Giasemi Vavoula

Bio: Giasemi Vavoula is an academic researcher from University of Leicester. The author has contributed to research in topics: Educational technology & Mobile technology. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 48 publications receiving 6948 citations. Previous affiliations of Giasemi Vavoula include Open University & University of Nottingham.

A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age (pre-print)

Abstract: ‘A society which is mobile, which is full of channels for the distribution of a change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its members are educated to personal initiative and adaptability. Otherwise, they will be overwhelmed by the changes in which they are caught and whose significance or connections they do not perceive.’ Dewey (1916, p. 88) When John Dewey wrote Democracy and Education , the industrialised world was undergoing a huge technological and social disruption. Railways and paved roads had enabled mass travel, wireless communication had bridged the Atlantic, and a mechanised war was being fought across continents. Today, we are experiencing similar social and technological disruption, with the Internet and mobile technologies providing global access to information and mobility of knowledge. Ten years ago a school in Russia teaching English had no access to contemporary language sources; now it has the worldwide web. Five years ago, a farmer in rural Kenya had no communication with the nearest city, now he carries a mobile phone. We live in a society in which the “channels for distribution of change” are carried with us as part of daily life.

Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning

Abstract: HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning Laura Naismith, Mike Sharples, Giasemi Vavoula, Peter Lonsdale

Towards a Theory of Mobile Learning

Abstract: Contact address to September 2005: Mike Sharples, Centre for Educational Technology and Distance Learning, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT. Tel: +44 121 414 3966. Contact address from September 2005: Mike Sharples, Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK. Email: mike.sharples@nottingham.ac.uk There is a need to re-conceptualise learning for the mobile age, to recognise the essential role of mobility and communication in the process of learning, and also to indicate the importance of context in establishing meaning, and the transformative effect of digital networks in supporting virtual communities that transcend barriers of age and culture. In this paper we offer a framework for theorising about mobile learning, to complement theories of infant, classroom, workplace and informal learning. A related aim is to inform the design of new environments and technologies to support mobile learning, since the work described here has been developed through a series of projects to design mobile learning technology. In the tradition of Activity Theory we analyse learning as a cultural-historical activity system, mediated by tools that both constrain and support the learners in their goals of transforming their knowledge and skills. We separate two perspectives, or layers, of tool-mediated activity. The semiotic layer describes learning as a semiotic system in which the learner’s object-oriented actions are mediated by cultural tools and signs. The technological layer represents learning as an engagement with technology, in which tools such as computers and mobile phones function as interactive agents in the process of coming to know. These layers can be prised apart, to provide either a semiotic framework to promote discussion with educational theorists to analyse learning in the mobile age, or a technological framework for software developers and engineers to propose requirements for the design and evaluation of new mobile learning systems. Or the layers can be superimposed to examine the dynamics and co-evolution of learning and technology.

A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age

Abstract: Most adults and adolescents in developed countries now own mobile phones and media devices, and for many people in developing countries a mobile phone can offer the only means of sending long distance messages. In a parallel development to the spread of personal technology, since the early 1980s schools, colleges and universities have experimented with handheld technology for learning, including classroom response systems, data probes, and handheld writing tools. Universities allow students to bring laptop computers to lectures and some schools are now providing pupils with Personal Digital Assistants and tablet computers. As personal mobile technologies for learning become more widespread, studies are starting to show evidence of the value of incorporating mobile devices in teaching and learning (McFarlane, Triggs and Yee 2008; p.7) and also substantial issues, including conflicts between informal learning with personal devices and traditional classroom education (Sharples 2007). Children are developing new skills and literacies enabled by mobile devices, such as SMS texting, moblogging (writing diaries and weblogs on mobile devices) and mobile video creation. A new generation of location-aware mobile phones will offer further possibilities, of education services and educational media matched to the learner's context and interests.

Mobile learning: small devices, big issues

Abstract: Full text of this item is not currently available on the LRA. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com, Doi: 10.1007/978-1-4020-9827-7.

Democracy and education.

Abstract: Course Description In this course, we will explore the question of the actual and potential connections between democracy and education. Our focus of attention will be placed on a critical examination of democratic theory and its implications for the civic education roles and contributions of teachers, adult educators, community development practitioners, and community organizers. We will survey and deal critically with a range of competing conceptions of democracy, variously described as classical, republican, liberal, radical, marxist, neomarxist, pragmatist, feminist, populist, pluralist, postmodern, and/or participatory. Using narrative inquiry as a means for illuminating and interpreting contemporary practice, we will analyze the implications of different conceptions of democracy for the practical work of civic education.