Integrated Learning Design: Challenges and Opportunities in the Shift Between Formal and Informal Learning

Subject Areas : Qualitative Research

fatemeh gudarzi ¹ , Alireza Sadeghi ² , Mostafa Ghaderi ³ , Hasan Maleki ⁴ , Gholamreza Yadegarzadeh ⁵

1 - PhD Student in Curriculum Studies, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
4 - Full Professor, Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
5 - Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2025-01-29 Accepted : 2025-02-14

Keywords: Mobile learning, personal technologies, physical spaces, conceptual spaces, social spaces, formal and informal learning, technology-based learning design,

Abstract :

This research explores the challenges of designing mobile learning and emphasizes the complexities related to context and its dependence on various factors. In this study, learning is analyzed as a multidimensional process, where physical, conceptual, social, and technological spaces are intertwined and interact dynamically. Mobile learning is introduced as a complex social experience that facilitates communication among learners in various contexts through smart and wireless devices. This study identifies four key challenges faced by mobile learning. The first challenge addresses learning across different locations and social groups and examines how they interact with each other. The second challenge relates to the impact of personal technologies and wireless internet on the monopoly of knowledge and the transformation of access to informational resources. The third challenge concerns the blurring of boundaries between formal and informal learning, exploring how these boundaries are changing in today's world. Finally, these three challenges lead to the fourth challenge, which emphasizes the need to consider contextual complexities in the design and development of mobile learning. To address these challenges, this research suggests that mobile learning design should incorporate communicative approaches and multidimensional concepts that help in better understanding and comprehensively addressing the various aspects of mobility and interactions.

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