Discussions

Your Name and Title: Ioana Literat, PhD student, NML Researcher

School or Organization Name: New Media Literacies, University of Southern California

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: US

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): K-12 teachers, administrators, policymakers, researchers

Short Session Description (one line): This session will explore, from both a practical and a conceptual perspective, the transformation of authentic learning spaces with the rise of mobile, virtual and social technologies. 

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

One way to think about current and future learning spaces is in terms of materiality. On the one hand, learning has traditionally been constructed as a place-bound practice: the classroom has conventionally represented the formal hub for education and pedagogy. Without implying that the classroom or the school grounds are not a significant factor in terms of quality of education, the reality is that much too often we get stuck debating the adequacy or inadequacy of physical spaces for learning, while glossing over the authentic features that truly embody the notion of meaningful education.

With mobile technologies are becoming increasingly relevant and ubiquitous, and with the rise of networked communities as “affinity spaces” for a new type of experimental learning, we are faced with the timely dilemma of having to redefine our educational practices in order to account for these promising developments in the realm of formal and informal learning. One significant lesson to be learned, at first glance, is that we cannot think of these learning spaces in silo – we cannot compartmentalize pedagogy into the formalized clusters that have dominated the field in the pre-Web 2.0 era. Furthermore, this resistance towards compartmentalization is evidence of the inextricable link between spatial and temporal considerations. Even though, most often, we tend to regard space as different from – and complementary to – time, the development of new technologies that foster e-learning compels us to think of these two dimensions in an interrelated fashion: the temporal moment of cultural adoption is, in this sense, central to our discussion of spatial pedagogical bounds. Finally, in light of the increasing interconnection between global learning spaces, we must resist localized compartmentalization and truly think of future learning spaces as multicultural, inclusive, and perpetually adaptive to both local and global trends. 

As we start thinking about the different kinds of learning spaces that current and future generations will benefit from, the questions that we should be asking must represent our diverse perspectives perspectives, as well as our holistic understanding of learning in the 21st century. How do we use our diverse backgrounds – as academics, researchers, educators, practitioners and, last but not least, as perpetual learners – to inform a co-constructed future of learning? How can we make these learning spaces a true embodiment of our cultural impulse towards participation and interactivity? And, in line with the globalization of affinity spaces and the strengthening of the connections between them, how can worldwide communities, separated by diverse educational goals and practices, come together to build transnational comfort spaces for experimenting with different learning pedagogical models?

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: www.ioanaliterat.com ; www.newmedialiteracies.org