Campus Technology recently posted an excellent mLearning article by Ruth Reynard, which discusses the nature and effect of multiple connections in customized learning spaces. Reynard suggests that because they are connected wirelessly 
in any situation and for any reason, today’s students are “essentially nomads when it comes to their life ‘space.’”
Reynard asserts that within higher education, instructors are beginning to realize the impact of constant connectivity both positively and negatively in creating communities of learners within their courses. Students bring to the course an extensive network of information input, peer connections, and the potential of a wider scope of application than what has been the case until now.
On the negative side, Reynard suggest that instructors are facing the unprecedented challenge of “managing” not only the multitasking of the students but their insistence upon continual connectivity even when participating in a physical learning space with an instructor and other physical peers around them. Some instructors have seen this as something to be controlled through disabling access for the duration of the class while others are trying to integrate this reality into the learning environments.
Ultimately, Reynard asserts that whether you choose as a professor to exclude the connectivity from your classroom or to include it, there exits the potential of creating learning communities with broader impact than ever before possible, enhancing any course of study or academic field.
Be sure to check out Reynard’s full article in Campus Technology.
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iThinkEd’s review of this article pushed me to read the full version and I must say that I found it interesting; however, I found that it had a flaw many educational technology articles share. As I read more and more educational technology articles, I find that they provide detailed, complex, and interesting discussions on the implications of technology on education but typically at an exclusively theoretical level. This article, for instance provided great advice for teachers, but if a typical educator were to read it, they would gain little to nothing from it due to both its linguistic complexity and its lack of concrete suggestions. As I see it, the forerunners in this educational trend need to make a concerted effort to call their non-technical peers alongside them with practical, concrete suggestions and a somewhat simplified discussion. *steps of soap box* Anyway, I found that several great ideas could be drawn from this article:
First, instructors should offer flexibility in the means of information collection–rather than disseminating information via lecture only, the instructor could offer podcasts, reference materials, texts, multimedia demonstrations, peer discussion, et cetera. Furthermore, instructors should allow these means of distribution to be as flexible as possible. e.g. hyperlinked web data, open-ended discussions, non-linear media (more like an electronic Q&A session than a static video recording).
Second, instructors should provide multiple means of interaction between instructor and student. For example, instead of only being available during office hours, allow students to call, email, instant message, post on forum discussions, interact in MUVEs, et cetera. Obviously there would need to be some limitations in place to preserve privacy and respect, but the instructor should make an effort to interact with students via the medium they choose.
Lastly, instructors should allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and explore the material in diverse ways. Rather than only allowing students to express their knowledge in one way, teachers can allow students to be creative in their production. For example, students may choose to write a report, prepare and present a skit, create a documentary, design an informational website, et cetera rather than being told exactly which format to use. I have noticed that even professors who have embraced new technologies have not been flexible in this regard. For example, one professor required that students post responses to discussions online as evidence of communication between students and processing of the material; however, a phone conversation, in-person discussion, vlog post, et cetera would have served the same educational purpose.
I realize this comment is quite long, but I felt that this article was rather dry in its discussion even though it was interesting.
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