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Paper
ID: # U108 Organization:
International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America
and the Caribbean (IESALC - UNESCO) Virtual Mobility and Lifelong Learning on the INTERNET José Silvio International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) - UNESCO Abstract Mobility and communication are essential for satisfying several needs associated with learning, working, socializing, political participation, entertainment and other activities. People have become more mobile and more communicative since the development of the INTERNET and the technologies involved in the process of computer mediated communication (CMC). We use to think in terms of geographic and social mobility, but now we must also consider what gave been called "virtual mobility", which is a product of CMC and navigation in cyberspace. The main objective of this paper, which is a part of a larger research and development project, is to discuss the uses of virtual mobility and the CMC as instruments to create and develop better conditions for a permanent and flexible learning, without barriers, for a more mobile workforce, and to promote the cooperation of universities, enterprises and governments in this task. Lifelong learning has become an essential mission of these organizations, in a society which needs persons with a constantly renewed knowledge, and more equity in the access to digital technologies, in order to achieve a better management and global distribution of knowledge. In the first section, I define the different types of mobility (geograhical and social), the new concept of virtual mobility, its relationships with the other types of mobility, and its significance for lifelong learning and working. Then, I amalyze selected experiences in which the CMC and virtual mobility have been used for lifelong learning of the workforce and a better distribution of knowledge, specially those resulting from cooperative projects involving universities, enterprises and governments. The paper concludes with proposals and strategies to achieve a better distribution of knowledge through the CMC and virtual mobility, and the articulation of virtual mobility with other types of mobility in lifelong learning. Introduction Mobility is everywhere. The human being need to move to perform activities to satisfy basic and secondary need. We move for working, eating, learning, entertaining, etc. The satisfaction of human needs cannot be accomplished by staying in the same geographical environment, even in the most primitive societies. The evolution of human societies brought new needs, societies became more and more complex, and the human being felt the need to struggle against distance and time to satisfy these needs. The development of international trade and cultural exchange was responsible for the appearance of this need. Mobility became a need in itself, and after satisfying it we can then achieve other goals associated with other needs. That is the reason why we invented ships, cars, planes, and built all kinds of communication devices. 1 Space and mobility Mobility implies a change of place from one point to another in a given space, usually geographic space, but there are other types of space. For the specific objectives of this paper, I shall distinguish three types of space: geographic, social and virtual. Geographic space is the physical space in which we live and to which we refer as our place. Our location and movements in geographic space can be described and measured in terms of coordinates: latitude and longitude This space has been defined and studied by geographers, but it has also been the concern of sociologists. Human society is based on a geographic space.. The first sociological definitions of communities characterized them as social groups sharing a common culture and a common territory. There is a complex interaction between the human being and his environment. The movement of people from one point to another of this space is called geographic mobility. Sociologists study this space as far as it influences and is influenced by -but do not determine- the behavior of human beings. Social space is very different from geographic space. It is defined and delimited by the set of human relations resulting from the social interaction between human beings. Every person has a position (or status) and functions (or role) in a social space. He or she participates in several social groups during his life, to perform diverse types of activity: working, learning, entertaining, social, religious and cultural participation, etc. We cannot see and touch social space as we see and touch geographic space, but it exists as mental representations of the sets of social interactions between human beings, and as part of our inmaterial culture. For example, a social group is a set of persons sharing common values and cultural patterns and who interact between them more than with other persons belonging to other groups. Examples of of social groups are a family, a group of co-workers, co-students, a group of friends. Geographic mobility and social mobility can occur independently of one another or at the same time, and one type of mobility can influence the other. For example, a person can move from one city to another (geographic or spatial mobility) to undertake new professional activities of a higher socieconomic position (social mobility) or he can move geographically without altering his social position and role. We can also move in social space in two ways, horizontally and vertically, and the types of social mobility resulting from these movements are called, horizontal mobility and vertical mobility, respectivelly. In horizontal mobility, we change from one social environment to another without changing our hierarchical position in the two environments. For example, when I move from one job to another in a different organization, of the same hierarchical position, or moving from one University course to another in the same subject area. Vertical mobility involves a change in the social position and possibly functions, of a person in a social space. One example is the promotion of a person to a higher degree in his professional career. Education is one of the most used channels of vertical mobility. Horizontal and vertical mobility can occur at the same time, or in different points of time, and one type of mobility can influence the other. For example, a person can move from one organization to another or change from one type of activity to another (a staff member of an organization can become an entrepreneur working on his own) (horizontal mobility) to occupy a post of a higher degree in a professional scale (vertical mobility). Social mobility involves also a change in our network of social relations and cultural patterns, and is a mental representation. We cannot see people moving from one point to another in social space as we do in geographic mobility. However, we can see the cultural symbols and material objects indicating that the person has moved horizontally (from one organization to another) and/or vertically (a new office related to a higher level managerial post to which he has been promoted). Finally, a person can move to live (temporarily or relatively permanently) from one city to another to get a higher level job and to a different enterprise. In this case, all kinds of mobility have taken place: to a different city (geographic mobility), to a different organization (horizontal social mobility), and to a higher level job (vertical social mobility). The development of the traditionally called "information and communication technologies" and large telematic networks like the INTERNET, created new possibilities and new phenomena. It is now possible to move from one place to another in a new space called virtual space or cyberspace, without moving geographically, and to do things of many kinds, anytime, anywhere: the human dream of defeating space and time is now almost possible. And this is almost possible thanks to a new type of mobility called virtual mobility enabled by computer mediated communication. Before considering virtual mobility and its relationships with other types of mobility, let us see what are the characteristics of the family of concepts describing the processes to which it is closely related: virtuality and the virtualization process. 2 Virtuality, virtualization and virtual mobility Usually the "virtual" is considered as opposed to the "real". Virtual is something existing in our imagination, distinct from the real or physical world, composed of material objects, or "atoms" instead of bits (Negroponte, 1995). But the french philosopher, Pierre Lévy (1998), does not think the same way. According to him, there exists a continuum starting in the "possible" and the "virtual" and ending in the "actual" and "real". These are different situations in which we can find a given object, material or inmaterial. For Lévy, the virtual is not opposed to the real. It can have a reality in itself. If not, what is the meaning of what we know as "virtual reality". For example, everybody agrees that the language is real, it exists in the real world. But we cannot see and touch the words or sentences, we can only see and touch the written symbols representing words which in turn represent ideas, concepts, feelings, actions, etc. The language has a virtual existence, or remains possible, there exists a certain number of possible words that we can use to express an idea or describe a situation. When we talk or write, the language passes from a virtual situation to an actual situation and it becomes real for the persons involved in a conversation or a reading activity. We can also represent the language numerically in a computer when we write using a word processor. The electronic document is a virtual representation of a set of symbols and it becomes real or actual when we open the document and it appears in our computer's screen. We can also represent a University campus by digital numbers, including all its components: classrooms, laboratories, libraries and other elemnts of the campus, relevant to the teaching, learning, research and management processes. When I participate in an online course, I am realizing the representation of the University. Actually, when I enter a virtual campus, it becomes real for me, as a digital or numeric representation of a physical reality. This is the basis of the term "virtual reality", which is not a contradiction but a real possibility, because a virtual reality can become a reality, when I recover it from a hard disk of a computer, from a computer connected to an organization's INTRANET or from the INTERNET. A more detailed discusion of virtuality and virtualization in higher education can be found in Levy (1998) and Silvio (1998 and 2000), respectivelly. On the basis of these concepts, I shall define virtualization as a process and a result at the same time. It is the process by which I represent by digital numbers data, informations and knowledge related to material or inmaterial objects, phenomena and objects that we can find in the real world, and that can be reproduced in our computers through computer mediated communication. And I will use the words of Michael Dertouzos to define the main principles of the virtualization process and computer mediated communication, called by him the "pillars" of the information society: "Once we accept that a huge number of physical things, events and actions can be described by information, we are only five steps away from understanding the true underpinnings of the Information Age – its five pillars:
(Dertouzos, 1997:53-54 and 317) According to these principles, the term virtual mobility can be defined as a representation of physical mobility which takes place in a virtual space, called cyberespace, that implies no movement of persons in a geograpghic space. However, taking into account Dertouzos’ "pillars", the informations and the objects represented by them "move" electronically from the computer center of one university or enterprise to another located in different places in the geographic space. Virtual mobility is mobility of "bits" instead of "atoms". To the extent of my knowledge, the term virtual mobility was first introduced in a Seminar organized in 1997 by the NUFFIC Foundation of the Netherlands, on the theme, Virtual mobility, new technologies and internationalization of education (NUFFIC Foundation, 1997). That seminar examined how virtual mobility contributed to the internationalization of higher education. For example, Betty Collis intended to "…look at virtual mobility and internationalism from five perspectives, those of the student, the academic staff, the higher education institution, and the technologist, as well as the politician (or "social strategist")…Most frequently, the terms "virtual mobility" and internationalism trigger thinking about a certain scenario: the student can stay at home (or at his home university) and still participate in a course at another university. From the student perspective, this can mean participating in a course that is not available to him at the home university and which is valuable to him from a content perspective …" (Collis, 1997). In her book, Sylvia van de Bunt-Kokhuis (1996), analyze the implications of faculty mobility in the real world and in cyberspace, or what she calls the "academic pilgrims". "Increasingly, international mobility of faculty members, here called real mobility, is supplemented or replaced by virtual mobility, and facilitated by the use of electronic multimedia. Virtual mobility means the collaborative communication between a faculty member and his/her counterpart(s) mediated by a computer. Moreoften, these meetings will be interactive and take place across national borders and across time zones" (van de Bunt-Kokhuis, 1996). 3 Mobility, lifelong learning and working on the INTERNET: some experiences and effects Now we are conceptually equipped to consider mobility and its significance to the INTERNET. The European Union has adopted the term and virtual mobility is considered an instrument for internationalization and also for the integration of Europe. Virtual mobility is at the heart of open and distance learning (ODL) projects of the European Commission. The first initiative promoted by the European Commission involving geographic mobility and internationalization of learning was the ERASMUS project. Launched in 1987, the ERASMUS Programme supports, promotes and stimulates cooperation between European universities, by exchanging students, exchanging staff, developing joint curricula, and developing intensive short courses. In 1996, a virtual counterpart and complement of ERASMUS was created: the ERASMUS Virtual University project, which attempted to complement through virtual mobility the geographic mobility stimulated by the parent ERASMUS programme (EVU, 1996). However, the Erasmus Virtual University had a very short life and the project was abandoned. Its website is still open on the INTERNET (www.csis.ul.ie/vuniv/ERAShome.htm) , but it is not updated since 1996, the year in which the project was launched. Nevertheless, the ERASMUS Virtual University has at present a follow-up in the project virtUE (Virtual University for Europe). The VirtUE project has been set up as a pilot action for the launch of an European Tertiary Distance Education Network based upon classical universities, open universities, technology providers and telecommunications operators. During the two-year project, which started in 1996, three models for network-based educational services were set up and tested: Virtual Class, Virtual Campus, and Network of Distance Education and Training (NUFFIC Foundation, 2000, www.nuffic.nl/do/ict/odl.html). Other projects of the European Commission based on promoting and using virtual mobility as an instrument for lifelong learning have been implemented as components of the SOCRATES Program. The Coimbra Group network, which is a network of 33 traditional universities from 18 European countries, is one of the networks that has been working to introduce ODL concepts in traditional universities. They have received European funding for various projects that enable students and staff to gain experience with virtual mobility. Two important examples are the HUMANITIES project and the VirtUE project. The pilot phase of the HUMANITIES project started in 1995 and involved 26 Coimbra Group universities. It aimed to introduce a structure for virtual mobility through telematics-based distance learning. The model chosen was characterized as a ‘hybrid’ model, meaning that distance education components are integrated within a traditional classroom-based course. In 1996, a continuation of this project was approved by the Commission; more universities and enterprises specialized in open distance learning were drawn into the project. (European Union, 2001) Another project already executed is the VSM (Virtual Student Mobility Project). The VSM project is also part of SOCRATES, and had a two-year duration - from 1996 to 1998. Its overall intention was to provide the non-mobile EU students with the opportunity to become virtually mobile by creating six cross-cultural virtual learning environments on the Internet which the students from the participating universities could attend. The courses were taught differently in different EU cultures so that students may be exposed to up to six different European cultures.. Another aim of the project was to evaluate the organisational obstacles to using its approach to ODL and how they may be overcome. The results of the project showed the power and drawbacks of virtual mobility in lifelong learning. All institutions involved in the VSM project gained a lot of experience in the potential and drawbacks of electronic teaching and co-operation. The ability to exchange students virtually and the possibility of using technology in teaching as probed by the VSM project are two matters which have important implications for all institutions. However, as the VSM project showed, virtual settings require close co-operation and co-ordination and hard work both pedagogically, technically and administratively. (Dalgas, 1999). In a different conext, separated from the SOCRATES program, the project "Virtual Mobility and Distributed Learning (VMDL)", was also another project involving the concept and practice of virtual mobility, within the framework of the european program, Human Capital and Mobility (HCM). "The objective in this case was to study the efficiency of different modalities of working at a distance with researchers with an accent in the construction of human networks through technology". The project lasted only one year in 1995 (REVER, 1996). We have also interregional initiatives promoted by the EU with the United States of America, like the ATLAS Project. Atlas is a project that aims to increase the cooperation between European and USA universities. Five European and five North-American research-based engineering schools participate in the project, developing an international student exchange programme and a virtual learning environment. The duration of the project was from September 1996 to July 1999. The main actions of the project included, virtual mobility through the use of open and distance learning (ODL) courses and new technologies, across-atlantic student exchange, targeted study packages, and development of credit transfer systems (European Union, 2001a, (http://www.dipoli.hut.fi/org/ATLAS/atlastext.html) What can be said about the effects of virtual mobility in lifelong learning. Let us come back to Sylvia van de Bunt-Kokhuis who have also studied this topic: "The data indicate that faculty members of higher rank and those having technical backgrounds, and who are senior staff members, and men travel more frequently than others do. It is shown that most obstacles specific to real mobility, are absent in cyberspace. At the same time new challenges and constraints may occur in the virtual world. The technical facilities may be limited, resistance may occur among senior faculty members to work with new technologies, and conventional curricula may not be applicable to the online academic environment. Future universities probably have a higher output if there is a high real and virtual mobility rate. Through virtual mobility, the real collaborative links become even more efficient. Real mobility is an added value to virtual mobility and viceversa…The crux of virtual mobility in a global setting is how teaching content can be transferred into different cultural contexts, the so called portability of content A one-dimensional universal style in teaching does not exist, in the sense that it wouldn't matter whoever you teach and whatever you teach. On the contrary, the cultural context of the student and the local content requirements do matter…The learning culture varies from country to country. A virtual learning community may reflect a physical learning community. At the same time virtual learning communities also create new cultures limited by the technological possibilities and social norms. In a world-wide outreach of teaching, online content is required that is sensitive to different cultural values and learning styles. To create a good atmosphere in a virtual learning environment, one should agree about cultural sensitive factors such as availability and proximity, the increased responsibilities and the individual needs of the online student. Online teaching is not a solution for all and there may occur cultural pitfalls…Virtual communication is much more informal and students work more independently." (van de Bunt-Kokhuis, 1996)
What significance does virtual or physical mobility has with respect to lifelong learning and working?. The problem of empowering the mobile user with the possibility of computing and telecommunications has been studied long time ago by producers of hardware and software, and resulted in mobile devices like laptop computers and handheld computers. Physical mobility is now supported with mobile computing hardware and software which serves the needs of learning in academic and entrepreneurial settings. We are really moving towards a "mobile learning era" according to Empowering Technologies: "The evidence is overwhelming that mobile learning is beginning to take hold:
(Empowering Technologies, 2001) These movement is also affecting the academic world and the traditional learning setting of the territorial universities. Oblinger and Rush say that… "…mobile computing can be a "powerful strategy for transforming the learning environment that some institutions are looking at these mobile computing programmes as a way of being able to expand the interactivity that they have amongst students because they have such high numbers of students who work off-campus. Students today are generally older, many have families, and they can't cluster in the student lounge anymore and chat. They need to be able to collaborate and interact on their own time and from different locations. So it's that societal context that I think has changed more so than anything else. The other major audience that colleges and universities are seeing is the adult learner. They certainly don’t have the opportunity to come to campus or to stay on campus and have the typical dialogues and discussions you'd find in the student lounge. Mobile computing technology gives us another set of tools and provides some additional flexibility that we have not had in the past. And becomes really important when you think about adjusting to students' lifestyles… The transformation caused by student mobile computing is about much more than just computers. It is about people, processes, and technology." " (Oblinger and Rush, 1998) It is worth mention the specific experience of the University of Minnesota at Crookston (UMC), which is one the first institutions called "Thinkpad" or "Notebook" University in the United States. His Chancellor, Donald Sargeant describes the barriers faced by the University as regards computing facilities: "Historically, UMC’s approach to meeting student computer needs had been one of placing computers in specialized classrooms, laboratories, the library, and in dormitories…(and)..There were significant barriers to continuing to support this multi-platform environment: students were tied to a space and the hours of the day which this space was available was restricted…; Faculty also competed for access to the limited computer laboratory time…; most of the computers and software in the laboratories were outdated…; there were usually a few empty seats in all classrooms each hour of the day…; there was a growing need for student use of computers outside the classroom…; there were not enough funds in the budget to address the growing technology needs…" (Sargeant, 1997) …and the solution was to empower the users, students and teachers, with mobile computing: "The solution chosen by UMC was to purchase mobile notebook computers and provide them to all full-time students as part of their tuition and fees. This solution addressed each of the above barriers and provided additional benefits: nearly all faculty incorporated technology into their courses and began to rethink teaching and learning¸ current technology was significantly advanced; out of classroom learning was enhanced by 24 hour student access to faculty, technology, software, and networks¸ financial resources were available to purchase current technology throughout the institution; since all students and faculty have mobile notebook computers, they bring their personal computer to the classroom, which assures that the desired software and files are present. Every classroom essentially becomes a computer laboratory. …The notebook computer is becoming the classroom of the future." (Sargeant, 1997) At present, at least in some institutions of the USA, Europe and some developing countries, this movement led to the development of a strategy of teaching and learning using mobile technologies, or "mLearning" technologies, and prepared the emergence of a new kinds of universities called by Ray Brown "notebook universities". He identified a sample of about a hundred of notebook universitues worldwide, of which 36 are in the USA (Brown, 1998 and 2000). The notebook university and the mLearning strategy is not only a matter of technology. It is the expression of a paradigm shift, of a way of thinking, feeling and acting about teaching and learning and about the way to generate, store, transfer and exchange data, information and knowledge in lifelong New terms emerged as a result of these strategies like m-Learning, which stands for "mobile learning". But there is a close relationship between m-Learning and m-Working with virtual learning, now identified as e-Learning. The idea behind mLearning is to have the possibility of learning combining physical and virtual mobility, with devices or Information Appliances (Ias), which allow people to access virtual services and resources through the INTERNET for learning and working. As Clark Quinn says: "The vision of mobile computing is that of portable … computation: rich interactivity, total connectivity, and powerful processing…The average mobile device will be a small handheld computer with a personally chosen suite of applications…, fully networked, with a microphone and a speaker…and would have a slot to plug in additional capability (for example, a camera). It would either have an advanced browser or a dedicated learning application as one of the software packages installed." (Quinn, 2000) What is the relationship of mobility and virtuality in the learning environment or the "m" with the "e" in learning?. According to Clark Quinn… "…mLearning is the intersection of mobile computing and e-learning: accessible resources wherever you are, strong search capabilities, rich interaction, powerful support for effective learning, and performance-based assessment. Elearning independent of location in time or space.…Soon there will be essentially no distinction between mLearning and eLearning. When we have seamless wireless networking, the power of a present-day supercomputer in our IA, high resolution full color screens at any size we prefer (or integrated into our visual field through special glasses), and flexible input from pen to keyboard, the distinction between desktop and mobile will disappear. And that day is not far off, so this is a relatively short-lived distinction!" (Quinn, 2000) Quinn describes the future as follows: "In the longer term, as we realize that learning should move from an organizational function to an individual necessity, mLearning will likely move from a hosted service to device-resident applications we can carry with us wherever we go. Eventually, the learner will not know, nor care, where the learner model is kept, where the content resides, nor how the communication is handled. This will happen as cost drops, product power improves, and design takes into account a wider range of learning styles and lifestyle needs. And that will be true mobile learning." (Quinn, 2000). But for Experient Technologies there is a distinction between mLearning and eLearning:
"Mobile learning, or mLearning, addresses the same business issues as online learning, or eLearning…. However, mLearning is distinctly different than standard eLearning, which is defined as the delivery of knowledge and skills through a network. MLearning is designed to meet the unique work-style requirements of a rapidly growing mobile workforce, where all networks, platforms, and access opportunities are not equal -- indeed, they are constantly changing and often unreliable…because of increasingly diverse online access requirements and unreliable online connectivity, the challenge to provide them just-in-time eLearning has not been truly met." Experient Technologies (2001) Lifelong learning is one the main missions of universities and a real need for the entrepreneurial sector in a society which becomes more and more dependant on human knowledge as a production factor. The World Conference on Higher Education, organized by UNESCO in 1998, was very clear on this aspect (UNESCO, 1998). On this context, the role os eLeaning and mLearning is crucial. We live in a world of mobile learning or working. The mobile worker and the mobile student seem to be the new targets of lifelong learning strategies. We have seen that everything will be mobile in the future. Carol Weiss says that: "These mobile workers, linked to their offices by cell phones, laptops, and handheld devices now comprise 40% of the knowledge workforce and span an ever widening career spectrum: sales, service, engineering, consulting, medicine, law, accounting, and insurance to name a few. They are on the road, working closer to the customer, and telecommuting from home and all other points between the corporate office and the client environment." (Weiss, 2001) However, the application of eLearning combined with mLearning strategies to educate these mWorkers is not an easy task…: "eLearning would seem to be the ideal solution to keep the mobile workforce continuously educated. Yet, for the mobile worker, elearning does not come easily, nor is it easy to design. Their mobility, their time, their access to technology, not to mention individualized content and presentation requirements, are unique issues that must be met in order to provide them with a successful learning experience. (Weiss, 2001) How are we educating these workers at present?. Weiss says that the current situation is inadequate: "Currently, learning for the mobile worker is provided in several ways, including traditional classroom settings, computer-based learning, and web-based online learning. To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, all types of learning delivery work some of the time for some of the people, in some cases. But now the means to provide learning on demand to any mobile worker anywhere at anytime is beginning to take shape…For the mobile worker, though, this is not always achievable due to lack of uniform and consistent access to the online university. For the mobile worker, web-based learning needs to be available online or offline….For mobile workers, their learning environment changes as they move from place to place…As they move about, their technology changes from personal digital assistants (PDAs) to laptops to cell phones to desktops. Sometimes they are connected to the Internet and sometimes they cannot be connected. Ideally, mobile workers want their learning to keep up with them no matter the medium, the time, and no matter whether they are connected at the time or not. Their fast-lane work environment requires a "take it and go" approach to obtaining their learning." (Weiss, 2001) What could be the future of lifelong "e" and "m" learning: "As mobile devices and the much-touted wireless world evolve, the proving ground for these technologies is likely to be in the hands of the mobile workforce. To a great extent, mobile workers are on the front line of the new economy. By meeting the challenges of their unique learning requirements, we will no doubt be defining how we all may someday live in a world where the lines between working and learning are gone." (Weiss, 2001) Anoither trend worth to note is that the mobile learner and worker will possibly be less and less attached to physical links with computers in network's environments. The "wireless" hardware and software which have proliferated specially with the development of handheld computers and cell phones capable of network connection are the best example. Therefore, people want to be more mobile, to have access to knowledge anytime, anyplace and in any kind of situation whitout any kind of attachment. That is they need to be and need to be m-Citizens, m-Learners, m-Workers, e-Learners and e-Workers, armed with wireless handheld computers connected to wireless networks through wireless communications links. Can we also speak about w-Learning and w-Working, for "wireless learning" and "wireless working"?. The needs of a growing mobile workforce are driving the convergence of wireless and handheld technologies to continuously develop new devices. The present world is a world of Es and Ms, eLearning for Electronic Learning and mLearning for mobile learning, and it seem that the Es and the Ms are closely related in their origins and development and future and work together towards that future. The prefix "e" (for electronic) is now widely used to accompany all words describing activities that we can perform usind digital technologies and telematic networks: e-Learning, e-Working, etc, like the prefix "cyber" (cyberspace, cyberschool, cyberenterprise, etc) this one to describe organizations in which those activities are performed. At the same time the word "virtual" is also part of the new "cyber-jargon" of the information society. But there is another one very related to the topic that I am discussing in this paper: "e-Mobility". E-Mobility stands for "electronic mobility" and it is now used to cover a wide array of mobilities in several institutional areas of society and to perform several activities. It is the equivalent to the virtual mobility concept that we have been discussing. The issue of virtual mobility has been widely expanded, not only to embrace the virtual mobility of students but virtual and physical mobility in all kinds of activity, learning, working, to the point that this year the European Union is organizing a large Conference on the theme "e-Mobility", which stands for "electronic mobility", inmediately before INET'2001 (from May 31 to June 1), in Göteborg, Sweden: "This
conference addresses how "e-mobility" will impact upon European society
and its constituencies. In particular, the conference brings together
multiple perspectives on e-mobility and its potential consequences for
sustainability in its widest sense (economical, social, cultural and environmental).
In this way, the conference will help to stimulate a European-wide debate
on the future shape of a truly European information society…This high
level conference will adopt a declaration addressed to the EU Heads of
State Summit, Göteborg on the development of information society
policy in general and research policy in particular. The conference results
will, moreover, provide input to the development of research agendas within
the Fifth and Sixth Framework Research Programme of the European Commission."
Now I come to the end of my considerations and I would ask myself, what actions, decisions, strategies shall we undertake to achieve the goals related to geographic, social and virtual mobility, e-learning, m-learning and m-working?. My intention has not been been only informative. I would like to make some proposals in this direction. My first proposal is to identify the problem that we are addressing, its nature, scope, significance and implications. All the concepts that I have examined can bring us the possibility of constructing a typology to study e-Mobility associated with e-Learning, m-Learning, e-Working and m-Working, and on the basis of such a typology define and design strategies for action. I propose to develop a typology in which all actions and can be placed and combining its categories I can have at the end a profile of the problem or situation to solve. The criteria of this typology for the study of eMobility, mLearning and eLearning can be stated as follows:
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14.2. Organizational By combining this criteria and giving values to categories we can identify a particular setting or situation in which e-mobility or g-mobility (for geapraphic mobility) can be relevant for strategies of action for e-Learning and m-Learning for the m-Worker or the m-Student. A strategy can be defined as a set of coherent and systematic actions to be performed to improve the quality of knowledge of learners and workers, in terms of hardware and software, and organizational and administrative support to be provided. In other words, I can be in a better position to know what to do and how to do it to provide learning and working anywhere, anytime, and through the appropriate means, technologies, services, resources and actors available. Betty Collis, in his article on virtual mobility and internationalization, already quoted, provides us with some clues on the way to use typologies for identifying situations relevant to virtual mobility and internalization. By combining 5 perspectives related to students, faculty, institutional strategic and technologists "…at least 11 models can be suggested for the 'virtual university' relating to virtual mobility and internationalism, and all being facilitated at the present with Web-based environments." (Collis, 1997), My second proposal is to consider eMobility, eLearning and mLearning, as well as geagraphic mobility, and all the activities described with the "Es" and "Ms" prefixes, as contributors to social mobility and the quality of knowledge and life in general. If eMobility, mLearning and eLearning are regarded as ends or as ways to selling products or services at the short term, that will indeed work and solve a short term problem. But if our aim is to improve the quality of life and achieve a sustainable human development, we need to think more strategically in the medium and long terms and to insert these variables and categories in the framework of a new paradigm for thinking, feeling and acting on the human being. People do not learn and work through electronic devices or move to learn and work only for the pleasure of learning and working or the pleasure of navigating in cyberspace or moving in the geographic space. Lifelong learning is not an end in itself, but a social instrument to have a better life. These activities can indeed provide pleasure and satisfaction themselves, but the human being seeks other goals to satisfy more complex needs. We move in geographic and virtual space to move in the social space to live better improve the quality of our lives. And all these involve social mobility, that is to move upward in the social ladder (vertical social mobility) and/or sideward in the social platform (horizontal social mobility). When I learn a new content and change to a better job I am moving socially upwards and improving the quality of my life. When I learn something and keep in the same position but in a different and more psychological rewarding activity, I am moving horizontally but improving the quality of my like. Therefore, at the end, which matters is if technologies for eMobility, mLearning and eLearning will help the person to increase and improve social mobility and the quality of their lives. Technicalities associated with hardware and software and selling produicts and services to m-learners and m-workers for them to e-learn and e-work, are also necessary and we should invest time considering them seriously. They are the instruments for social mobility and the quality of our lives. Therefore, we need to show the user how technologies, services and resources associated to eMobility, eLearning and mLearning can help them be more socially mobile and how these "Es" and "Ms" interact to produce a desired result: a better quality of life in the context of a more human and sustainable development. The strategies derived from the use of the above mentioned typology which need to be improved should be oriented towards these goals. Can we affirm that social mobility will be enhanced and improved as a results of all these movements in geographic and cyberspace?. This is less evident. Social mobility is a social phenomena and there is no evidence that the use of the INTERNET, with all the "Es" and "Ms" will automatically leads us to social mobility and quality of life. One of the dreams of social policy makers is to make people live in a socially mobile society. This mean, people having opportunities to move from one job or profession to another and from one social class to another upward in the social ladder or sideward.in the social platform. Let us work to ensure that virtual mobility and lifelong learning will achieve this goal.
References
Author Information José Silvio is currently the Program Coordinator of UNESCO’s International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) based in Caracas, Venezuela. He is venezuelan and became a member of UNESCO’s international professional staff in 1980, where he worked for the International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP) and the Division of Education Policies and Planning in Paris. Other career accomplishments include being a teacher and researcher at the "Universidad Central de Venezuela" (Central University of Venezuela) in educational planning, sociology of education and social research methodology. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, pursued graduate studies at UNESCO’s International Institute of Education Planning in Paris, where he graduated as a Specialist in Educational Planning, and later received a Ph.D. in Education Sciences from the Graduate School of Social Studies (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) of the University of Paris. He later pursued a course in Informatics and Statistics applied to Social Sciences at the University of Paris VI and an Internship in Academic Telematics at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Areas of professional interest basically include academic network management, quality in higher education, and the use of informatics and telematics in higher education on which he has published numerous articles and papers. He currently coordinates IESALC's program on the use of new information and communication technologies in higher education. Two works on these topics titled, "Calidad, tecnología y globalization en la educación superior latinoamericana" (Quality, technology and globalization in latinamerican higher education) and "Una nueva manera de comunicar el conocimiento" (A new way of communicating knowledge), were edited by him and published by UNESCO. His most recent book is titled "La Virtualización de la Universidad" (The Virtualization of the University), published by IESALC/UNESCO. Others articles authored by him on similar issues have been published in scientific magazines and international conferences. Address: IESALC/UNESCO Apartado 68394 Caracas, 1062-A, Venezuela Tel: 2860721-0516 Fax: 2862039-0721 E-mail: jsilvio@cantv.net o jsilvio@unesco.org.ve |