Navigating context and conflict – Investigating seamless mobile learning through the lens of Hedegaard's framework

Abstract

This article describes the use of Hedegaard's framework to analyse the seamless mobile learning practices of working adults in the UK by focusing on affordances and demands experienced in activity settings embedded within institutions. An exploration of publicly accessible blogs, reports, and anonymised usage data from e-learning accessed via mobile devices was used to formulate an understanding of institutional practices and values. Following this, a survey involving 50 participants was conducted, complemented by semi-structured interviews with 24 learners and additional institutional stakeholders. These various sources of data were examined holistically, to understand the ways in which conflicts and contradictions at varying levels and between the different institutions traversed by individuals, shaped their learning practices. The findings indicated that seamless mobile learning may be influenced by a variety of conflicts and contradictions, (including between individuals and institutions, between distinct institutions and within institutions), as well by the immediate physical and social affordances of learning settings. They also pointed to a distinction between conflicts related to what was learned and those related to how learning occurred. Hedegaard's framework provided a valuable lens for investigating the complexities of work-related learning taking place across multiple settings and her concepts of setting and institution are useful conceptual tools for future research into the self-directed seamless mobile learning of adults. The adoption of the framework facilitated the development of novel frameworks for the design of seamless mobile learning.