AMBIENT LEARNING CITY
AMBIENT LEARNING CITY

Summary/Abstract: Having developed the Emergent Learning Model as a conceptual "development framework" to best capture how learning might be designed, developed and deployed if it is learner-centric, we needed to test that model and learn how we might evolve new informal learning ecosystems in contexts beyond the classroom. In the EU call for the "future of learning" in IST 7 it offered 2 strands, one concerning the "classroom of the future" and one concerning "community content". Through links with the City of Manchester and Manchester University we developed the Ambient Learning City project (MOSI-ALONG), which became a JISC-funded project concerned with testing what new practical issues needed to be addressed in creating new learning eco-systems based on "learner-generated digital libraries". We found 3 major issues. Firstly creating new public partnerships, with local authorities and various public bodies not normally concerned with designing learning ecosystems. Secondly in creating learning contexts 'beyond the classroom" we lose many of the hidden values of classroombased learning and have to create new ones, what we call new metaphors for learning; in MOSI-ALONG this was 'Digital Cabinets of Curiosity'. Thirdly new learning processes need to be created which reflect the context & tools (in our case social media) being used. We developed the "Aggregate then Curate" model, focussing on content curation more than content curation. In this paper we will discuss the practical problems we faced in developing an ambient learning city and how we developed new solutions for partnerships, metaphors and processes for new learning ecosystems.

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