For this assignment, I scoped the opportunity of geofencing in education. A nearly untapped technology in the sector, the lens I used for this opportunity was through my professional context. I immediately see value in using geofencing in activities related to onboarding in workplace education.
You can find my presentation below via link or embedded in this post:
https://view.genially.com/66adcf88e9a3b62362a39c2d/interactive-content-a3-geofencing-in-workplace-education
Richard Derksen
Hi Richard!
Thanks for this fantastic OER! Geolocation is a new concept to me, and I appreciate you introducing it. From a corporate training perspective, there are so many exciting opportunities to leverage this technology. In particular, it got me thinking about how exciting it would be to see the integration of augmented/mixed reality with geofencing and how it can be used to create immersive, location-based learning experiences. As users move through different areas, AR content can be triggered to provide visual and interactive elements that enhance their understanding of their surroundings.
It’s fascinating to see how this technology is used in marketing to track users and tailor strategies based on customers/users’ locations. It would be interesting to explore how geolocation could inform education and training strategies by tracking and analyzing where users spend the most time, such as monitoring the number or duration of visits to specific areas. This data could highlight where learners are most engaged with the content or where they might need additional support due to challenging concepts.
Thanks again for sharing this! I’m excited to dive deeper into this topic.
Lynn
Hello Richard,
I wanted to share my thoughts after reviewing your discussion on geofencing. I found the overlap between my A3 cybersecurity forecast and your exploration of geofencing technology quite intriguing. It’s fascinating to see how these two areas intersect, particularly in enhancing security and operational efficiency within educational environments.
As you pointed out, geofencing has the potential to offer significant benefits, and I would argue that we’re already seeing some of its applications within our school district, albeit in more rudimentary forms. For example, certain websites and online resources are only accessible when connected to specific school networks. This creates a virtual boundary that controls access based on location, essentially a basic geofencing form. This demonstrates how geofencing principles are already being employed to some extent, although perhaps not always recognized as such.
Your discussion prompted me to think about how we could expand the use of geofencing in more innovative ways within our educational institutions. For instance, exploring the possibility of using geofencing to enable or activate specific educational software when students are physically on-site would be interesting. This could streamline the management of software licenses, ensuring that only students within the school premises can access specific tools or resources, thus simplifying licensing compliance on personal devices and reducing costs. It could also provide a more tailored learning experience by automating access to resources based on location, which could be particularly useful for location-specific activities or classes.
There’s a lot of untapped potential here, and it would be worthwhile to explore these possibilities further. I’m truly excited to see how these ideas might evolve and lead to further exploration of geofencing technology in educational settings.
Thank you for hosting this exciting forecast.
Joel
Hi Joel,
Your comment led me to have a look at your A3 and I agree there is a fair amount of overlap. I think one area that geofencing might help with that was pointed out in your presentation is improving upon the self-directed learning model. As self-directed learning requires a large amount of motivation from the learner, imagining a scenario where a learner is sent a push notification with educational content based on their location, prompted with an AR tool that explores how use a device, and offered authentic feedback are all elements that make the learning immediately relevant and more engaging.
I really like the idea of reimagining how we manage licenses through geofencing. That is a great idea and something I consistently struggle with in my organization. I would love for that to be a possibility in the future as like you said, the savings and efficiency of distributing licenses would enable access to that many more people regardless of what the license is for.
Hi Richard,
Thank you for sharing this topic. Geofencing is not something I am familiar with and it was interesting learning more about it and the potential for it to be used in education.
I appreciate how you have embedded some audio to break up the content as I did find it a bit dense. I also appreciate you discussing the concerns about “asking too much of employees.” I would be concerned about the tracking and the privacy of my data as well as student data when working with something like this. With that said, like Rich, I was really interested in the point about how AI and AR could contribute to geofencing for a strong immersive experience.
Thank you for a very interesting topic!
Jeannine
Hi Jeanine,
Thanks for the post!
Privacy is a valid concern when talking about tracking physical location. This was why I wanted to make this forecast specific to workplace education as I thought it would be a more practical space for a technology like geofencing to enter into education. In some ways, the tracking of learner data would be similar to an LMS where it would track progress, offer feedback, and analytics, but it would do so in a way that I believe is more efficient for the learner. Rather than them seek out the educational content they need, this virtual boundary would bring it to them.
There would be permissions needed from all parties involved to truly make geofencing effective, but benefits like the enhanced integration of AI and AR into this learning experience is why I can foresee this becoming much more of a presence in education.
Hi Richard,
This is a fascinating topic, and much like Rich, I had not previously considered its applications to education in any great depth. The physical presentation you put together is excellent; your use of Genially to embed ideas under larger topics and promote a flow of thought from one topic to another was seamless. I also appreciated the multimedia elements, without which I usually lose track of things over time.
I work in a middle school (Grade 5-8), and one thing I have noticed is that students that age is very conscious of how spaces are used, and “what rules apply where”. Rather than objecting to restrictions, location-specific rules and privileges, and other norms, they embrace them and use them as a framework for their actions. I will often hear 12 year olds saying “While I’m at school today I’m going to do ___________, because this is where I have access to it”, or “Let’s go to the library to work on this, it’s quieter and Mrs. X is there, so we can ask questions if we need to”. By extension, I can imagine how geofencing in a Middle School environment could scratch a similar itch for them.
I imagine students coming to school, and opening their Chromebooks as they usually do each morning. Work, resources, timetables, or other important tools and information are now available to them, provided they stay within the building. This would help mitigate issues around students who have used impermissible methods of preparing/doctoring work at home, and I see it as a novel, exciting way for them to apply themselves more fully in school. They’re already used to the concept; they talk about how ads pop up for certain things when they get on the WiFi at the mall, or how they notice things in their social media platforms that, if not a result of geofencing, are something very similar in design.
In terms of mobile applications for geofencing, I see that being more applicable to staff. /I simply don’t think that expecting/trusting students to rely on mobile devices is the best option at this point. This could help with privacy issues for teachers, keeping certain resources limited to school property and eliminating the risk of theft or accidental sharing/loss. PL sessions, staff meetings, assemblies and other events could also make good use of many of the helpful properties you have mentioned. I can also visualize how substitute and part-time teachers, School District staff and others could be quickly networked with others in the building when needed onsite.
Thanks for your presentation, it was very illuminating.
Sam P
Hi Sam,
I appreciate the kind words!
I think you’ve highlighted a great example of where geofencing can help and I do like the idea of framing learning this way as a novel. Moving from one location to the next is much like moving from one chapter to the next, gaining additional information as you move. We see geofencing in marketing tactics and even in the dissemination of information from the government. The most recent one I can think of is the landslides in BC along the Chilcotin River. I had a friend that was commuting to the interior of BC ask in a WhatsApp group if we received the emergency alert from the province about staying away from the river, and because I in the Vancouver area where there was no risk, I did not receive it. If we see these examples in our everyday lives, why couldn’t we see a future where education applies this technology?
I would also agree with this being applicable to staff. Similar to a few other A3’s, the implementation of this technology, especially if it comes with an integration of AI, should come with a code of conduct and policies that clearly define how it can be used.
Hi Richard,
This was really interesting. Thank you for brining our attention to this topic of geofencing and how it might apply to education.
My awareness of geofencing was limted to how certain apps or websites or search engines personalize (or limit) what you see based on your location. You present it in a way I had not thought about, which I appreciate. I wish to make a coouple of comments on points you brought up.
1. You mentioned one of the concerns being “asking too much of employees in regards to asking them to share location etc”. With my job, my employer pays for my phone and usage, and along with that comes their madatory tracking of my device itself, I personally have no problem with that. However you raise a good point that this is a quickly evolving legal landscape. I found the government of Canada put out guideance on this updated in 2023: https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/employers-and-employees/02_05_d_17/
2. One affordances of geofencing you point out is the ability to sort out employees (or potentially students?) needs and requirements by location. Many institutions do already have the ability to sort people through CRMs, LMS and other management systems by defining lists. We can quickly sort desired defined data sets we have, including (fixed) location, and send communication or anything needed to that list of people as defined and sorted. If I understand correctly that one of the advantages that you are pointing out with geofencing is that it can a) automatically update a person’s needs and requirements as they move from place to place without the need for manual human intervention? (as in automatic systems)? Also that certain applications such as AR must be georeferenced to optimize the spacial relevance? So essentially the geofencing would enhance systems that need to automatically work as people move from place to place? Is that correct? Is that the main advantage?
3. Lastly, I’m really interested in the last point you made about how AI may impact geofencing. I like the idea that AI could track which training you have done, so that it would be personalized to you.
Thank you exploring this topic Richard.
It was an interesting read.
Rich
Hi Rich,
Thank you for your comments and resources. In trying to balance the delivery of this presentation, I did have information related to policy and the market for geofencing that I ultimately decided to include, so I’m happy to see it brought up in your post.
With regard to your second point, you are right in your understanding that geofencing would enhance the delivery of learning content to the learner that, at least in my experience, is something we often struggle with. I appreciate you raising the point about the LMS being able to do this, and I would say the differentiation between a traditional LMS and geofencing is that the LMS requires learners to find right course and then sign up. What geofencing would do in theory is notify the learner that this information is available through a push notification. It is a question about accessibility and while there would be manual work required on the backend as an educator to ensure the right material is available, but ultimately for the learner I see a future where a learner enters into a virtual boundary and is given instructions and a link to the content they need for that area.
Thanks again.