Work-Based Mobile Learning Environments: Contributing to a Socio-Cultural Ecology of Mobile Learning

This paper examines the idea of a Work Oriented Mobile Learning Environment (WOMBLE) and considers the potential affordances of mobile devices for supporting developmental and informal learning in the workplace. The authors look at the nature and pedagogy of work-based learning and how technologies are being used in the workplace for informal learning. The paper examines the nature of Work Process Knowledge and how individuals are shaping or appropriating technologies, often developed or designed for different purposes, for social learning at work. The paper goes on to describe three different use cases for a Work Oriented Mobile Learning Environment. The final section of the paper considers how the idea of the WOMBLE can contribute to a socio-cultural ecology for learning, and the interplay of agency, cultural practices, and structures within mobile work-based learning.