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ERIC Number: EJ936532
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2042-7530
EISSN: N/A
Ubiquitous Mobility with Mobile Phones: A Cultural Ecology for Mobile Learning
Cook, John; Pachler, Norbert; Bachmair, Ben
E-Learning and Digital Media, v8 n3 p181-196 2011
This article argues that mobile phones should be viewed as new cultural resources that operate within an individualized, mobile and convergent mass communication; such a recognition facilitates the options for a cultural ecology. A particular challenge here is to find adequate curricular functions in school where the inclusion of these new cultural resources can and should be introduced. The authors expand their argument, first, by discussing mobile devices as "cultural resources" theoretically from the perspective of their position within what they call a triangular-oriented "mobile complex"; second, by means of this triangular analysis of structures, agency and cultural practices the mobile complex is investigated with the purpose of "positioning the school" in relation to this complex; third, they present the notion of "user-generated contexts" as a means of integrating meaning-making from the world outside of schools into the school and its curriculum. User-generated context is conceived by the authors in a way in which users of mobile digital devices are being "afforded" synergies of knowledge distributed across people, communities, locations, time (life course), social contexts and sites of practice (such as socio-cultural milieus) and structures. In order to concretize this notion of context they give a brief example. The article then goes on to draw on a case study of a school project that examines mobile devices and associated media within school mathematics. This analysis leads the authors to propose some guidelines for mobile learning. They conclude by noting some significant methodological challenges for their future research around the mobile complex and user-generated contexts. (Contains 5 notes and 5 figures.)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A