Good morning, everyone.
This is a study by Divya and me on mobile collaboration in the workplace. This week we will explore how mobile collaboration takes place in professional settings and it shapes the employee learning experience.
In terms of learning, Mobile Collaboration enhances “Accessibility”, “Social Constructivist Learning”, and “Contextual Learning”. This OER (open educational resource) explores how mobile collaborative learning is reshaping adults and employees learning in workplace settings and how it empowers learning designers to design a more effective, flexible and personalized learning.
With the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence, collaborative learning also promotes another wave of transformation in the near future.
Please visit the website to learn more about this study,
https://sites.google.com/view/mobilecollaborationnew/home
Below are three discussion questions for your reflection:
1. How would you define mobile collaboration in today’s learning environment? Do you see it as an interaction that occurs solely among learners through mobile platforms?
2. Considering that research suggests 80% of workplace learning occurs informally, what strategies or mobile tools do you think are effective in supporting these informal learning among employees? What is your experience?
3. With the rise of AI technology, how do you envision the future of mobile collaboration in the workplace?
We hope you enjoy exploring this topic with us this week!
Well done!
Having worked many jobs before I became a teacher, I am no stranger to the diversity in mobile collaboration in the work place. Though some are much more usable than others, I do not believe that we have seen the full potential in this field.
Answering your question: Considering that research suggests 80% of workplace learning occurs informally, what strategies or mobile tools do you think are effective in supporting these informal learning among employees? What is your experience?
I found this statistic to be surprising, as most of the ‘on-boarding’ that you do is very formal. Although its a point of information overload, the process could be more effective by deformalizing this process. As many businesses run in a hierarchical structure, there can often be a fear or stigmatization of asking questions, or even determining who to ask the question to.
I think tools that can address this would be an AI ‘mediator’. If an employee has a question, instead of asking a superior, they could ask AI as a third party which corpus contains the workplaces processes and information. All questions unanswered could then be sent to a related member to verify. Removing the social barriers could potentially make way for more direct, efficient, and confidence in questions to prevent errors, miscommunications, and social anxieties.
Sorry for my late reply. Thanks for sharing your idea. I think it is a good solution for the employees who have the fear of appearing passive or bothering colleagues when asking questions, which hinders informal learning.
Regarding your AI mediator idea, I knew that some companies have adopted the similar approach by using AI-powered chatbots/ virtual assistants to handle HR-related questions, it offers instant answers without waiting for HR availability. It also deformalises the learning process. However, the critical operational challenge is to ensure that there is a designated person who can regularly examine the tool to make sure the responses are accurate, fair and updated.
Really enjoyed your write-up — it got me thinking more about how AI can actually fit into workplace learning in simple, day-to-day ways. One thing I’ve been experimenting with is using AI to structure training emails or documentation. You can describe a complex process out loud, have the audio transcribed through OpenAI, and it does a surprisingly good job at pulling out the main steps and turning them into clear instructions or templates. It’s such a time-saver compared to typing everything from scratch, and it keeps your ideas flowing more naturally. Human editing needed though, as not 100% accurate.
I also liked your mention of tools like Microsoft Teams. Recently, to me, the learning never really stops with these platforms. Every new feature or update feels like another small learning curve (trying Planner out now), not just for yourself but for your whole team. It almost becomes a continuous loop of learning, sharing, and re-learning as technology evolves.
I enjoy reading your reply as well. Nowadays, employees are juggling their major work duties while simultaneously mastering new tools to optimise their work effectiveness and efficiency. That continues learning itself has become part of the job.
I also love tools like Planner, I use them everyday. The low learning curve of this tool and we learn it by doing (the major effective form of informal learning) make this tools user-friendly.
Looking ahead, I hope to see AI evolve from being a task organisers to a intelligent tutor who can assist learning designers to give personalised and real-time coaching to the employees one-on-one, which is impossible/ costly for the employers to provide currently.
From my perspective, informal learning thrives when people can share ideas openly, reflect in real time, and learn as they create. At HIVE (Hackspace for Innovation and Visualization in Education), where I work at UBC, this mindset is part of our daily practice. We embrace working out loud and a prototype-first approach—using mobile tools like Slack, Miro, and Notion to capture quick insights, post design drafts, and share progress transparently. These platforms make it easy to learn from one another across projects and disciplines, turning spontaneous updates into valuable learning moments. By testing early, sharing often, and iterating together, we make learning visible and continuous.
Thank you to the team for highlighting how mobile collaboration can strengthen this kind of open, creative, and connected learning culture.
After I learn from this and while I am wrting this, I was thinking that “as AI becomes more integrated into mobile platforms, how can we maintain the human element—empathy, curiosity, and creativity—within collaborative learning spaces?”
I certainly share the concern regarding how we maintain the human element as AI becomes more integrated into mobile platforms. Personally, I use AI to check my grammar, suggest clearer ways to articulate my ideas, and offer alternative perspectives to deepen my original thoughts. Therefore, the most essential thing we can do is to ensure we bring the human context—the unique, lived experiences that AI cannot replicate. AI then serves to better articulate that context for others. This focus on leveraging AI to clearly communicate the subtle human context is the balance we must actively cultivate in collaborative learning.
Hey team,
Interesting to see human-AI collaboration fairly centered on your future-trends page. It’s not that I think it’s surprising, but it backs up the philosophy that AI certainly is at the heart of education moving forward, whether inside or outside of public education. While I’ve heard of many teachers and educators using AI for a multitude of reasons, I’m not familiar with the concept of us “collaborating” with AI. It almost lends the AI a more anthropomorphic identity. Collaboration seems to imply that the AI can self-generate ideas and agree or disagree with its partners, and maybe even that it has its own background and perspectives that would influence its methods of collaboration.
Do you think any of these things are already true? Do different AI agents have different personalities or worldviews that would make them collaborate differently? Can AI agents self-generate ideas, or do we currently need to prompt them in order for them to ideate constructively?
I agree with your statement that the human-AI collaboration would influence the approach of collaboration. According to my research, AI is fundamentally an augmentation tool right now. While it can produce sophisticated outputs, it lacks true agency, intent and self-generation. We use prompting to initiate constructive ideation, it gives us the response based on the training data behind the system. Regarding personalities or different worldviews: Yes, they appear to have them. But this isn’t due to consciousness; it’s due to the curated process, its training. The differences are due to the prompts that we give, the training data bias, the safety rules currently. However, in the future, how it would evolve to, it depends on the creators and the employers who wields this tool.
Thank you for sharing this resource. I find your future trends page very insightful, as it provides multiple new ways of collaborative learning that can take place. I find the cross-generational learning concept very interesting, as the newer generations (Generation Z, etc.) rely heavily on their mobile devices instead of reaching for a computer. This will change the requirements of the interface of mobile devices (i.e., reemergence of the keyboard?) to accommodate changes to communication.
I think one key consideration that will have to take place when considering employment collaboration is work-life balance and a change in mobile culture around access to each other when work is ‘done’. With the idea that work can be accessed anywhere, anytime, it becomes important to set boundaries and expectations about responding and engaging with each other. This is the benefit of being able to work asynchronously. I wonder whether AI could take on the role of helping limit the work outside of work hours, but would the breach in privacy make it less plausible and enticing for users?
Mobile tools have transformed workplace communication by creating opportunities for employees to share ideas, collaborate, and form connections with one another, regardless of where they are. As you note, platforms like Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, and social media apps allow colleagues to solve problems in real time and build a sense of community outside of their physical workspaces. As a result, employees are able to learn from one another in informal contexts, as they engage in peer-to-peer discussions, problem-solving, and less constrained social interactions. From my own work experiences, having access to mobile tools and collaborative spaces meant that when an issue arises, I can easily reach out for help and advice, even if my colleagues aren’t physically present. This accessibility provides comfort and increases my efficiency in solving a problem, as solutions are right at my fingertips. Ultimately, this strengthens the sense of community present within a workplace, as employees can utilize these informal spaces to form bonds and exchange ideas that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do as quickly or even at all.
Thank you for sharing the resources! I work with adult learners and I find this OER very valuable
1.I find that mobile collaborators tend to have a wider reach compared to those collaborating within a single classroom. For example, since the early 2010s, I have observed my coworkers casually sharing resources and engaging in open discussions with peers on Twitter, extending their collaboration beyond institutional boundaries. Through these interactions, I have seen my colleagues build connections with people from other institutions and even different industries.
2. Similarly, I believe that encouraging learners to share their knowledge publicly with people beyond their coworkers is an effective strategy. (For example, publishing the post to their own blog post, Linkedin, etc.)
3. I feel that with the rise of AI, it will be important to create spaces where learners can demonstrate authenticity in their work. Designing assignments that encourage learners to write from their personal experiences is one example of this.
Was good to read your responses Rie. I’m curious with a few follow-up questions. What capacity do you work in that your colleagues are sharing resources and engaging with people outside of their institutions and industries? Are you in public education? If so, what other kind of industries/institutions are they interacting with?
I would agree with your response to question two as well, although I wonder if the heart of informal learning is that it is less structured or methodical than something like a LinkedIn post? I see LinkedIn or blog posts as something that’s useful as a reflection or storage tool for different thoughts and learning. Something like Discord, however, offers real-time spaces for people to collaborate and converse while mobile. I think the discussion there is more organic and can take different directions; people can self-organize into sub-cords dedicated to different topics, similar to breakout rooms. The conversation can be live AND asynchronous at the same time, rather than the purely asynchronous LinkedIn post.