U-Learning : What is it ?
Feb 15th, 2007 by alexanderhayes
I’ve come across this term - u-learning - repeatedly in the last year or so regarding a change in terminology for the style of learning as it applies to teaching and learning. I’ve also located what appears to be a chunky little piece of research being pointed to from many other sources also.
U-Learning as far as I can tell is refering to;
“Now, the assimilation of ubiquitous computing in education marks another great step forward, with Ubiquitous Learning (ulearning) emerging through the concept of ubiquitous computing. It is reported to be both pervasive and persistent, allowing students to access education flexibly, calmly and seamlessly. “
Anne Paterson, who will facilitate the NSW LearnScope M-Learning Leadership Team in 2007 explains u-learning as ;
” …..U-learning could also be described in a non high tech frame [reference] as well. Skills of meta cognition or thinking about how you think - learning about how you learn provides for a ubiquitous learning experience too – if learners can be aware of the learning they are exposed to in their everday travels, this is obviously enhanced by the kind of u-learning in a technological approach, but could be too much info.
…….what if I wanted to know something different about the prescence of an object than what it was designed to tell me…..”
It has puzzled me personally with it’s use in VET and VTE however as I think more closely of it’s technology and learning associations the better sense I have for it’s authenticity as a reference.
If it helps anyone, all I was trying to say is that learning is everywhere, all around us, and in that way ubiquitous. Mlearning is part of ubiquitous learning and ulearning seems to be talking about developments in technology that extend this. Maybe ulearning is for uber learning?!
I think in this day and age Anne it could well be referring to uber-learning. What next ?
Research on Collaborative Service Solution in Ubiquitous Learning Environment
Guozhen Zhang; Qun Jin
Parallel and Distributed Computing, Applications and Technologies, 2005. PDCAT 2005. Sixth International Conference on
Volume , Issue , 05-08 Dec. 2005 Page(s): 804 - 806
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/PDCAT.2005.202
Summary: This paper outlines a new model of ubiquitous computing technology support learning (uLearning). In the uLearning, in order to facilitate the awareness of other helpful learners, increase the availability of the mutual and friendly support in the learning process, and enhance learners’ communication skills, the authors offer a serial of services. These services are designed as dynamic group construction service, social intercommunion facilitation service, service of navigating learner to get out of difficulty, etc.
Representatives from Ulearning Digitalised Learning Federation in Taiwan visited Future School’s Australian headquarters in December.
In October Ulearning, a government accredited private education provider, agreed to distribute Future School’s Discovering English and Mathematics programs in Taiwan.
Company founder and Chief Executive Officer, Jesse Ng, and National Business and Development Manager, Eric Hsu spent three days on the New South Wales Central Coast. They met key staff members and learnt about Future School’s technology, production and marketing expertise. Mr Ng and Mr Hsu also became more familiar with the current Future School range and previewed some of the latest program developments.
As Ulearning’s distribution deal was originally signed in English Mr Ng and Mr Hsu signed the agreement again in Australia, this time in traditional Chinese. They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of Future School’s online vocational products.
‘ULearning is an established and highly motivated organisation that has embraced the e-learning concept in a similar manner to Future School. Their information technology, marketing, and English instruction expertise are all excellent,’ explained Future School Chief Executive Officer, Alan Bradford. ‘This is an important partnership for Ulearning and Future School.’
Established in 1984, Future School is a recognised leader in the field of interactive multimedia educational products. Future School provides a learning system that operates on either video, CD-ROM or online, as a home tutorial system or via the Future School Classroom, designed specifically for educational institutions.
Future School offices are situated throughout Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Asia.
Contact: Lauren Foreman, Internet Content Editor (02) 4337 5220.
The main characteristics of ubiquitous learning are shown as follows (Chen et al., 2002; Curtis et al., 2002):
- Permanency: Learners can never lose their work unless it is purposefully deleted. In addition, all the learning processes are recorded continuously in everyday.
- Accessibility: Learners have access to their documents, data, or videos from anywhere. That information is provided based on their requests. Therefore, the learning involved is self-directed.
- Immediacy: Wherever learners are, they can get any information immediately. Therefore learners can solve problems quickly. Otherwise, the learner may record the questions and look for the answer later.
- Interactivity: Learners can interact with experts, teachers, or peers in the form of synchronies or asynchronous communication. Hence, the experts are more reachable and the knowledge is more available.
- Situating of instructional activities: The learning could be embedded in our daily life. The problems encountered as well as the knowledge required are all presented in the nature and authentic forms. It helps learners notice the features of problem situations that make particular actions relevant.
- Adaptability: Learners can get the right information at the right place with the right way.
Moreover, ubiquitous learning can be Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments that focus on the socio-cognitive process of social knowledge building and sharing.
In the past years, during the research on Ubiquitous Learning, we have completely of partially explored three kinds of e-learning systems, PC-based (ECLUE), PDA-based (CLUE+), and mobile phone-based (CLUE+1). Based on these research backgrounds, we explore the concept and the construction of Ubiquitous learning environment (ULE). ULE is established on the combinations between Real World and Virtual Space, Personal Space and Shared Space. Learning in ULE is conducted in the interactions among three essential communicative elements: Social Human, Object in real world, and Artifact in virtual space. Learning process is social transfer process between tacit and explicit knowledge. Human-based Social Network and broad Context-Awareness are very important for various interactions and social knowledge building in ULE. This paper proposes a Five-dimension representation method for Context-Awareness information description. Additionally, this paper also gives a simple discussion to related learning terms, including Blending learning (BL), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and Service Learning (SL), which are contributive to our deeper understanding to learning in ULE. On practical dimension, this paper presents an example model for ULE implementation by integrating three background learning systems
Education has undergone major changes in recent years, with the development of digital information transfer, storage and communication methods having a significant effect. This development has allowed for access to global communications and the number of resources available to today’s students at all levels of schooling. After the initial impact of computers and their applications in education, the introduction of e-learning and m-learning epitomised the constant transformations that were occurring in education. Now, the assimilation of ubiquitous computing in education marks another great step forward, with Ubiquitous Learning (u-learning) emerging through the concept of ubiquitous computing. It is reported to be both pervasive and persistent, allowing students to access education flexibly, calmly and seamlessly. U-learning has the potential to revolutionise education and remove many of the physical constraints of traditional learning. Furthermore, the integration of adaptive learning with ubiquitous computing and u-learning may offer great innovation in the delivery of education, allowing for personalisation and customisation to student needs.
Ubiquitous computing
Educational technology is constantly evolving and growing, and it is inevitable that this progression will continually offer new and interesting advances in our world. The instigation of ubiquitous media for the delivery of education is another new approach now emerging.
The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it. (Mark Weiser, 1991)
Mark Weiser, a researcher at Xerox PARC, coined the term ‘Ubiquitous Computing’ in the late 1980s. It refers to the process of seamlessly integrating computers into the physical world. As we move towards a more ubiquitous computing environment, the presence of computers is becoming less conspicuous and will eventually blend into our everyday lives. When using a PC the user’s attention is, in general, focused on the screen. As computers become ubiquitous they will cease to be the focus of activity, allowing them to fade into the background. As well as personal computers (PCs), ubiquitous computing includes computer technology found in microprocessors, mobile phones, digital cameras and other devices.
Weiser’s third wave in computing describes a many to one relationship between computer and human (Weiser, 1993). This relationship is common in the evolving ubiquitous computing era. This also correlates to the u-learning concept currently emerging. Each student interacts with many embedded devices. In the ubiquitous classroom, students move around Ubiquitous Space (u-space) and interact with the various devices.
A ubiquitous learning environment is any setting in which students can become totally immersed in the learning process. To define:
Ubiquitous = pervasive, omnipresent, ever present, everywhere
Learning = educational, instructive, didactic, pedagogical
Environment = surroundings, setting, situation, atmosphere
So, a ubiquitous learning environment (ULE) is a situation or setting of pervasive (or omnipresent) education (or learning). Education is happening all around the student but the student may not even be conscious of the learning process. Source data is present in the embedded objects and students do not have to DO anything in order to learn. They just have to be there.
In this paper we report on the adaptation of u-learning in an educational setting. The ULE resides within the physical environment. Microprocessors are embedded in objects, or devices. The use of wireless and mobile technology makes them easily accessible and contributes to educational functionality. The wireless and mobile devices include mobile phones and PDAs. A ULE can provide the props and stimuli needed to easily encourage student involvement but without needing the active attention of the student. The benefits of the many to one relationship found in u-learning include the potential for one ULE (of many devices) to service an unlimited number of individuals at once. Essentially, the many to one relationship exists for every one of the students within the environment.
Figure 1 shows an example of four students within a ULE in which there are five ubiquitous objects/devices. Each student is part of the many to one relationship within this u-space. It is immaterial which particular device the student is currently interacting with, as all devices are networked and communicating within the Ubiquitous Space (u-space) - see the purple dotted lines linking the objects in Figure 1. So if Student1 is interacting with Object1, all devices that are part of the network are aware of this interaction. However, for each student the relationship is unique and their interaction is uninterrupted by the interaction of others. This also allows each student to progress through the learning experience at their own pace
Read the K-Pax trilogy (Gene Brewer).
[...] regarding Muggles thanks to TALO’s Janet Hawkin’s has somehow bridged the comments on Ubiquitous and Human Computing in the NSW LearnScope blog with my first meanderings and posits [...]