Amazon.. ('folks who like this product also like/bought that one' etc...) or Google Search engines... instead of people clicking on links offered up by Google… its response to an inquiry will be an aggregation of all the links into a single ‘grid-like’ place that will be dynamically added to as you click on like links... so this time when you search the response will be unlike the last time, based on what you were looking for the last time, and time before that, etc..

The possibilities of all of this are endless. So, taking this out there into 'Geekdom', here are a couple links that explain the concept of semantic associations. The idea that computers can create these is based on the fact that there is a finite list that can be built in an auto generative way.

Lastly, here is a link to University of Illinois Website, dedicated to the ubiquitous learning initiative:

The Evolution of Learning Resources in Ubiquitous Learning Environments

For our final pass at this, I want you to read through the following article submission. It is one I reviewed as a reviewer for Educational Technology Research and Development (ETRD) --the official journal of the Association of Educational Communications and technology (AECT). While all three reviewers ended up rejecting the article, it was not because it brings little new to the table... it was more because the topic and writing style was beyond the scope of what the journal is all about.

What is does, however, is bring out some really interesting ideas about distributed cognition and perhaps something about the future of tings like Wikipedia that are 'bot-fed' (i.e, constructed without the help of humans)... in an ecosystem where computers will react to other computers in order to develop a knowledge stream... don't worry if it seems over your head.. it actually took me three readings to actually 'get it'... but once I did it was an eye-opener....so, i offer it to you to see if it brings a new perspective to you also...

ubiquitouslearningsubmission

(As a sidebar.. think about what impact all of this will have on copyrights and fair use??? .. ok no time to go there right now... too much content and so little time)


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iot

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From Wikipedia:

The Internet of Things (or IoT for short) refers to uniquely identifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure. The term Internet of Things was proposed by Kevin Ashton in 2009. The concept of the Internet of Things first became popular through the Auto-ID Center at MIT and related market analysis publications.[2] Radio-frequency identification (RFID) was seen as a prerequisite for the Internet of Things in the early days. If all objects and people in daily life were equipped with identifiers, they could be managed and inventoried by computers. Besides using RFID, the tagging of things may be achieved through such technologies as near field communication, bar codes, QR codes and digital watermarking.

Equipping all objects in the world with minuscule identifying devices or machine-readable identifiers could transform daily life. For instance, business may no longer run out of stock or generate waste products, as involved parties would know which products are required and consumed. A person's ability to interact with objects could be altered remotely based on immediate or present needs, in accordance with existing end-user agreements.

According to Gartner there will be nearly 26 billion devices on the Internet of Things by 2020. According to ABI Research more than 30 billion devices will be wirelessly connected to the Internet of Things (Internet of Everything) by 2020. Cisco created a dynamic "connections counter" to track the estimated number of connected things from July 2013 until July 2020 (methodology included). This concept, where devices connect to the internet/web via low power radio is the most active research area in IoT.

Recently, the concept has expanded in that RFID clinking is no longer the sole means to interconnect objects. The Web (both cell connectivity and the Internet via WiFi have also emerged as a powerful way to connect objects. Your task is to look at these videos and readings and determine what effect this evolving technology will have on the learning environments teachers and instructors will be facing in the very near future.

View this video on the Internet of Things (IoT)


So.... in short, our extended definition of u-Learning has become

knowledge that is acquired by the process of gathering/acquiring information (either formally in a classroom or informally)as a result of each interaction you have with the world around you... either person to person (F-2-F), person to computer (H-C-I) or person to person as negotiated by computers (H-C-H)...

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