A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age (pre-print)

Abstract

‘A society which is mobile, which is full of channels for the distribution of a change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its members are educated to personal initiative and adaptability. Otherwise, they will be overwhelmed by the changes in which they are caught and whose significance or connections they do not perceive. ’ Dewey (1916, p. 88) When John Dewey wrote Democracy and Education, the industrialised world was undergoing a huge technological and social disruption. Railways and paved roads had enabled mass travel, wireless communication had bridged the Atlantic, and a mechanised war was being fought across continents. Today, we are experiencing similar social and technological disruption, with the Internet and mobile technologies providing global access to information and mobility of knowledge. Ten years ago a school in Russia teaching English had no access to contemporary language sources; now it has the worldwide web. Five years ago, a farmer in rural Kenya had no communication with the nearest city, now he carries a mobile phone. We live in a society in which the “channels for distribution of change ” are carried with us as part