Hi Everyone,
I am starting my MSc Dissertation – Learning on the Move. I am looking at what resources students on this course have available to them for their learning activities (at home, at work and in their local area) and what, if any, learning they tend to do ‘on the move’ (while in transit on trains/buses or ‘between’ spaces such as cafes, train stations, pubs and other public places). I need your help in taking part in my survey – whether you have just started on this course or are in the dissertation phase yourself.
I am using John Urry’s ( 2007) concepts of ‘network capital’ and ‘interspaces’ as well as Kaufmann et al.’s (2004) concept of ‘motility’ to explore how students learn as they move between formal and informal learning spaces. This first phase is to get an overview of how students organize their everyday life to incorporate the learning activities required for their e-learning course. This involves questions of the location(s) they use to study or reflect on learning (in the home, at work, libraries, cafes, in transit on trains, cars etc); the tools they use to support their learning (such as books, notebooks, laptop, smartphone etc.); and what resources they use (including tutors, virtual resources, friends, fellow students, other networks etc.). I am particularly interested in how much learning activity (if any) occurs ‘on the move’ – as you weave thinking time for learning between family and work.
The second phase of the study will explore these issues in more depth using an ethnographic approach with a small group of students in London (where I live). At the end of this survey, London students will be asked if they are willing to take part in this second phase.
All responses will be confidential and anonymised. If you have any questions, you can email me: Silvana di Gregorio at sdgassociates@gmail.com
The link to the survey with the consent form is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3J898LK It takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Thank you very much.
References
Kaufmann, Vincent, Bergman, Manfred Max and Joye, Dominique (2004) Motility: Mobility as Capital, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol 28.4, December, pp; 745-756
Urry, John (2007) Mobilities, Polity Press: Cambridge.
Sounds like a great project Silvana!
Thanks!
Done – sounds really interesting. I wonder if people study on the move as much as we are led to believe…
Thanks Anna. I don’t know how much people study on the move but I hope to find out.
I agree it sounds interesting. I’d love to hear the results.
Thanks Jacqui. I will make the results available. And I guess there will be another dissertation festival in Second Life this summer – so will hope to be presenting there!
Done, interesting questions. I am curious to read your findings.
Thanks, Daniela.
Hello Silvana, interesting research, I look forward to completing the survey in the next couple of days.
On a related note, I attended a presentation at Edinburgh University a couple of years ago where staff from the Law School were talking about a course they were designing that would be delivered, as I recall, entirely using a mobile phone. I remember the phrase “our students are people on the move” being used quite a lot during the presentation. Perhaps you already know about it – it was a couple of years ago (2009/2010 I would think).
Good luck with the project!
Thanks James. I wasn’t aware of the Law School course. I will look it up. I have since discovered that others have used the phrase ‘learning on the move’ but I haven’t found anyone doing quite what I am doing – well, not yet anyway!