Conceptualising Personal and Mobile Learning Environments in Higher Education

227 Pages·2013·4.06 MB·English

Hanna Vuojärvi
Conceptualising
Personal and Mobile
Learning Environments
in Higher Education
Focus on Students’ Perspective
ACADEMIC DISSERTATION
To be presented with the permission
of the Faculty of Education of the University of Lapland,
for public discussion in Auditorium 2
on December 13th 2013, at 12 o’clock.
Acta Electronica Universitatis Lapponiensis 133
University of Lapland
Faculty of Education
Centre for Media Pedagogy
© Hanna Vuojärvi
Layout: Paula Kassinen
Sales:
Lapland University Press
PO Box 8123
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ABSTRACT
Vuojärvi Hanna
Conceptualising Personal and Mobile Learning Environments in
Higher Education—Focus on Students’ Perspective
Rovaniemi: University of Lapland 2013, 227 p.
Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis 266
Tesis: University of Lapland, Faculty of Education, Centre for Media Pedagogy
ISSN 0788-7604
ISBN 978-952-484-678-3
Tis study investigated how the concept of personal and mobile learning envi-
ronments (PMLEs) can be conceptualised, and how their creation could best be
supported in higher education, according to university students. Te six empirical
studies comprising this thesis were conducted at the University of Lapland, where
a large-scale mobile technology initiative was carried out between 2004 and 2009.
Te particular focus was on university students, their experiences, perceptions
and development ideas. Te frst study sought to discern students’ expectations
concerning data security, mobility and collaborative learning processes on a wire-
less campus, while the second aimed to reveal the domestication process that
students go through when putting their laptops to use at the beginning of their
studies. In addition, the means by which students integrated the laptop into their
personal learning processes, the kinds of procedures that rendered the laptop
useful and meaningful, and how gender and IT profciency infuenced these pro-
cesses, were also examined. Te third study was a design-based research (DBR)
process, in which a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) course
on the data security of wireless learning environments was designed and imple-
mented. Te fourth study deliberated on the students’ perceptions of the added
pedagogical value that laptops and wireless networks bring to CSCL processes.
Te ffth and sixth studies concentrated particularly on the views of non-tradi-
tional students who have extra life commitments along with their studies, such as
taking care of children or term-time employment. Te results of these two stud-
ies revealed that students with children especially benefted from the support the
laptops and networks provided, and the mobility and fexibility that they aforded.
Multiple methodologies were employed in order to answer varying and multi-
dimensional research questions within the six empirical studies. Te studies used
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approaches including statistical methodologies, grounded theory (GT), DBR,
and mixed methods. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected.
Te results of the individual empirical studies are considered through activ-
ity theory, which is a socio-culturally driven, general framework for describing
human activity as development processes in diferent forms. Tis study strength-
ens the view of PMLEs as conceptual tools, moving away from a device- or
system-oriented understanding of learning environments. For universities as
administrative organisations, the concept of a PMLE can serve as a strategic tool
that can be used when developing strategies for ICTs’ pedagogical use and when
designing possible future ICT initiatives. For university instructors, this research
ofers insights into students’ perceptions of using mobile ICTs in learning, and
a starting point when developing their own professional skills and knowledge. It
encourages students to consider the best ways to use mobile ICTs in their per-
sonal lives, of which higher education studies form a part. For researchers, the
conceptual understanding of a PMLE ofers a multitude of research tasks for
future completion.
KEYWORDS Personal and mobile learning environment (PMLE), mobile learning,
information and communication technologies (ICTs), higher education, activity
theory
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TIIVISTELMÄ
Vuojärvi Hanna
Henkilökohtaisten ja mobiilien oppimisympäristöjen käsitteellistäminen korkea-
koulutuksessa—Tarkastelussa opiskelijoiden näkökulma
Rovaniemi, Lapin yliopisto 2013, 227 s.
Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis 266
Väitöskirja: Lapin yliopisto, Kasvatustieteiden tiedekunta,
Mediapedagogiikkakeskus
ISSN 0788-7604
ISBN 978-952-484-678-3
Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena oli tutkia yliopisto-opiskelijoiden näkökulmasta,
miten henkilökohtaisen ja mobiilin oppimisympäristön käsite voidaan määritellä.
Väitöskirja koostuu kuudesta osatutkimuksesta, jotka toteutettiin Lapin yliopis-
tossa, missä vuosien 2004 ja 2009 välisenä aikana kaikille opintonsa aloittaville
opiskelijoille tarjottiin mahdollisuus hankkia käyttöönsä kannettava tietokone
yliopiston osaksi kustantamana.
Tutkimuksen keskiössä ovat yliopisto-opiskelijat, heidän kokemuksensa ja
näkemyksensä sekä kehitysideansa. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa kartoitettiin
opiskelijoiden tietoturvaan, opiskelun mobiiliuteen sekä tietokoneilla tuettuun
yhteisölliseen opiskeluun liittyviä odotuksia. Toisessa osatutkimuksessa selvitettiin,
millaisen kotouttamisprosessin opiskelijat käyvät läpi ottaessaan kannettavaa tieto-
konetta käyttöönsä. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin myös sitä, miten opiskelijat integ-
roivat kannettavan tietokoneen oppimisprosessiinsa, millaisten kokemusten kautta
kannettavasta tuli merkityksellinen sekä sitä, miten sukupuoli tai tietotekniset tai-
dot vaikuttivat tähän prosessiin. Kolmas osatutkimus rakentui design-perustaisen
tutkimuksen periaatteille ja sen aikana suunniteltiin ja toteutettiin langattomien
kampusten tietoturvaa käsittelevä opintojakso. Neljännessä osatutkimuksessa sel-
vitettiin, mitä pedagogista lisäarvoa kannettavat tietokoneet opiskelijoiden mie-
lestä tuovat tietokoneella tuettuihin yhteisöllisen oppimisen prosesseihin.
Viidennessä ja kuudennessa osatutkimuksessa keskityttiin erityisesti lapsi-
perheellisten ja lukukausien aikana työskentelevien opiskelijoiden kokemuksiin.
Tulosten perusteella voidaan sanoa, että erityisesti lapsiperheelliset opiskelijat
hyötyivät kannettavien tietokoneiden ja langattomien tietoverkkojen mahdollis-
tamasta mobiiliudesta ja joustavuudesta.
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Osatutkimusten tutkimustehtäviä ja -kysymyksiä lähestyttiin useista metodo-
logisista lähtökohdista käsin. Tutkimuksissa hyödynnettiin tilastollista lähesty-
mistapaa, grounded-teoriaa, design-tutkimusta sekä erilaisten tutkimusmenetel-
mien yhdistelmiä (mixed methods). Tutkimuksissa kerättiin sekä laadullista että
määrällistä aineistoa.
Osatutkimuksissa saatuja tuloksia tarkastellaan toiminnan teorian (activity
theory) kautta. Toiminnan teoria on sosio-kulttuurisesti orientoitunut viitekehys,
joka käsittelee ihmisen toimintaa eri muodoissaan kehitysprosesseina. Tutkimus
vahvistaa käsitystä oppimisympäristöistä käsitteellisinä, ei niinkään laitteisto- tai
järjestelmävetoisina työvälineinä. Tässä tutkimuksessa esiteltävä käsitteellinen
tarkastelu tarjoaa yliopistoille strategisen työvälineen, jota voidaan hyödyntää
mobiilin tieto- ja viestintätekniikan (TVT) pedagogisen hyödyntämisen sekä
tulevien TVT-hankkeiden suunnittelussa. Opettajille tutkimus valottaa opiske-
lijoiden näkemyksiä mobiilin TVT:n hyödyntämisestä opiskeluprosesseissa sekä
lähtökohdan omien pedagogisten ja ammatillisten tietojen ja taitojen kehittä-
miseen. Tutkimusten valossa opiskelijat voivat pohtia, miten he voivat parhaalla
tavalla hyödyntää mobiilia TVT:aa osana omaa arkeaan, johon yliopisto-opinnot
kuuluvat. Tutkijoille tämä väitöskirja tarjoaa useita jatkotutkimustehtäviä, joiden
kautta tässä kehitettyä käsitettä voidaan edelleen kehittää ja tarkentaa.
AVAINSANAT henkilökohtaiset ja mobiilit oppimisympäristöt, tieto- ja viestintä-
tekniikka, mobiiliopiskelu, korkeakoulutus, toiminnan teoria
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When I started my PhD studies in spring 2004, I had only a vague idea of what
it meant to work as a researcher or to compile a PhD thesis. Luckily, I have had
the pleasure of working with gifted and hardworking people who have guided
and supported me, and contributed to my work and the evolution of this thesis.
To all, I owe my deepest gratitude.
First, I am deeply grateful to Professor Heli Ruokamo, director of the Centre
for Media Pedagogy (CMP) at the University of Lapland, for giving me the
chance to work at CMP for almost 7 years now, and to be a member of a team
of researchers in both the MobIT and TravEd projects. I sincerely appreciate her
supervision and encouragement, refected in the comments on the articles and
the manuscript of this thesis. Her support has been something that I have been
able to count on in my academic work. I also highly value and appreciate the fact
that I have been capable of fexibly combining my professional and family lives
while working at CMP.
I thank Research Director, Adjunct Professor Hannakaisa Isomäki for intro-
ducing me to Heli and guiding me in combining two research felds that are
both present in this study: education and applied information technology. Her
support was critical when I frst started my PhD studies, and our collaboration
has yielded interesting research themes, through which I have learned to think
outside my ‘educational box.’
Reviewers of this thesis, Professor Päivi Häkkinen from the University of
Jyväskylä, Finland, and Professor Norbert Pachler from the University of Lon-
don, UK, ofered priceless help, via their thorough work of reading the manu-
script and providing feedback of the calibre I could only have hoped for. I will
also value their observations and comments in my future research.
My sincerest gratitude goes to Miikka Eriksson, with whom I had the joy of
working in both the MobIT and TravEd projects. Collaboration with him has
ofered me irreplaceable knowledge, with regard to conducting statistical research
and the courage to cross methodological borders. His expertise is also visible in
two research articles in this thesis. In addition, I thank Miikka for encouraging
and advising me in my PhD studies; I think he was the one who suggested that I
should take a closer look at personal learning environments as a research area to
fnd out what possibilities it would ofer for my thesis.
I warmly thank Miika Lehtonen and Deirdre Hynes, both of whom co-
authored a research article in this thesis with me, and Professor Raimo Rajala,
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who reviewed the manuscript and ofered valuable comments in the PhD semi-
nar of the Faculty of Education.
Te capacity to study as an external student and as a PhD candidate in the
Doctoral Programme for Multidisciplinary Research on Learning Environments
(OPMON), coordinated by the University of Turku, has ofered me learning
opportunities, without which this thesis would never have been completed. I
warmly thank the professors and students in the programme, especially Keijo
Sipilä, who reviewed the manuscript and ofered some sharp comments and
notes. I also thank OPMON for the fnancial support I have received on several
occasions during my PhD studies, in particular for a 1-year scholarship they gave
me in 2013.
Working on both MobIT and TravEd research projects has opened doors to
collaboration with several organisations and people around Lapland and Finland.
I thank the organisations, municipalities and entrepreneurs who have ofered
fnance and support, ideas and intriguing challenges during various projects.
Te personnel of the ICT services at the University of Lapland have given me
advice regarding the technical descriptions of the wireless local area networks and
ofered me statistical information about the laptop initiative on several occasions.
I express my warmest gratitude to the Faculty of Education at the University
of Lapland and my colleagues in the Centre for Media Pedagogy, in particular
Tuulikki Keskitalo and Päivi Hakkarainen. I have been fortunate in getting to
know you and working together with you during these past years. You are an
important source of joy, inspiration, motivation and support every day.
I would not be writing these acknowledgements without my dear, dear fam-
ily, and particularly my husband, Janne. I warmly thank him for patience and
support during the years I have worked on the research and my studies. Work-
ing as a researcher has sometimes required me to travel the world, and intense
periods during the research process have demanded sacrifce and fexibility
from my family. Tank you for always encouraging and supporting me, keep-
ing me in touch with nature, and reminding me that there is much more to
life than just work. During my PhD studies, we had two little miracles, Venla
and Väinö, who keep us happily busy every day. I hope my children can remain
as curious and courageous to test their abilities as they are now, eager to learn
about themselves and the world in which they live. Teir joy in learning is so
sincere and contagious.
I am privileged to have friends in my life with whom to share my everyday
joys and sorrows. Maria and Toni, Päivi and Mika, Anne and Petri, and the
entire Puutteenperän painijaosto gang: thank you for your friendship, support
and unforgettable moments!
I would like to thank my parents and my sister, as well as Janne’s parents, for
support and encouragement during the years of my academic education. Both
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grandmothers and grandfathers have given us much-needed help with our chil-
dren, for which I am very grateful.
Working as a researcher has been challenging, enriching, inspiring and fun.
I am thankful for the 9 years that it took me to compile this thesis, and at the
same time hope that this is just the beginning of an adventure that will last for
years to come.
Rovaniemi, October 2013
Hanna Vuojärvi
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