Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

1 – Emerging Technologies in E-learning
Festoon, and BitTorrent. “P2P merges learning and
work, shedding light on team processes that used to
disappear when a project’s participants dispersed. For
example, P2P applications can create an audit trail”
(Cross, 2001, para. 13).
Despite the copyright controversy around music file
sharing on Napster, Kazaa, and others, P2P is a useful
technology that offers opportunities for e-learning. P2P
file sharing can support students working together on
collaborative projects. Having one central location for
group members to access and edit a master copy of a
shared document can help with version control. Another
benefit in collaborative work is the ability to view
and mark up a master copy instead of sending documents
as attachments through email. This can help
avoid confusion over who has the master copy and the
problem of edits accidentally missed or overwritten. P2P
technologies also enable chatrooms and online groups,
where students can talk synchronously about their project.
Using a P2P application such as Groove, students
can create a shared virtual office space for group projects
(Hoffman, 2002). P2P technologies can possibility encourage
project-based learning.
Another technology related to both P2P and podcasting
is swarmcasting. Because files are transported
across the network in smaller packets, swarmcasting is a
more efficient way to send large files such as video files.
Swarmcasting provides the possibility of Internet broadcasting
much like a television station does (tvover.net,
2005).
Mobile learning
Also called m-learning, this represents an evolution of
e-learning to the almost ubiquitous mobile environment
for laptop computers, cell phones, PDAs, iPods, and
RFID (radio frequency identification) tags. Technologies
like GPS and Bluetooth will also enable the adoption
of m-learning.
Learning will be in smaller chunks and designed as
just-in-time (performance support) to accommodate
wireless form factors, the flood of available information,
and multi-tasking users. It is an opportunity for people
to learn anytime, anywhere. An executive heading to a
meeting can brush up on his or her facts, and students
can study for an upcoming test or access information
needed for a research project.
Using mobile devices for learning is the logical next
step for e-learning. It will require some new strategies—
smaller chunks of information, shorter modules, efficient
searching for learning objects, and an orientation
to performance support rather than information dumps
(Wagner, 2006).
Examples of m-learning include:
• SMS (text messaging) as a skills check or for collecting
feedback
• audio-based learning (iPods, MP3 players, podcasting)
• Java quizzes to download to colour-screen phones
• specific learning modules on PDAs
• media collection using camera-phones
• online publishing or blogging using SMS, MMS (picture
and audio messages), cameras, email, and the Web
• field trips using GPS and positional tools (Stead et al.,
2006, p. 12)
Mobile learning is already making an impact. In a
recent survey conducted by the eLearning Guild, Pulichino
(2006) reported that 16 percent of the responding
organizations are currently using mobile learning and 26
percent expect to do so over the next 12 months. He also
observed that colleges and universities are ahead of corporations
in its adoption.
Context-aware environments and devices
Environments and devices that are tuned into the needs
of those using them and automatically adjust to the
situation are considered to be context-aware. Everyday
devices such as phones, personal digital assistants
(PDAs), and multimedia units equipped with built-in
software and interfaces can be made context-aware. The
strength of this technology is its ability for learners to
extend their interaction with an environment. One example
is the integration of student services with a PDA
device. A student points a PDA to a computing device,
and the PDA captures the information about the service
which is beamed into the PDA. For more information
on context-aware environments and devices, use a
search engine with the parameters “Cooltown + HP.”
Augmented reality and enhanced visualization
Augmented reality (AR) is an evolution of the concept
of virtual reality. It is a hybrid environment, which is a
combination of a physical environment with virtual
elements added by computer input. This computer input
augments the scene with additional information.
While virtual reality strives for a totally immersive environment,
an augmented reality system maintains a sense
of presence in the physical world. Augmented reality’s
goal is to blur both worlds so the end user doesn’t detect
the differences between the two.
Augmented reality may use some of the following
technologies:
10 Education for a Digital World