Time and Space
Modern telecommunications is increasingly leading to a description of time as being compressed (Harvey, 1999), global (Adam, 2013), and instantaneous (Urry, 2002). Time is seen less as continuously linear and more as a multitude of individual moments (Adam, 2013) such as home, school, and work time. This view could mean very different patterns of interaction between students when collaborating through a mobile phone. The mobile phone supports this idea of time because it allows communication during previously unproductive periods of time (BenMoussa, 2003; Perry, O'hara, Sellen, Brown, & Harper, 2001) such as when traveling, so increasing the number of possible activities (Johnsen, 2001) like finishing homework (Virvou & Alepis, 2005). Likewise, space is less about localized presence as mobile technology separates space from place (Giddens, 1990). This mobility replaces the impression of being at a place for communication with a telephone, to belonging to a network of communication (Geser, 2004). This network membership means that the importance of traditional boundaries in physical space is changing.
Smartphones have created simultaneity of place (Traxler, 2009), a kind of bridging of physical spaces like home, school, and work, through the creation of a mobile social space, filling the gap between them (Bull, 2005). Mobile technologies transport communities and discussions into physical public and private spaces forcing people to adjust their behavior to manage a more fluid environment (Traxler, 2009). Private is no longer just what happens when physically alone (Cooper, 2002). A student on a crowded train may have a private moment enjoying a favorite movie or silently texting a close friend. The advance of mobile communications has brought with it a blurring of public and private boundaries; however, it is still unclear what the impact of such fundamental changes will have on collaborative learning and learning in general.