Digital Learning Spaces Research Articles

Shifting learning goals: from competent tool use to participatory media spaces in the emergent design process

Recently, the relationship between identity and learning has come front and center in discussions about how to design successful learning environments for youth who struggle in mainstream institutions. In this essay, I explore the role identity development plays in constructing learning environments for traditionally marginalized youth. While I agree with DeGennaro and Brown on the importance of identity development for learning, I stretch the relationship between these two constructs in several ways: First, I will argue that how we define “technology” and what that means for marginalized youth, particularly those who are assumed to be victims of the “digital divide” is a crucial aspect of the design of successful digital learning environments. Second, I discuss how identity is represented in these digital learning spaces, and analyze how meaning is constructed in multimodal spaces such as websites. Finally, I reflect on DeGennaro and Brown’s notion of “emergent design,” as a positive contribution to design research, and propose the idea of incorporating youths’ already existing competencies into the emergent design process.

Les espaces numériques scolaires et l’accès du grand public à l’information numérique au Sénégal

This article is the result of a study on digital learning spaces in the Dakar area. Our methodology followed three complementary steps: a quantitative survey, a qualitative survey, and a review of current literature on the subject. From kindergarden to college, the number of digital learning spaces (with multimedia tools and internet access) is growing so fast that one might wonder about the scenarios and logic that led to their establishment and the competences of the actors behind it. The results show the existence of several categories of learning spaces based on their organization or the objectives that led to their creation. They also show how digital learning spaces help reduce the digital divide in Senegal and, in addition to the classical use of ICT, come in handy in personal projects as well, and how they contribute to the development of the areas in which they are established…

Smoothness and Striation in Digital Learning Spaces

It is Deleuze & Guattari's description of smooth and striated cultural spaces (Deleuze & Guattari, 1988) which informs this exploration of pedagogical alternatives within the learning environments of cyberspace. Digital spaces work to constitute subject and text in ways which are distinct, and it is awareness of this distinctiveness which must inform our engagement with the internet as a space for learning and teaching. By using Deleuze & Guattari's conceptualisation of the smooth and the striated, the author works towards a way of understanding how a theorisation of internet ‘topography’ can inform pedagogical choice within online learning contexts. The author begins with a summary of the relation between the striated and the smooth as defined by Deleuze & Guattari, and moves on to consider how this distinction can be extended into the environments of cyberspace. She then explores how a pedagogical approach might be developed which attempts to inhabit ‘smooth’ internet spaces, and ends with a consideration of the virtual learning environment or ‘e-learning system’ which, in defining itself as a space of containment, regulation and efficient progression, functions as a strongly striating element within pedagogical web space.

How Can Classificatory Structures Be Used to Improve Science Education?

There is increasing evidence that libraries, traditional and digital, must support learning, especially the acquisition and enhancement of scientific reasoning skills. This paper discusses how classificatory structures, such as a faceted thesaurus, can be enhanced for novice science learning. Physical geography is used as the domain discipline, and the Alexandria Digital Earth Prototype project provides the test bed for instructional materials and user analyses. The use of concept maps and topic maps for developing digital learning spaces is briefly discussed.

Public Event: Media Democracy Days 2016

Media Democracy Days 2016 will be hosted on November 15, 16 and 19 at Harbour Centre. Events will include audio production workshops on the 15th and 16th (by Vancouver Co-op Radio 100.5FM and CiTR 101.9FM in partnership with the Vancouver Public Library's digital creativity and storytelling learning space), and a full day of hands on workshops, discussions, and collaboratively determined events on November 19th, along with a keynote by Ryan McMahon.For the full program and schedule, please visit 2016.mediademocracydays.ca or see the attached see the full text.