Abstract Heutagogy and Digital Media: An Exploration into the Digital Migration

Media technology in smartphones and tablets enables the integration of innovations such as immersive learning technologies, including virtual and augmented realities. Innovation in mobile media may heighten the chances of problem-solving and skill acquisition for learners (Hernawan et al., 2022). Kugler (2017) predicted that this will be at the forefront of mobile learning. Taking a media studies approach, this paper addresses the question of how Heutagogy in mobile media facilitates and diversifies the engagement of learners.

Classical studies have restricted communication in learning to direct interaction between the knowledge provider and the learner in a fixed physical location, known as Pedagogy. In a post-COVID world, mobile media apps offer features that may extend the horizon of engagement through immersive learning with VR and AR. This transformation in learners’ autonomy from Andragogy to Heutagogy may pave the way for alternative possibilities in transforming the learning experience.

In this paper, I will design a qualitative approach to investigate media and Heutagogy by assessing the autonomy and engagement of learners with mobile media. I will execute a methodological triangulation between systematic literature review, interviews with learners, and a theoretical framework. The research design will be sequential and exploratory. Ideally, the analysis will lead to a thematic analysis. The theoretical lens of interpretation will be viewed through the realm of self-determination theory in education.

The findings will purposefully address the motivational elements in learning within a key learning app. The discussion of this paper may aspire to provide original evidence for autonomous learners in the pursuit of skill acquisition via new media. It may also explore learners’ digital migration within new media platforms. Finally, this paper may contribute to the continuous progress of learning skills and extend the limits of knowledge regarding new media.