Some thoughts about Learning aware environments

Reference: Nicolas Balacheff, Learning aware environments, eAgenda 2006 European Forum, Castelldefels, Spain, 24 October 2006
 

Could we “introduce learning in every human activity”? From a non-English speaking perspective this question may sound strangely. Isn’t it the case that learning is present everywhere and at every moment in our life?  This is a matter of survival. Learning is a competence shared by all living organisms. Learning is life-long; it starts with our first breath and continues until the very last one. However there is something specific to human-beings, which is that not only do they learn to survive in their biosphere, but also they have to learn to survive in a noosphere that humanity is continuously building, renewing, transforming. The noosphere is made tangible by human artefacts, but essentially by language. Learning in the noosphere is so complex that specific strategies have been developed to support it, namely teaching (or education, instruction, training, coaching, etc.).

At this point it is interesting to come back to the origin of “learning” and “teaching” in the English language. Both words have a German origin, tracing back respectively to “læran” and “tæcan” in Old English. While the latter meant “to show” or “to persuade”, the former was preferred to mean “to teach” or “to guide”. Then, could we suggest that the English word learning has a teaching connotation, and that as a result the meaning of  the question is: “can we introduce læran in every human activity?”, what introduces the idea of environments with “teaching” capabilities.
 

Designing environments likely to stimulate and support learning outside formal education and training —or situations mimicking these—was in most cases out of reach until the emergence of the digital technology which bridges the biosphere, where our bodies and activities are developing, and the noosphere where minds and intellectual constructs are developing. While language and the related symbolic technology (writing and reading) were the privileged tools to support learning, digital technologies go beyond by producing highly interactive simulations and virtual worlds. But more significant is the development of augmented reality, the systematic embedding of sensors and system on ship in all artefacts which open the possibility of a “merge” of both spheres. Here is the challenge of ambient computing.

Just as the rest of our environment, modern digital technologies cannot support learning if they have not been designed on purpose by incorporating teaching (coaching, instructing, scaffolding, or else) features. This is the challenge of designing, implementing and understanding learning aware environments. They are environments which have the capacity to recognize and capture relevant events from observing the human activity, the ability to understand the learning needs and then to provide the adequate feedback in whatever form. This is a scientific and technological challenge for ambient computing and research on cognitive systems. This is also a political challenge because the full development of learning aware environment will not be possible without addressing ethical (protecting the individuals and the communities) and economical problems (accepting that knowing is a universal right).