Place-based and Community-based Learning in Distance-Education Computing Degrees Through LoRaWAN & IoT Smart-Farming Projects

Though community-based pedagogies in higher education have been widely studied, research on their use in distance-learning contexts remains limited. Place-based learning, on the other hand, has hardly reached the university context, with studies on this topic largely restricted to primary and secondary education. We report on a pilot experience involving the use of community-based and place-based learning in distance-education computing degrees. In this context, we explore the potential of this pedagogical approach, in particular as a vehicle for technology transfer to the rural communities served. Our experience also highlights the suitability of appropriate technology and frugal innovation in these contexts. The learning context for this pilot study consists of undergraduate distance-education computing final-year projects focused on Internet of Things applications using low-power long-range wide-area networks, in which students selected applications aimed at addressing needs identified in their local communities. We analyse ten such projects, presenting three of them in depth, in which the students developed and deployed appropriate-technology smart-farming applications in depopulated rural areas of Spain. The paper contributes an exploratory analysis of the academic, community, institutional and technology-transfer impacts of this pedagogical approach in a distance-learning computing context. The findings provide exploratory evidence regarding the educational value of the approach and its potential contribution to rural communities.