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TOWARDS UBIQUITOUS LEARNING AND EDUCATION Makoto YOSHIDA Centre for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE), the School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Japan Email:
[email protected] ABSTRACT A broader sense of ‘ubiquitous learning/education (L/E)’ is emerging. This paper discusses the characteristics and requirements of new Information, Communication Technology-based (ICT-based) learning and education environments in higher education. 'Conventional' IT-aided learning, e-learning and distance learning programmes provided by educational organisations and universities, have recently been deployed on a right-application-in-the-right-place basis, after excessive expectations, feverish marketing and a variety of trials have spent themselves. On the other hand, new methods and forms of L/E are emerging, which utilise several elements, collectively known as Web2.0, which are rapidly expanding with the recent progress of ICT. In this new world of ubiquitous L/E, learners will participate and co-operate in the syndicating, re-mixing, creation, etc. of learning materials and environments, for the construction of distributed cooperative learning platforms. Furthermore, the recent trend towards opening up and sharing teaching and education materials, exemplified by such practice as OERs and OCW, will also play an important part in driving ubiquitous L/E. However, conventional methods should still be used together with Web2.0 type methods, where necessary and appropriate, in this new L/E environment.
1.
INTRODUCTION After early excitement and excessive expectations, through a disillusionment stage,
'conventional' e-learning / distance learning programmes provided by education service providers (mostly universities but a few business organisations too) have been deployed steadily in recent years on a right-application-in-the- right-place basis. On the other hand, by utilising and mixing a number of new activity, technology and system elements, collectively known as Web2.0 [1], new methods and forms of learning/education (L/E) such as Wiki-type support, Podcast learning, and L/E community, are emerging.
Web2.0 is
growing rapidly with the recent progress of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), symbolised by such key words as ‘bottom-up’, ‘participating’, ‘collaborative’, and ‘self-sustaining’. In this new L/E environment, called a broader sense of ‘ubiquitous L/E’ (not a narrow sense ‘mobile L/E’), learners will participate and co-operate in the syndicating, re-mixing, creation, etc. of L/E materials and environments, for the construction of globally distributed cooperative learning platforms. In addition, another significant influencer of ubiquitous L/E is the trend towards greater opening up and sharing of teaching and education materials, such as Open Educational Resources (OERs) [2] and OpenCourseWare (OCW). [3] Structuring, mutually linking and sharing related
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knowledge globally will be a foundation of this activity, strongly supported by the recent progress of ICT. The present paper discusses the characteristics and requirements of new ICT-based L/E environments, called a broader sense of ‘ubiquitous L/E’ in higher education.
Firstly, Section 2
reviews the current trends in L/E environments, to show that although e-learning and distance learning are being increasingly used in the right place, L/E in general has been very slow to adopt new ICT, especially Web2.0-like elements.
Section 2 then presents the characteristics and
requirements for future learning, which will be a harmonised mix of formal, semi-formal and informal activities. Section 3 presents the requirements for ubiquitous (self-) learning, based upon these analyses. Section 4 first compares conventional (Web1.0 type) and new Web2.0 type L/E, then presents examples of Web2.0 type L/E, and finally suggests effective ubiquitous learning. Concluding the paper, Section 5 lists issues to be discussed in future.
2.
PRESENT STATUS OF LEARNING/EDUCATION AND TOWARDS FUTURE L/E
2.1 PRESENT STATUS The scope of e-learning, or e-education, has been changing, from simple distance and web-based learning to a more and more comprehensive ICT-aided concept, ICT-based activities and environments, and ICT materials. [4], [5] In this regard, the following are observed: - Traditional e-learning methods have become established in the right application areas where the methods are well suited to make use of ICT-aided L/E methods and tools. applications are:
Current major
i) on-line distance lectures which efficiently integrate multiple remote locations,
and ii) location- and time-free web-based self-learning. - Progress in ICT has been too rapid, varied, and global for any of the current L/E models to keep pace with its direction and the explosion of element variety; thus innovation in higher education is still slow, in terms of both technology employed and management. - The explosion of related knowledge in parallel domains, due to the rapid advancement of academia and society in general, as well as expansion of issue-oriented (so-called Mode 2) activities, makes it difficult for learners and educators to understand where they are; as a result, they feel lost in a deep maze’ of knowledge complexity. [6] - Cooperative, global activities in applying ICT to higher education are pursued in: i) consortia, to solve specific problems, which activities all educational organisations share as costs; ii) the international conference format, to exchange ideas and information without any binding conditions, and iii) in many cases, bi-lateral agreements between, or alliances among, specific universities or organisations, especially when a university or a group of universities wants to take the lead in a new area.
This format is often adopted in such cases to pursue benefits or value,
not to share costs. [6]
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- Based upon the understanding that any teaching/learning material is the property of the whole world, activities for opening up and sharing L/E materials are gradually spreading, thanks to such activities as OERs [2] and OCW / OCW Consortium (OCWC) [3], which are also adopting the Web2.0 type methods and tools, partly for the sake of their sustainability. - A new category of L/E, ubiquitous L/E, is emerging in many ways, being enabled by elements of Web.2.0 technologies and methods. It will be available for anyone, for any purpose, at anytime, and anywhere. (See Fig. 1.)
Sections 3 and 4 discuss (the Web 2.0 type) ubiquitous L/E in more
detail.
Anyone
Anytime & anywhere Classes, Field work, Commuting, Travel, …; Domestic, Regional, International
Individuals, Group, Public/private communities, Univs., Institutes, …; Learner, Educator, Producer, Developer, …
Ubiquitous Ubiquitous L/E L/E
Any purpose
Self-learning, Distant PBL, Group work and collaboration, Virtual laboratory, Content development/revision, …
Web 2.0 elements: Wiki, Blogging, Podcasting, SNS, Folksonomy, Re-mixing, Syndicating,…
Ubiquitous terminals: Mobile Phone, PDA, MP3/Video players, Tablet PC, Multi-functional terminals, …
Broadband Network: Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) Next Generation Network (NGN)
Ubiquitous communication platform Note: Elements related with L/E content and materials are not shown in this figure.
Fig.1 Ubiquitous L/E
2.2 LEARNING/EDUCATION TOWARDS FUTURE Taking the current status of, and trends in, L/E in higher education (described above) into consideration, the following can be anticipated, and will be required in future (or even, are happening today): [5] - With the diversification of society and acceleration of the shortening of product and concept lifecycles, each person is tending to be more involved in a field different from, or unrelated to, the one which he studied or first intended to focus on,
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- Thus, it is inevitable that each person will continue his studies for self-improvement and self-innovation, and this continued learning will last not only during his stay on the ‘active list’ but throughout his life, - On the other hand, each person’s knowledge is becoming more and more based on networking, which will promote informal learning, such as by social networking and semi-formal learning; for example, university Podcasting will supplement formal L/E.
Even formal L/E will try to fully
utilise, and find opportunities with, the new methods outlined above, - In parallel with the above, the opening up of knowledge and L/E materials will spread further throughout the world and will assist learners’ self-orientation and tailor-made L/E, as well as improving instructors’ lectures, - Each person is required to have an ability to acquire knowledge by himself, which ability will become more important than what knowledge he has at any moment, - ‘Web2.0 type ubiquitous learning’ will turn learners into producers, as a result of its self-sustaining growth in both quality and quantity as well as the ‘wisdom of crowds’, and - The capability of finding out and creating knowledge is essential for those who should and will lead society.
3.
REQUIREMENTS FOR UBIQUITOUS LEARNING AND EDUCATION A new, ubiquitous L/E which meets the above future direction and requirements will have to
realise the following: [4]-[6] - Learners will be able to select the learning means/method(s) best desired by or suited to themselves, from a variety of alternatives, depending on time, place, and their objectives, - Learners will be able to learn at any time, any place, as and if they wish, - Education providers (universities and educational organisations) will be able to offer a variety of learning support services for learners, - Learners/providers will be able to utilise both new and conventional means, methods and materials as appropriate, and - Learners/providers will be able to understand both i) an entire universe of related knowledge, and ii) where the learning/lecture materials concerned with this knowledge are positioned and how they related to each other in this knowledge universe. The above call for the following requirements for implementation of a ubiquitous learning environment: - Make a variety of ICT communication terminals, both functionally integrated ones and simplified (including single-purpose) ones, usable for a variety of users and use cases, - Ensure networked activities – the participation of, and collaboration among, learners, producers, instructors and providers,
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- Prepare user (learner/educator)-oriented environments - as characterised by Web2.0, [1] - Open - as in OERs [2] and OCW/OCWC, [3] - Develop further, to integrate Web2.0 type methods with existing methods so that both methods will be used where necessary and appropriate, - Make possible global search for such knowledge elements as course syllabi and content, any education materials, and research papers and reports, throughout the world, and - Make possible the structuring and visualisation of knowledge on a global scale and prepare tools for this structuring and visualisation, such as MIMA Search [7], so that learners and educators can easily view both an entire universe of related knowledge and the relationships among knowledge elements. [8]
4.
WEB2.0 TYPE LEARNING/EDUCATION
4.1 WEB1.0 TYPE LEARNING/EDUCATION VS. WEB2.0 TYPE It should first be noted that we need both existing methods (called Web1.0 type in the present paper, in contrast to the new ones) and new (Web2.0 type) methods, and that the latter is not a replacement for the former.
The existing, conventional education (and learning) methods may be
compared with new ones as follows:
Web1.0
Web 2.0
Enforcing, top-down
Spontaneous, bottom-up
One way, down-stream from teacher
Multi-directional among learners/teacher
Fixed option
Variable selections/options
Static/deterministic
Adaptive and flexible
Pre-planned education/instruction
Self-oriented/guided learning
Knowledge transfer/implanting
Knowledge creation/linking
Apprentice system
Partner relationship
Materials for a specific purpose
Adaptive/reusable materials
For professional use
For daily use as commodities
Instructor's proprietary
Open, sharable publishing
4.2 WEB2.0 BASED UBIQUITOUS LEARNING AND EDUCATION Web2.0 is characterised by such features as being open-oriented, user-centric and networked. The following table shows how examples of L/E activities are related to these features:
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Features
Open-oriented
User-centric
Networked, Network externality
Significance
Examples in L/E
Accessible by anyone, anywhere, at anytime
Open educational resources (OERs), [2] Publishing of free educational and course materials, e.g., OpenCourseWare (OCW), [3] Structuring/visualisation of knowledge, [8] Remote sharing Mutual/multi-directional learning, Peer to Peer learning, Creation by users/collaboration (content, tool, knowledge, technology, ...) [2], [3], [14] Variety of learning communities (internal, external, alumni, local, society), Collaborative learning and participators’ collaboration in E/L Educational portal (e.g. [10])
Individual participator plays the leading role
The more members, the more value (meshed) [9]
From the open-oriented viewpoint, OCWC has prepared its Wiki-like portal function MyOCW so that users and members may use OCW easily, to share tools, tips, and practical experience, as well as to create new ideas and projects. Further, it has been developing tools for OCW production by university collaboration, which is also used to assist student-run OCW in MIT. [3]
As for
knowledge structuring beyond university walls, ‘folksonomy’ - in which any person can attach a tag to any piece of information/knowledge - will be a useful mechanism for efficient and effective global searching, as one element of a global federated search.
Elements of Web2.0 other than Wikis,
blogging, etc, may be utilised, such as Google Maps, API-based services, and SNS (Social Networking Service).
4.3 USE OF A VARIETY OF MEANS - EXAMPLES (1) Use of new types of terminals There are a variety of new communication, computer and player terminals capable of supporting Web2.0 learning, and many examples are actually found. [4], [5]
A few of them are:
- iPod: Stanford on iTunes, Apple iTunes U, UT–Podcasting (connected with UT-OCW), etc. - PDA: City University of Hong Kong, CREDU, Harvard University’s Medical School, etc. - Tablet PC: Virginia Tech (CoE), Univ. of Washington (CoE-DoCS), Aoyama Gakuin Univ., University of Tokyo, etc. - Mobile phone: Mobile Student ID (Kanagawa Tech. Institute), etc. and - Mobile web portal: many. In addition, new and emerging multi-functional terminals will also expand Web 2.0 type educational applications.
A few examples are:
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- Mobile+iPod (e.g., Rokr –Motorola & Apple), - Mobile+Walkman
(e.g., W24S),
- Mobile+wirelss-LAN (e.g., Willcom W-ZERO3, FOMA M1000), and - mobile+TV/video (e.g., Nokia N92, W33SA/W33SA II, P901iTV, Vodafone 905SH). Another extreme example is Gotive H42 which has WiFi, Bluetooth, a barcode reader, a smart-card reader, an RFID, a camera and a fingerprint reader.
Collaboration with terminal
designers/developers and ubiquitous L/E will also be needed, in addition to that with software developers. (2) Mobile learning and ubiquitous learning Ubiquitous learning supported by mobile technologies such as the handy terminals mentioned above, is called “Mobile learning” or “M-learning”
Studies on, and examples of, ‘mobile and
wireless learning’ are found in such a resource list as the e-Learning Centre Library. [10] For example, the European Commission and project partners funded an M-learning project in 2001, not only to develop learning materials to run on handheld terminals for learners, but also to make learning more accessible and appropriate for (young adult) learners. [11]
HDUL [12] and Learning
with Handhelds [13] are examples of similar projects. The e-Learning Centre Library lists examples of new technologies under its ‘Trends and Technologies’ category
Other than mobile and wireless learning, the examples are Blogging and
RSS, Collaborative learning, Learning communities, Open source learning, Peer-to-peer (P2P) learning, Podcasting, Social applications, Videoblogging (or vlogging) and Wikis. [10] A broader sense of ‘ubiquitous L/E’ is not a simple learning method using mobile terminals but more rich one enabled by combining these technologies and methods appropriately.
4.4 EFFECTIVENESS OF “THE WEB2.0 METHOD” IN UBIQUITOUS LEARNING Methods of evaluating research results and activities are relatively established, and pioneering type research work itself is a pleasure for professors as researchers, sometimes regarding those as an objective, not as a means to create new tangible things or theories.
This characteristic of
research gives professors (as researchers) an incentive to make great efforts to secure and improve their ‘tools and means of production’.
In contrast, the outcome of education is ‘talented
people,’ for which effective evaluation methods are not well established, and which, if they were established, would need a very long-term view.
For this reason, maintaining and consistently
improving the production basis of education is not an easy task. In light of this situation, the ‘wisdom of crowds’ collaboration should be able to improve the basis of L/E and cause it to progress consistently.
Utilisation of mechanisms such as
self-sustaining growth will power the sustainability of L/E platforms. This is one of the major reasons why the application of Web2.0-like methods is widely expected as an effective means of
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realising sustainable L/E platforms. On the other hand, it will be possible for anyone to use this kind of method, which suggests that exploring as well as creating knowledge might also be open to any person or organisation, not only the academic community. In order for universities to maintain their position as the trusted source of new knowledge, the following are inevitable: i) constructing the basis for ubiquitous L/E within their own institutions, ii) taking the lead in freely opening up knowledge and learning materials they possess now, and create in future, as common property of the whole world, and iii) collaborating with all learners, instructors, researchers and developers, both inside and outside, to enhance the knowledge base and easily usable on-line/off-line tools for this purpose such as MIMA search [7], eduCommons [14] and OSS (Open Source Software) tools. [15] Finally, it is expected that the Web 2.0 systems and environments will be workable, with self-control, as an autonomous distributed system.
However, ensuring security and safety is one
of major issues regarding this kind of system. This will be implemented by building on Internet security and safety infrastructure and technologies.
5.
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE ISSUES ‘Traditional’ e-learning / distance learning have been oriented towards specific languages,
especially (American) English or a local language of the service country. The wide penetration of the Internet and broadband communication has provided the environment for Web2.0 based L/E, i.e., open-oriented, user-centric and networked learning/education, which will be called ‘ubiquitous L/E.’ The movement towards the open sharing of L/E materials, such as OERs and OCW, will further drive this trend. This paper analysed the current status and trends of L/E, presented the requirements for ubiquitous L/E, compared conventional (Web1.0 type) and new Web2.0 type L/E, and showed the effectiveness of the latter for ubiquitous L/E. The opening up of learning materials, by educational organisations and by collaboration-based enhancement, will be key to this. To achieve ubiquitous L/E will require the following be addressed, as future issues: -
Integration
of
top-down
(provider-designed,
lecturer-prepared,
etc.)
and
bottom-up
(learner-initiated, student-run, etc.) approaches, - Parallel and/or mixed use of conventional methods and new Web2.0-based ones on a right-method-for-right-place basis, - Development of Web2.0 application methods in the area of L/E support and global collaboration for this purpose: Not only will regulatory, political and IPR issues have to be tackled, but new kinds of issues such as consistency with web-advertising methods, will also have to be tacked, - Development of methods and technologies to lighten the load of producing course content and that of actual learning by learners, and
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- ICT support should be utilised as much as possible, even in the conventional L/E environments, e.g., physical simulation, animation, projector to magnify images of real objects.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank Chris Irving (Mermarsat Inc) for the extensive discussion and comments to improve the draft of the paper.
REFERENCES: [1] E.g., Tim O’Reilly, “What is Web2.0” http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html [2] http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/ [3] http://www.ocwconsortium.org [4] Diana Oblinger, “When Distance Becomes Irrelevant,” Keynote speech, APRU2005, October, 2005, Vladivostok [5] Makoto Yoshida, “Ubiquitous Learning,” University Education Research Forum, Kyoto Univ., 28 March, 2006, Kyoto (in Japanese) [6] Makoto Yoshida, “Global Collaboration in the ICT-aided Learning/Education,” International Session on Engineering Education, Annual JSEE Annual Conference, 29 July 2006, Kitakyushu [7] H. Mima, S. Ananiadou, K. Matsushima, "Terminology-based Knowledge Mining for New Knowledge Discovery," ACM Transaction Asian Language Information Processing (TALIP), vol.5, no.1, 2006 [8] http://ciee.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/, http://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/epage/ciee/index.html [9] Bob Bricoe, Andrew Odlyzko, Benjamin Tilly, “Metcalf Law is Wrong,” IEEE Spectrum, vol.43, no.7, 2006 [10] http//:www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/resources/index.htm [11] Jill Attewell, “Mobile Technologies and Learning,” Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA), 2005 [12] http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/%7Ehdul/ [13] http://www.intel.com/education/handhelds/index.htm [14] http://cosl.usu.edu/projects/educommons/ [15] http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/forumsfiche.php?queryforumspages_id=9
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