Title:
|
THE CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ADOPTION OF IPODS IN HIGHER EDUCATION |
Author(s):
|
André H. Caron , Letizia Caronia |
ISBN:
|
ISSN: 1645-7641 |
Editors:
|
Pedro Isaías |
Year:
|
2008 |
Edition:
|
V VI, II |
Keywords:
|
Mobile Culture, Mobile Learning, iPod's, Constructivism |
Type:
|
Journal Paper |
First Page:
|
73 |
Last Page:
|
89 |
Language:
|
English |
Cover:
|
|
Full Contents:
|
click to dowload
|
Paper Abstract:
|
Contemporary claims for the adoption of mobile information and communication technologies as
learning & teaching devices are often based on two main theoretical perspectives: the socioconstructivist
model of the teaching& learning process and the continuity pattern in education. These two theoretical
approaches to education have constructed what may be considered a cultural model of education. This
cultural model of education is largely shared by members of the scientific community. It also has
nurtured common educational practices and seems to be shared by people involved in the educational
process: practitioners, administrators, teachers and students. The question remains: is this culture of
education shared by all the actors involved in the learning process?
The relevance of this issue is crucial given it is exactly in the name of a socioconstructivist cultural
model and in the name of a continuity pattern in education, that mobile learning & teaching devices are
often adopted or strongly recommended in schools and universities.
Assuming that different and often conflicting operating cultures may converge in an educational setting,
we empirically investigated the cultural dimensions of the adoption of "iPods" as a learning/teaching
tool. Reporting and analyzing some results of the study, this paper argues that the culture of education
underlying the adoption of "iPods" is not necessarily part of the students' cultural model of academic
education. By investigating this cultural gap, our research strongly underlines that successful adoption of
mobile instructional devices does not depend only on technological opportunities or in teachers' skills in
changing their educational practices. Rather, it depends also on the integration of the technologies into
the specific cultural frames by which students live their academic life. |
|
|
|
|