=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1352/paper4
|storemode=property
|title=Mobile Social Learning as a Catalyst for Cultural Heritage
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1352/paper4.pdf
|volume=Vol-1352
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/iui/ReadB15
}}
==Mobile Social Learning as a Catalyst for Cultural Heritage==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1352/paper4.pdf
Mobile Social Learning as a Catalyst for Cultural Heritage
Timothy Read Elena Bárcena
Dep. of Computing Languages Dep. of Foreign Languages and
and Systems, UNED Linguistics, UNED
C. Juan de Rosales, 16 Pº. Senda del Rey, 7
28040 Madrid, Spain 28040 Madrid, Spain
tread@lsi.uned.es mbarcena@flog.uned.es
ABSTRACT [3], new broader audiences are sought for CH together with
This article1 presents a reflection about the way in which new ways to engage young people with it (leading to a
recent advances in pedagogy and technology could be wider appreciation and a deeper commitment to protect it).
harnessed to increase the access to Cultural Heritage. This
would happen by using it as a resource for mobile learning Furthermore, if more CH is available online than ever
in seemingly unrelated areas, such as economics, before, the question also arises as to why it is not more
engineering, science and languages. The ‘long-tail effect’ of widely popular and prominent, and why the European
such contextualized content driven social interactions Commission should highlight the necessity for broadening
would foster contact with and interest in primary sources, access. A complete answer to this question is beyond the
which may represent the entry point into the Cultural scope of this article, but may have to do with the way we
Heritage Cycle for some or a turning point for others. relate to it and the relevance it is given in our modern
society. Hofstede [4] presents a six-dimension model of
Author Keywords societies that characterises communities according to:
Cultural Heritage Cycle; Mobile Learning; Social Learning. power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism /
ACM Classification Keywords collectivism, masculinity / femininity, long / short-term
J.5; K.3.1 orientation, and indulgence / restraint. He concludes that
economic development is associated a low tolerance of
General Terms inequalities and a balanced distribution of values between
Online learning; Mobile learning; Collaborative learning. the genders, but also strong individualism, an intermediate
INTRODUCTION focus on the past and a high tendency toward immediate
Cultural Heritage (henceforth, CH) holds a wealth of gratification. Skrzypaszek [5] argues that in the current
tangible traces from antiquity to the recent past, including a context of globalization, multiculturalism and technological
broad range of artefacts, sites, artistic expressions and advancement, CH must confront a range of challenges
representations of value and belief systems, traditions and about its relevance, role and specific functions.
lifestyles, which are significant for human collective
This author goes on to claim that CH is currently reduced to
memory [1]. CH primary sources2 constitute the legacy of
the “cognitive assessment of conceptual thoughts assigned
previous generations and arguably provide insights into the
to past creative expressions” (p.767), which leads to the
very nature of humanity and its various civilizations.
present gradual loss of connectivity with the original
However, the question arises of how CH appreciation can
creators and a potential loss of inspirational vitality for
be fostered for our benefit and enjoyment before being
future generations. He calls for a deeper understanding of
handed on in optimal conditions to the next generation.
CH as a recognition of the human desire for an escape from
The CH Cycle was proposed by Thurley [2] as a model of ‘everyday troubles’ and towards existential security. As
how the understanding of a given historical environment such, he argues that CH represents crafted expressions of
can lead people to value it more, thereby caring for it more, collective sorrow and hope. Such creativity moves beyond
which, in turn, leads to further enjoyment (and subsequently the surface level of human reactive responsiveness to life’s
a deeper understanding, and so on). This model was issues toward its intrinsic value, namely its uniqueness and
published in 2005. However, today, a decade later, the need immense potential. The knowledge and appreciation of such
to continue with this endeavour is still with us. For creativity is inherently empathic and can lead to a proactive
example, following the European Commission’s indications engagement with it.
Therefore, it can be argued that a way to engage the new
1 generations with CH is by complementing attempts to
The work presented in this article has been funded by the Spanish
Ministry of Science and Innovation (ref. no. FFI 2011-29829). establish an implicit recognition and appreciation of the
Copyright held by the authors. aesthetic and significance of primary sources. A broader
2
A document or physical object which was written or created identification with CH could facilitate reflection into the
during the time under study. very nature of human existence, struggle and survival, an
http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html
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element that bonds previous, current and possibly future the so called ‘Internet of things’, etc.) and sociocultural (the
generations. The question can therefore be asked: how long-tail effect [8], etc.) advances to the application of CH.
might the methodological and technological advances in This would be seen not only as the ‘end’ of a historical
learning play a role in this process? appreciation process, but also as the ‘means’ by which
broader educational activities are undertaken. The authors
DIGITAL LIVING AND LEARNING
The way we interact with information and culture, and claim that these activities would facilitate indirect contact
with primary sources, thereby providing an entry point for
relate to other people has changed significantly over the
people into the CH Cycle, or reinforcing the commitment of
past decade. The democratization of mobile technology and
those who already have some superficial or intermittent
the move away from desktop computers as the only way to
be online has transformed such interaction both relation with it.
quantitatively and qualitatively. There is abundant data to Research is already being undertaken on how to apply the
support the use and impact of these technologies. Evans [6] potential that mobile technology has for topics within the
states that “The world is mobile!”, noting that over 1,250 field of CH. For example, Kali et al. [10] present an
million smartphones and tablets were sold in 2013 (cf. 250 innovative instructional model that facilitates an inquiry-
million desktop computers). It has been estimated that by based approach to art history including the use of mobile
2016 there will be more people alive on the planet who are technology to access and modify cloud-based informational
connected by mobile technology than people who are not. resources from the classroom, museum and home. Such a
In this ‘mobile’ educational context, the future of learning scaffolded approach to learning enables the students to
become pro-active and independent early on in their
has been argued to be open, connected and imminently
educational process, with their instructors’ interventions
social [7], where teachers are more facilitators and
connectors than experts in the related content. The diminishing as they progress with the learning activities.
appearance and widespread adoption of social networks and The results of this work are encouraging for educators.
media with readily available up-to-the-minute information It is foreseen that if this kind of approach is extended to
provide congregational learning spaces. There, people can make appropriate use of social networks and media, then
follow topics of interest and come into contact with others the long tail effect could enable students to come into
from disparate geographic locations, with whom they might contact with domain experts and material enthusiasts who
only share specific common interests. Learning networks will be able to enrich their learning processes. Furthermore,
arise and define how knowledge is created, distributed and if the learning domain is not directly related to CH, as in the
controlled. Furthermore, as the distinction between online example of Kali et al [10], then the motivation for the
living and learning begins to blur, then the latter becomes students comes from their interest in their primary area of
more life-long, forming a constant part of our digital life. study. Following Skrypaszek [4], the key factor here would
In the context of CH, these changes are affecting the way in be the need to establish an identification or bond with the
which people interact with primary sources. It is possible, creators of the artefacts that goes beyond a purely
for example, to undertake a virtual tour of some museums functional, historic understanding or aesthetic appreciation,
online using a smartphone or tablet without leaving home. to one of empathic connection between people in different
However, what the authors argue here to be missing, if such spatial and temporal circumstances, who share a common
mobile social learning is to broaden access to CH, reflecting desire to understand their own existence and relate to the
Skrypaszek´s [4] arguments, is a distributed framework of world in which they live.
knowledge sharing with related pedagogic and ludic The proposal here would be to broaden the spectrum of
activities to enable new relationships to be established with types of interaction possible with the domain of CH to
CH. The ‘long-tail effect’ [8] of such contextualised include a ‘bottom up’ layer of distributed pedagogic
pedagogically motivated social network interactions would collaboration that would bring together people interested in
foster contact with and interest in primary sources, which developing other competences than those directly related to
may for some people represent the entry point into the CH CH. The primary sources could be used for different types
Cycle. For others, who already have some kind of relation of learning, related to knowledge and competences in fields
with primary sources, this may be intensified and extended. such as languages, science, economics, law, and
MOBILE SOCIAL LEARNING SCENARIOS FOR CH engineering. A key part of such learning would be its
Given this mobile educational context, a decentralised collaborative component, where social networks and media
approach is suggested to complement the current access to would harness the interaction between students and with
CH, as a starting point for a research project whose aim is other related groups. For example, tools such as Twitter can
to apply new pedagogical (massive open social and mobile be used to move questions, discussions, and reflections
learning, Connectivism [9], flipped teaching, personalised beyond a given student’s peer group and enable related
learning, learning through life experience, learning domain experts and CH professionals to share their
analytics, etc.), technological (mobile and wearable BYOD expertise in an open and unrestricted fashion. The results of
[Bring Your Own Device], data from real world objects – such interaction would represent a valuable addition to the
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student’s work and would awaken or enhance his/her to engage in some collaborative writing, in the language
interest in CH. being studied, on the role and structure of the family in the
given historical period and how those people would
There are many different educational theories about the way
consider modern family dynamics.
in which online resources and social interaction can
potentiate learning (e.g., [9]). It would be beyond the scope Initially, the students could reflect on the task and the
of this article to look at them in any detail. It is sufficient representations of the artefacts provided individually and
here to note that such theories include different processes of begin to share notes collectively online. The activity
gathering, processing, aggregating and tagging content, description would also contain links to social networks
commenting upon it, remixing and repurposing it, and where these types of objects are discussed and relevant
feeding it forward into their online social learning hashtags that can be used by the students to ask questions
community. For example, according to Moss [11], online on Twitter. As the students begin to develop their ideas,
learning has three parts: curation (understanding, filtering they would, thanks to the action and interaction on the
and repurposing information, evaluating online content, and social networks, also come into contact with people who are
defending arguments / content selection), network and able to provide information and help on the subject.
information management (correct selection of supporting Subsequently, a search for other online resources that add to
information apps, skill/time use in the understanding of the initial learning questions and the
viewing/answering/dealing with posts, and choosing who to sub-questions that have arisen can be undertaken. As the
follow), and socializing (audience/type of material/target work is being developed, an important part of the reflection
group, quality participants and content, meta-language process needs to enable the students to relate their lives and
negotiation, tags, exposure, knowing when to post, timing, times to those behind the artefacts. It is conjectured by the
perseverance, netiquette, and digital citizenship) from authors that it is this process of historical empathy and
within the community. identification that may sew the seeds of interest, because
the primary sources will be seen in a new light, and thereby
The direct results of this learning could take the form of
foster an entry point for the students into the CH Cycle. The
Open Educational Resources (henceforth, OER) generated
results of the learning activity should remain available
by students, improved and extended within open learning
online as an OER for future language students to encounter,
communities, which would remain online as additional
since arguably it may have the same effect on them.
complementary resources that can be linked to the actual
artefacts. These would indirectly widen the audiences that A more specific example might be a learning activity for
come into contact with them. If, for instance, exercises are economics students on business models present in the
undertaken that focus on economical aspects of particular geographic communities along The Saint James Way as it
art works, then future students searching for examples of passes across the north of Spain. The Way represents an
given economic theories might encounter these resources important source of income for many small businesses in
and, as a result of interacting with them, enter into or the area, so a collaborative study could be proposed on
engage with the CH Cycle. what business models have arisen there and how they can
be harnessed to increase new jobs and revenue. Once again,
Furthermore, while searching for OER related to other
the activity description can include links to Web sites (for
disciplines, both the students who generate these resources
example, 3,4) and hashtags on Twitter (for example,
and those who encounter them online subsequently, the
#CaminodeSantiago), and the students can begin to interact
broader educational context considered (e.g., the language
with the people who actually live/work there to ask relevant
being used by the creators or the socio-political context in
questions about their first-hand experience. As the work
which a given artefact was developed) could enable the
progresses, its results will be shared publically but will
students to reflect upon the original artists/architects. Such
hopefully have specific relevance for the people from the
a process might help students recognise shared underlying
area who have helped and volunteered information. Once
values and uncover a sense of continuity of the past with
again, a key part of this type of collaboration, from the CH
the present (and future). If, for example, as part of
Cycle perspective, is that the students begin to establish an
engineering studies, the students understand part of a
‘emotional rapport’ with these people, The Way, the
fabrication process, then they may begin to value the
communities in which they reside and their cultural context.
artisans’ work and thereby become concerned for how the
Hence, a new genuine interest may begin to appear in the
given item can be cared for and preserved.
students which increases the likelihood that they will enter
Some examples of this process can be considered to into the CH Cycle.
illustrate how this might work in practice, although research
is still needed to refine these ideas. One example could be
the development of second language competences. One or
more primary sources related to the notion of families 3
http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/rutas/grandes-rutas/camino-
available online in museums could be selected from a given santiago/
historical period. The goal of the learning activity would be 4
http://www.re-create.pl/kursen/entrepreneurship.html
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A final example could be a learning activity for engineering and enable them to start to gain understanding, value, care,
students on the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and enjoyment of the primary sources within CH.
and the way they built aqueducts, bridges, dams and
The ideas presented here represent very early work in this
reservoirs. A collaborative study could be undertaken on
multidisciplinary research to continue. Collaboration with
the technology, materials and techniques used at the time
experts in different areas of CH will be of great value to the
for these projects, focussing specifically on the question of
successful progress of this work.
why these Roman structures have lasted so long. The
learning materials would contain links to relevant REFERENCES
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