Technical, educational issues and challenges in ubiquitous learning

Along with the rapid development in ubiquitous computing featured by seamless and pervasive computing technology which utilizes new information and collaborative environment accelerated by web 2.0, education has undergone revolutionary changes in recent years giving rise to ubiquitous learning. To begin with, the characteristics of ubiquitous learning (u-learning), permanency, accessibility, immediacy, interactivity and situating of instructional activities is introduced in this presentation. Since u-learning heavily relies on ubiquitous computing technology (UCT), features and trends of UCT will be described. In addition, the impact that UCT can possibly bring on the future ubiquitous society is furthermore discussed. Apart from technical issues for u-learning, new questions can arise concerning what are desirable ways of u-learning. As a basic work in this direction, the vision and agendas of u-learning will be discussed in terms of two aspects: 1) building up better and higher level of learning environment supported by ubiquitous computing and 2) establishing a wholesome education community. Last but not least, key elements required for learners in u-learning era are proposed at the end of the presentation, which compose of six core capabilities: cognitive capability relational capability, emotional capability, adaptability, technology literacy and effective learning ability.