Location matters: leveraging knowledge building with mobile devices and Web 2.0 technology

Abstract

This article examines the potential of mobile computing and Web 2.0 technology to support knowledge building in formal and informal settings. Desktop-based knowledge building tools have limited affordances of supporting one-to-one access, learning in situ, and seamless integration in and out of school environments. In this initial study, we explore how recent advances of mobile and Web 2.0 technologies can be utilized to support seamless knowledge building processes and to enhance contextualized learning experiences across multiple locations. Using design research as a methodological framework, we analyzed current practices and configurations of mobile learning in one primary school in Singapore, and codesigned a learning scenario with teachers toward seamless knowledge building experiences. The artifacts of primary grade 4 students created in the Google Maps space were analyzed to examine the knowledge building processes based on a location-based mobile learning scenario. We conclude by discussing both possibilities and challenges of knowledge building using mobile Web 2.0 technologies based on our early experiences.

Keywords:

• knowledge building
• mobile learning
• Web 2.0 technology
• location-based learning

Acknowledgments

This study is supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation, Singapore. Portions of this article were presented at the 16th International Conference on Computers in Education in Taipei, Taiwan. We are grateful to Wenli Chen, Gene Lim, Kelvin Wong, Lunghsiang Wong, Baohui Zhang, teachers and students for collaborating with us on this research. Pseudonyms were used for student names for confidentiality.