Exploring the transformative potential of Bluetooth beacons in higher education

Abstract

The growing ubiquity of smartphones and tablet devices integrated into personal, social and professional life, facilitated by expansive communication networks globally, has the potential to disrupt higher education. Academics and students are considering the future possibilities of exploiting these tools and utilising networks to consolidate and expand knowledge, enhancing learning gain. Bluetooth beacon technology has been developed by both Apple and Google as a way to situate digital information within physical spaces, and this paper reflects on a beacon intervention in a contemporary art school in higher education conducted by the authors intended to develop a situated community of practice in Art & Design. The paper describes the project, including relevant theoretical foundations and background to the beacon technology, with regards to the potential of using these devices to create a connected learning community by enhancing learning and facilitating knowledge creation in a borderless learning space.

Beacons: A tool for 21st Century teaching and learning?

“…Supporting findings by McDonald & Glover (2016), a frequent problem was Mrs S's inability to access the technology because of the school's intranet system creating barriers:…”

“…Although there is much enthusiastic descriptive and web-based evidence of the potential of beacon technology in teaching and learning generally (Afshar, Rellinger, & Nilsson 2015;Elwood 2014;Smart 2014), no study has focused on the use of beacon technology in mainstream secondary education in the UK. Indeed, only three academic studies seem to have researched beacons' use in the classroom at all (McDonald & Glover 2016;Wu, Young, & Wen 2016;Zimmerman, Land, Maggiore, Ashley, & Millet 2016). However, not only do these studies simply showcase ways of using beacons in the classroom without linking their methods to pedagogical theory but also, other than McDonald & Glover's (2016) identification of two constraints, none of them offers a critique of the use of beacons in teaching and learning -indeed, McDonald & Glover (2016) use the term 'transformative' in their title.…”

“…Indeed, only three academic studies seem to have researched beacons' use in the classroom at all (McDonald & Glover 2016;Wu, Young, & Wen 2016;Zimmerman, Land, Maggiore, Ashley, & Millet 2016). However, not only do these studies simply showcase ways of using beacons in the classroom without linking their methods to pedagogical theory but also, other than McDonald & Glover's (2016) identification of two constraints, none of them offers a critique of the use of beacons in teaching and learning -indeed, McDonald & Glover (2016) use the term 'transformative' in their title. Therefore, there is a need not only for a critical assessment of the use of beacons in mainstream secondary education in the UK but also for knowledge about which learning approaches teachers should use with them.…”

“…Thus beacons facilitate deep learning and 'could help to significantly improve' (Wu et al 2016, p. abstract) pupils' academic progress and achievement, regardless of differences in prior levels of learning. However, McDonald & Glover (2016) caution that, if pupils do not know what the technology can do for them, beacons' efficacy will be limited. From a teacher's perspective, the studies suggest beacons should be used to create learning zones or for play-based learning, though again McDonald & Glover (2016) caution that their efficacy can be hampered by teachers' inability to access the equipment and by their unfamiliarity with the software.…”

“…However, not only is the reliability of these studies questionable, as they were carried out on samples that are too small (n = 50, 35 and 34, respectively) to be representative, but so too is their generalisability as they were carried out in unrepresentative contexts of learning. Wu et al's (2016) and McDonald & Glover's (2016) research focuses on tertiary students, who not only form the minority of pupils but are mature and would be able to exercise the responsibility inherent in learning with beacons. Conversely, Zimmerman et al's (2016) research focuses on primary children in the United States, who would not only need significant support and guidance to use the technology but who also have considerably different learning and study skills and abilities.…”