A Design Toolkit for Emerging Learning Landscapes Supported by Ubiquitous Computing

The wide use of mobile devices and their integration in our everyday activities is changing the way we communicate, share information, and learn. For example, in populous African countries like Uganda and Nigeria more people have access to mobile phones than electricity in their homes and these latest developments are causing governments to revise some of their national policies (Kerr, 2010; Aderinoye, K.O., & Olojede, 2007). Also in the developed world, the explosion of powerful mobile devices offers new opportunities to support formal and informal education (Johnson, Levine, Smith, & Stone, 2010; Shuler, 2009). What is the relevance of these latest trends for the design and development of technology enhanced learning? In order to investigate this question, this study brings together different perspectives from the fields of ubiquitous computing, human-computer interaction, and learning having in mind a designers’ point of view. Simon’s (1996) classic definition of design, everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones. More recently, Morello (2000) has positioned design as a tool that can help predict the future when it anticipates experience. Yet, the practice of design in research, to develop and implement innovative education solutions supported by mobile and ubiquitous technologies has not mirrored the widespread adoption outside formal learning settings. 

Almost twenty years ago, Kaput (1992) argued that the limitations of computer use in the coming decades are likely to be less a result of technological limitations than a result of limited human imagination and the constraints of old habits and social structures. Therefore, it can be argued that different approaches need to be explored to promote innovate educational practices and this thesis will argue for design as this catalyst. The aim of this study is to explore how different design approaches can be used to guide emerging learning landscapes supported by ubiquitous computing. The empirical work presented in this dissertation is based on the activities and outcomes from three projects that include informal and formal games for education, inquiry based science learning, and mathematics learning activities. The analysis of these projects is discussed and the different design approaches used in each one of the efforts are compared in order to see their advantages and drawbacks. From this analysis, the most salient design factors and approaches are identified in order to provide the foundations of a design toolkit.