What the COVID-19 crisis has revealed about the affordance of ubiquitous learning in my tiny, rural corner of the world

Let me begin by setting the context: I teach at a small, rural college where most of our students live on campus and 80% of students live at or below the poverty line. Our students work on campus to provide for their tuition, and a large number of students live and work on campus in the summer to pay for their room and board for the upcoming semesters. While many of the faculty strive to create engaging learning experiences utilizing evidenced-based pedagogy, we provide face-to-face classes only (i.e., no online classes).

As with many in Higher Education, the COVID-19 pandemic required a rapid shift to remote teaching. For some, the tools for this change were already in place. This was not the case for my institution, me and my peers, or for our students. In fact, currently trying to navigate this experience (as we still have three more weeks left in this “remote learning” semester) played a large role in why I am taking this class.

In going through the introduction to ubiquitous learning (UL), I found it hard to escape connection to and reflection on my current teaching situation and the need to process some of the challenges and strengths I have encountered in the affordance of UL.

Challenge - Access to Internet and Technology: In their introduction to UL, Cope and Kalantzis (2017) one of the many benefits identified by not being tethered to the space and time structures of traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, is that students can still build meaningful dynamics with teachers, and “student work and activity in the cloud is always accessible” (p.22). My challenge is not in disagreement with Cope and Kalantzis, but rather how challenging and unreachable these benefits are when poverty and geography are barrier to access.

I live in the United States, in a rural area of the Mid-West, but still I live in the U.S. While many may assume this is a strength, in the need to rapidly implement remote learning my geographic location is a very real technological challenge. Several of my students do not own or have access to a computing device other than their phones. Many students trying to use their phones to access and complete homework have limited data or poor connectivity and cannot download materials, watch videos or video lectures, or participate in forums. In each class there are some students limited to audio only via their phones for attempts to have Zoom-esk meetings or check-ins. As the class instructor, I do not have access to internet at home other than what I can hotspot through the data on my phone. While the following article (Pereira, 2020) is not about my town, the struggle it depicts is what we are currently living out in this time. The statement presented in the article about students who go into town to use the wifi at McDonalds is the reality of many of our students, and due to shelter-at-home orders student can no longer access internet at these establishments.

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/rural-communities-digital-deserts-cripple-tele-education-coronavirus/story?id=69618843

The luxury of UL is hampered by access to technology, including access to others. While this limitation does not challenge the viable benefits of e-learning in its ubiquitous nature, it does challenge the reality of e-learning being a viable option for all. In many ways reliable access to computing and the internet has served to highlight those in class who are more limited or impoverished, while being on campus means equal access to technology and is a game changer for many of my students.

Strength – UL brings some freedom and creativity to approach learning: In going through the introduction to UL, I found the freedom and creativity native to UL allows me to seek out solutions to the very challenges “going remote” creates. With the removal of the time and space architecture of the traditional classroom, I am able to allow students to work on assignments on a schedule that is sensitive to their current daily life. After taking an initial technology check-in to understand specific access availability of each individual student, I am able to be responsive and even more creative in my adaptation of assignments to student technology limitations as we move throughout the remainder of the semester.

I see so much potential for e-learning to have a place in higher education, specifically due to the affordance of UL. However, as I envision my future going forward, I am also trying to imagine this new reality within the technology limitations of home. Back on campus, where we all have access to technology, I will truly be challenged to re-think assignments and the integration of e-learning (which I confess is severely lagging on my part) and find meaningful ways to embrace the affordance UL has to offer.

Reference:

Cope, B., and Kalantzis, M. (2017). Conceptualizing e-learning. In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (Eds), e-Learning Ecologies. New York: Routledge.

Pereira, I. (24 March 2020). Rural communities’ digital deserts cripple tele-education during coronavirus outbreak. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/rural-communities-digital-deserts-cripple-tele-education-coronavirus/story?id=69618843