the affordances of mobile learning for boundary crossing, m-learning network conference in bristol

The affordances of mobile learning for boundary crossing

Christoph Pimmer, learning.lab, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern

Switzerland, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

09.10.2013 University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland 2

Mobile media to bridge learning contexts and overcome boundaries?

Can mobile phones facilitate learning by

boundary crossing?

In order to explore the potential of mobile

media for educational purposes, I combine …

…findings from the field of mobile learning

… with the theoretical framework of

boundary crossing

Image: monks in rural Nepal using

mobile phones

2) Mobile learning as cross-

contextual learning

3


Definitions of mobile learning and the role of context

Mobile learning is defined as:

«the processes of coming to know through conversations across multiple

contexts among people and personal interactive technologies.» (Sharples et

al 2007).

« … the processes of coming to know and being able to operate successfully

in, and across, new and ever changing contexts and learning spaces »

(Pachler et al. 2010)

Wali et al. (2008) see the core of mobile learning as what they define as

context-crossing, a change of physical and/or social setting.

Kukulska-Hulme et al. (2010): mobility social, physical and conceptual spaces,

of technology and of a learning that is dispersed over time,

3) Framework of boundary crossing

5


Boundaries & boundary crossing

Boundaries are understood as socio-cultural

differences that lead to discontinuities in action and

interaction and can stimulate learning.

(Akkerman, & Bakker 2011)

Boundary crossing usually refers to a person’s

transitions and interactions across different sites

(Suchman, 1994)

Boundary objects refers to artifacts doing the

crossing by fulfilling a bridging function (Star, 1989).


Overview: Boundary mechanism – and mobile media practices

Four boundary mechanism (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011)

Boundary

mechanisms

Examples of learning practices:

Mobile media as boundary objects …

Identification … negotiation of professional identities (Pimmer, Linxen, & Gröhbiel, 2012).

Coordination … coordination of diverse professional groups (unpublished manuscript)

Reflection … reflection by sharing work-based experiences (Brysiewicz et al., 2013; Pimmer et al., submitted).

Transformation … transformation of classroom-based learning (Pimmer, Linxen, Gröhbiel, et al., 2012).

But: little is said about the affordances of new technology regarding the

crossing of boundaries

4) Boundary mechanisms & the role of

mobile media

8


Identification by the negotiation of professional identities

Identification entails a questioning of the core identity

(of a learner) by crossing boundaries (Akkerman & Bakker,

2011).

A massive Facebook site with ten of thousands of

medical novices and experts across geographical,

cultural and national boundaries in Asia facilitates

identification.

Questions such as “proud to be in this profession, what

about you?" and cartoons or jokes …

… trigger the announcement and negotiation of

occupational status and professional identities. (Pimmer,

Linxen, & Gröhbiel, 2012).


Coordination across intra-professional boundaries

Coordination: effective means and procedures are

sought allowing diverse practices to cooperate

efficiently in distributed work by crossing boundaries

(Star, 2010).

Doctors use images on mobiles to coordinate

work across departmental boundaries in a

Swiss Hospital

«I've seen this one [patient] in the emergency

department. Here is the photograph" […] If there is

a picture […] on the smartphone, it is passed

around in a circle [..] all the way to the head

physician, so he can see it.»


Reflection by sharing work-based experiences

Reflection: "coming to realize and explicate

differences between practices and thus to learn

something new about their own and others’

practices." (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011).

South African midwives use Facebook groups

on their mobiles to contrast patient

experiences across geographical and intra-

professional boundaries

«Sometimes you use the [Facebook] group

after you have managed the patient, to see how

you went,[…] Then, they give you the reasons,

or sometimes they will tell you, oh, well done,

but you missed that and that. »


Transformation of formal learning spaces

Transformation: profound change in practices or the

creation of new ones by means of boundary crossing

(Akkerman & Bakker, 2011).

(Boundary) practices from informal learning settings

invade formal education:

Nepalese medical students increasingly (are allowed to)

use mobile phones to take and share photos and images

across school, work and leisure time.

[We show the picture] to flat mates. “This is the case I

have seen.” […] The whole batch gets it. […]

We proudly show it to the others.


5) First conclusions

Can mobile phones facilitate learning by boundary

crossing?


Mobile phones, and in particular mobile social media serve as boundary

crossing tools because, …

… on a global scale, they are used to generate and share

multimodal representations throughout social, digital and

non-digital networks, …

… tying together learners and learning across different

socio-cultural communities in ways not possible before, …

… unmediated by education and work institutions, …

… facilitating learning in the form of all four boundary

mechanisms and, thereby, …

….creating rich(er) reservoirs for problem solving, identity

formation and learning.

09.10.2013 15

Boundaries across formal and informal spaces

Boundaries are bridged in manifold ways: between

professions, between 'novices' and 'experts', throughout

geographical and cultural spaces, over time as well as …

…across formal and informal spaces.

(Boundary) practices originate in informal learning settings but

increasingly transform formal educational formats.

Direct integration of mobile social media in formal education

can be difficult due to the often disparate socio-cultural

characteristics of formal and informal settings.

Mobile phones lend themselves well to connect learning

throughout formal and informal settings, and specifically

(informal) workplace learning and formal classroom-based

education.


Related literature

Pimmer, C., Linxen, S., & Gröhbiel, U. (2012). Facebook as a learning tool? A case study on the appropriation

of social network sites along with mobile phones in developing countries. British Journal of Educational

Technology, 43(5), 726-738

Pimmer, C., Linxen, S., Gröhbiel, U., Jha, A., & Burg, G. (2012). Mobile learning in resource-constrained

environments. A case study of medical education. Medical Teacher.

Pimmer, C., Brysiewicz, P., Linxen, S., Walters, F., Chipps, J., & Gröhbiel, U. submitted. The appropriation of

mobile phones and its effects on learning and problem-solving. A study from midwifery education in a low-

resource context. (Available on request).

Brysiewicz, P., Pimmer, C., Gröhbiel, U., Walters, F., Linxen, S., & Chipps, J. (2013). The neglected grass root

adoption of mobile phones as learning tools in resource-limited settings. A study from advanced midwifery

education in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Paper presented at the South African Association of Health

Educationalists Conference, Durban, South Africa.

Pimmer, C., Pachler, N., & Attwell, G. (2010). Towards Work-Based Mobile Learning: What We Can Learn

from the Fields of Work-Based Learning and Mobile Learning. International Journal of Mobile and Blended

Learning (IJMBL), 2(4), 1-18.

Pimmer, C., & Pachler, N. (2013). Mobile learning in the workplace. Unlocking the value of mobile technology

for work-based education. In M. Ally & A. Tsinakos (Eds.), Mobile Learning Development for Flexible Learning:

Athabasca University Press. (Available on request).


Contact

Christoph Pimmer

Lecturer, researcherP

University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Northwestern Switzerland

[email protected]

T +41 61 279 18 49