SOCIAL LEARNING IN THE AGE OF UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING.

HOW SOCIAL COMPUTING IS CHANGING THE LEARNING

Paolo Lattanzio1, Raffaele Mascella2
1

Researcher, Department of Communication Studies, University of Teramo (Italy) 2 Lecturer Department of Communication Studies, University of Teramo (Italy) paolo.lattanzio@gmail.com, rmascella@unite.it

Abstract
In this paper we intend to investigate the roots of the change and innovation that nowadays are modifying widely learning process. Our investigation aspires to understand the epistemic reasoning that is at the base of these changes, in a way that looks at the emerging properties as the set of aspects involved . We do not look at innovations in learning from a solely technological point of view but as a systemic phenomenon that involves behaviour, technology and knowledge. Starting from the analysis of this system, it is possible to analyze shapes, ways and languages to transfer knowledge into a dynamic that for Cope and Kalantzis 1 is driven by education, not by technology. Education leads, technology follows. How knowledge circulates in what we define social computing is analyzed in a way that is closely linked to the growing spread of accessible web-based technology, cognitive artefacts and mobile devices. Thus, it is important to understand what is meant by knowledge in this field, linking it to the central concept of learning.Moreover new ways of learning driven by using new technologies, which allow innovative forms of social making meanings, will be analyzed. The second part of this paper will analyze privileged environments of change in the learning process synthesizing everything in a brief case history. Here we will illustrate our research experience, which saw the creation of a collaborative learning course through new technologies where students alternate as the teacher producing content for their peers using podcasting and blogging. Keywords: Knowledge, information, ubiquitous computing, learning, computer science, epistemology,

1. INTRODUCTION
In the Digital Age, information is the most valuable asset available and it changes quickly due to the development of new media and new interactions. The elevated availability of new technologies and tools for information processing is having a strong impact on learning procedures, changing the processes of information exchange. The nature of this transformation is still evolving in relation to usage context and attitudes of acceptance of educative technologies, as well as to the affordances the tools themselves present. We find ourselves in a situation that Baumann 2 would define as liquid modernity: how a fluid never maintains its form for long and destructures that which existed previously, even modern society imposes a complete rethinking of previous notions of space, time, community, work, learning and knowledge. The introduction of new media in everyday life goes forward evolving into more pervasive forms. The pedagogical world is interested in these innovations which regard the change in availability of learning tools, as well as the possibility to enter into usage contexts and information processing which are much larger than traditional ones. With new media and devices constantly connected to the web, learning happens on a global stage characterised by a qualitative and quantitative explosion of interconnections, messages and interaction, which are translated into a higher availability of knowledge. This is the focus of our analysis, and in this situation knowledge appears as an available good in this new space, the semiosphere 3, and also as a social and collective construct. The noosphere4, according to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin5, is a collective conscience of human beings that originates from the interaction of minds and that increases in awareness at the increment of the creation of complex social networks. Thus it is necessary to view new technologies as cognitive artefacts6, available to the individual and the community, which configure a kind of augmented reality7. To investigate the underpinning reasons for the change, it is indispensable to go to the origin of the phenomena and to understand how changes in learning are directly linked to changes in knowledge.

2. LEARNING AS KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

Learning is understood as a process of acquisition, sharing and knowledge manipulation inside of a relationship that could be defined as didactic, based on the presence of two figures, a transmitter and a receiver. To fully understand the process, it is necessary to refer to where knowledge comes from: information. Information meaning the minimal significant element cultivated by the observer and which resolves an uncertain situation, substituting the unknown with the known. Information is not a monadic element, but rather related within what we can define as a cognitive trajectory that goes from the most simple, raw data8, to something more complex which is the knowledge. This trajectory is useful in understanding how information is, in its own right, formed by information that impacts on all innovation regarding ITC today. It is evident that the stratifying 9 nature of the path gives rise to a sort of cognitive continuum. In fact, information here turns out to be a virtual object, which for Masuda 10 possesses the following characteristics: non-consumable, transferable without loss, undivided and cumulative. It is the same characteristic of information, of being an input 11 the reaches at least one recipient, which accounts for the relational nature of the phenomenon and implies consequently epistemological reflections on knowledge. This, which is at the base of all reasoning on learning, represents the true object that is changing information in society thanks to the greater use and popularity in educational courses of new technologies. Since this is not an abstract situation, it is necessary to introduce a complication in the modelling phase, safeguarding the importance of constructing models as fundamental significant structures for the understanding and explanation of phenomena 12. In fact, it is reductive to think of information and learning as linear processes between two subjects. Thee exchange of information and relative knowledge construction, and thus learning, are phenomena, which, in line with the American pragmatism of Davidson 13, involve three different subjects in the individualization of a mental state and of knowledge. If on the one hand, we have the individual mind (subjective) and the altruist mind (intersubjective), we must also consider the context (objective) in which this connection occurs. This regards a relationship that permits knowledge acquisition only in function to the comparison of altruist knowledge inside a shared world. I am, therefore you and the world are, Davidson maintains. The central role of language in this situation appears evident, exemplified by Davidsons triangle of interpretation. In the case of learning it is in fact visible how varying from that which permits communication between two human subjects, tools and technologies for teaching14, inevitably changes the shape and type of knowledge that these two construct and exchange. Thus the central role of new technologies in characterizing the processes of knowledge acquisition is evinced. Learning is fundamentally a process of communication. This technology is fundamentally a means to enhance communication 15. The interaction among subjects in a scenario is central for Capurro16 as well, who identifies the individual by his capacity of being in the world with others17, looking at knowledge as a pragmatic phenomenon shared socially by human beings in a world of relationships with others. This knowledge is anything but monolithic and static. It is procedurally cumulative and continually updated. This is inscribed in a different dynamic with respect to the past which saw transformation from a culture based on receiving and transmitting to a new one based on social making meanings. If one could believe in the recent past, up until the popularity of research in the A.I. field, that memory, at the base of knowledge, was substantially information recovery coming from background knowledge, today this idea must be modified. Memory cannot be understood only as classification and optimal management of acquired knowledge; today and in epistemological terms one cannot set aside consideration of new evidence. That is all these new manifestations which incur the individual mind and which consist of adopting and acquiring new data. This way of learning is very different from that of the past where the paradigm of reference was the library: enormous and orderly archives of knowledge codified and classified, accessible in already set up places, spaces and time, oriented around a systematic and encyclopaedic construction of knowledge, above all in science and scientific methodologies. Instead, in the modern era, memory from a learning perspective is a resource that is anything but passive, it is not just a space to store data, but a place of elaboration that is constantly being updated, hence characterized by its dynamism. This is linked to the nature of the telematic new technologies and network infrastructures that allow: (I) Constant access to content; (ii) New content;; (iii) Different ways to benefit from content; (iv)Multiple sources to draw upon. It is evident that we are not dealing with a form of static knowledge, archived and categorized in a traditional way18. It is the opposite, it is knowledge that is fluid and widespread in network spaces

beyond the mind; it is a form of immaterial and combined memorization that cooperates together to conserve information from the human mind and digital devices. Reference to the web is obvious at this point, as it is understood as a global database able to proceed with the creation of new forms of knowledge.

2.1 New fluid knowledge with web technologies

Using the web and new media in the didactic field does not only mean quantitatively broadening available informative resources, but also consists of the construction of new meanings, languages and forms of access and use of a shared global memory in constant evolution. Through the characteristics of web-based tools it is possible to construct something new. New technologies for teaching allow for the creation of large communities of peers. The information which is in circulation on the web in the era of mass connectivity does not only come from a few accredited sources anymore, but can be emitted into the global communicative circuit by anyone. This means that even in the learning phase information, both general and specialized, becomes filtered and inevitably revised through new media19. This means wider content availability and a greater understanding of themes, even specialized ones. These are now codified even by non-specialists and widespread in a language that is often close to a common sense language that makes it understandable to everyone. In this new reality teachers must also rethink their roles, having to choose content and sources to offer learners in an appropriate language. This formative activity puts the learner in the conditions to find the best collaborators, the best content, the best services in place and at the right moment basing on the specific context of learning. New technologies allow for customization in the access of knowledge, as well as a series of possibilities of diversified fruition of content: it's a kind of substantial personalized learning environment20 (PLE). Now the learner can enjoy a large gamma of procedures, spaces, ways and times to access knowledge; it consists of schooling time, as well as extra schooling and involves various possibilities of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Through new technologies of didactics, every student can design his own learning course, be responsible and responsibilized for the knowledge acquisition procedure and for the results that will be obtained. The tools that allow these kinds of actions are substantially web-based services like wiki, forums, blogs, and databases. At the foundation of these possibilities must nevertheless be a pedagogical strategy learner-centered.

3.0 SOCIAL COMPUTING

Collective creation processes and sharing of knowledge implemented with telematic new technologies fall under the title of social computing 21. A trend which links social behaviour with the support offered by web tools that increase, strengthen, and differentiate potential and effects. This office is interested in the didactic environment and thus we can note how forums, the web 2.0, wikis, IM 22, chats and VOIP can support teaching. These tools, together with mobile devices, are important because they allow us to have an effect on and manipulate information at a superficial level, and knowledge at a more profound one. In fact, the use of web tools can have an effect on shared knowledge. It is for this reason that admission of new technology into schools, preferably outside of computer laboratories, is able to make the students formative processes evolve increasing the students potential, speaking the language of modernity, and allowing access to new knowledge bettering performances and knowledge acquisition for the learner. We can draw two implications that regard the design of social learning environments: 1) They are learner-centred in context. This is purpose-driven, centred on the learner and always under the learners control. It is based on the high connection of resources present on the web. Thus, learning depends on the context, the learner, use and pedagogical approach. It helps the learner to find the right piece of the knowledge puzzle. 2) They make learning more gratifying. Learners cannot be inserted coercively into learning, but must be convinced, motivated to explore and rewarded for achieving the desired result. In this environment, learning must seduce the learner, it must be presented as a challenge and provide reward. It may be defined as a kind of adaptive learning. The concept is that an individualised method of teaching will help students learn at a faster pace, more effectively, and with greater understanding. Some of the elements of adaptive learning include: monitoring student activity, interpreting the results,

understanding students requirements and preferences, and using the newly gained information to facilitate the learning process23. The changes we are talking about are still more meaningful due two phenomena that have been developed in the last few years: (a) the central role of digital natives; (b) the use of mobile devices. On the one hand we have formative processes that have been almost completely revolted by digital natives24. It is necessary for who was born in the digital age and learned to use videogames and forms of interactive multimedia communication and handle multitasking a variety of technological devices commanding characteristics and languages, to be offered an appropriate education. That is, outlining educational paths that do not deny the competences, capacities and abilities linked to networks and digital, but that have the aim of welcoming- clarifying how these may also have a growing importance in teaching. It is sufficient to think of how video sharing is a key element in teaching in many universities25, skype conferencing is an essential low-cost updating tool, blogs are not only a form of communication among teachers and students but also an essential writing competence and how IM is a key tool for real time feedback.Digital natives go from one content to another, scanning found results while looking for useful ones. When they find something that may be useful for their educational path, they insert it inside their own personal learning environment. Digital native learners have developed a habit for real time communication and for immediate feedback, so they need a kind of educational content that guarantees active interaction. Adopting this point of view makes it possible to promote modern and personalized learning, highlighted by flexibility and modularity, and also by bidirectional interactivity or intercreativity. So we have new self-directed, justin-time, decentralized personal learning environments- a kind of a bricolage culture 26. On the other hand, we have a second trend that regards the renewed availability of mobile devices that, in a new ecology of devices27, allow the fruition of content, even in movement, in any place and at any moment. We are talking about that growing relevance that is called ubiquitous computing 28. This term refers to the drift that we, as humans, no longer interact with only one computer at a time, but with a dynamic set of small-networked computers, often invisible and embodied in everyday objects spread over the environment. Today it is a trend based on mobile computation and constantly accessible thanks to wifi connections that enable the use of educational mobile device everywhere and at any time, so changing the learning process.

4.0 CHANGES IN LEARNING PROCESSES

This combination of changes in knowledge, social use of new web technologies and ubiquitous computing is generating important and radical changes in learning. There are four principal dimensions: - Time, for real time interaction. Learning has the necessity to foresee a steady form of bidirectional communication among teachers and students, which requires immediate feedback on performance and participation to the community. - Space, for working in the same peer-place. Social computing constructs social meeting and learning spaces that go beyond traditional ones. These spaces allow the convergence of competency and knowledge in virtual place bringing peers closer. - People, for linking a lot of individuals. The possibilities to bring together individuals are now global and in real time. This allows access to various sources of knowledge. New communities web based cooperate to achieve a goal, and are subject to breaking up and reforming themselves in a different shape for new goals. - Contents, for creating a kind of lifestream. Teacher and learner come face to face with a constant flow of content that tightly bind school and non-school. This change supports lifelong learning and is a direct consequence of new kind of technologies as universal tools. The lifestream is linked to the characteristics of modern education that foresees a form of learning situated in every environment and context of daily life. A further push towards these changes in learning is linked to the spread of ubiquitous computing. In ubicomp computers are integrated into everyday objects such as equipment in our homes, offices, cars or schools. One characteristic is that these computers might not be visible to human beings using the equipment, such as with electricity. Another characteristic is that environment and equipment can

provide coordinated support for activities of human beings interacting with them. These so-called smart surroundings29 can help us in daily tasks. Thanks to these new possibilities, tied to learning that happens anywhere and at any moment thanks to mobile devices, the learner, equipped with adequate technology, can learn during the course of their life or day. Their own devices will be capable of receiving multimedia texts and sending feedback regarding their own knowledge. Learning is an aspect of living, not of place 30. Today we nd that ubicomp has become part of the home, community, work and academics. Dewey's dream of schooling that links the mind and the body, theory and action, or disciplines and ordinary experience seems more realizable than ever. It seems clear that ubiquitous computing is both necessary for this and sufcient to make it happen. So we can put together some of the most important innovations that social learning 31 has to offer regarding: Engagement: for students motivation to learn. Social computing offers learning as a gratifying daily practice, in a situated learning dynamic, and thus closer to a lifestyle of digital natives. Engagement of new technologies anticipates the possibility to construct game-like learning paths, gratification among peers, social prestige in the community and real time feedback. Participation: for mediated global relationships in peer communities. Learner participation has radically improved because students now have at their disposition a plurality of communities to participate and to obtain knowledge, a plurality of sources and themes to go into depth in. They enter into dynamics of equality where they are not passive receptors but active subjects in the paths of knowledge construction. Moreover, learners can find the best content, the best sources, and the best community32 thanks to the relational possibilities and to global access and web-based information. Design for website and repositories: facilitating participation and having better affordance to share educational content. Real results are obtained in relation to the design of the educational and learning environments, as well as with reference to new tasks and rethinking the role of the teacher.

Hence social learning aspires to be rewarding for all. It is possible to make it game-like; encouraging study with real time feedback, and not too rigid rules; connecting outcomes and success in the peer community and creating a system for reliable credentials. It assists in creating a tight-knit integration between school and society. Dewey33 maintained that school would instead give students the opportunity to combine theory and action in a way that would enrich both, make learning more exciting and meaningful, and thereby establish a model for progress in the larger society.

5.0 A BRIEF HISTORY: WWW.LEPAROLEDELLASCIENZA.ORG

To conclude this paper we talk about a teaching experience realized in our university. For the course of Science Communication we created a blog, www.leparoledellascienza.org, where every student shares his/her own audio file about a scientific problem, chosen from within a database of themes. Students study the matter in depth, interview an expert, create and then share the final content. In this phase the student studies the characteristics of radio and audio communication, learns the language of scientific communication and at the same time learns how to handle software tools for editing audio, blogs, CMSs, FTPs, podcasts, and RSS feeds. The created contents are not only material for the exam, but they become pedagogical content available for other students because this kind of content is shared on the project blog, together with a brief presentation article, and is inserted in the space designated for specific theme categories that regroup it for its area of interest. Every student becomes a teacher for others through continuous updating, since the same students who must take the exam update the produced content. Thus this blog is enhanced becoming a large archive of themes, interviews and in-depth understanding on scientific themes ranging from astronomy to chemistry and mathematics. The added value is linked to the fact that user access is not reserved solely to students in the course, but is open to all users who find updated material, information, news

and expert interviews here. It is this content, created by the students for their peers, that feeds this social learning phenomenon. From this experiment emerges how every student can personalize the creation of content, his/her own e-portfolio based on acquired content through a do-it-yourself web search, based on the credentials and ratings of the various acquired sources. Learning is also characterized by openness in personal learning environments (PLE) characterized by flexibility, modularity and intercreativity34.

6.0 CONCLUSION
This kind of new learning environment is still evolving toward a kind of ubiquitous learning environment that links changes in knowledge management, availability of new technologies and web tools, and the popularity of mobile devices. A ubiquitous learning environment is a digital and global space, which is accessible to anyone at any time and any place 35. Ubiquitous learning means that learning is pervasive and ongoing, prevalent in many interactions among students, faculty, parents, administration, staff, and a wide variety of community stakeholders. Ubiquitous learning is going to change access to knowledge and the culture of learning that we are being continually surrounded by, and absorbed by in our learning experiences.

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