Author: Alex Masters 15th April 2016
Reposted from Sylvester Arnab’s blog
Learning in the 21st century is definitely very hybrid. But there was a time when the interest was very much on the digital side of things, where learning innovation was very technology-driven (general assumptions i know but you get my drift). As mobile phones used to get smaller and smaller in size (until fat fingers like mine just couldn’t cope), learning contents, resources and practices were becoming more digitised and virtualised in line with the increase interest in digitally immersive technologies and the need for distance learning. But recently, mobile phones are getting bigger and bigger and more intuitive with touch screens, etc., learning trends are also getting more appreciative of the need to facilitate a more hybrid space and context.
Ok what am I getting at! We are moving away from a more technology driven focus to a highly empathetic and experience-centred approach. Not just user experience as in interface and interaction design but more of an ecosystem of experience design – connecting people, context and activities- digital and/or physical and the context of both as a collective. Meaning should come before the tools and the hows.
I will write (rabbit on?) more about this. But in the meantime, in line with these perspectives, I will showcase some of the work we are doing where we revisit and”up-cycle” “old” technologies to support a more contextually immersive learning experience. It is about tapping into our natural ability to conceptualise abstract concepts into meaning.