Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecotones: a Conceptual Contribution to Postdigital Thinking

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Postdigital Science and Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the notion of ecotones and argue how it can contribute to postdigital thinking. We do so using two empirical examples as backdrop for our discussions. We argue the concept of ecotones can add to postdigital research particularly in relation to addressing problematic dichotomies such as the digital vs analogue/material. We highlight how the notion of ecotones has a conceptual dimension having to do with tensions, diversity and richness emerging in the meeting between two entities. Secondly, we discuss how ecotones have a spatial and material dimension. Through the analysis of empirical examples, we discuss how the notion of ecotones can contribute to postdigital theory and analytic approach to dichotomies, such as the digital vs analogue/material. Further, we discuss ecotones in relation to hybridity and liminality, which are similar concepts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bernhard, J., Davidsen, J., & Ryberg, T. (2020). By hand and by computer : – a video-ethnographic study of engineering students’ representational practices in a design project. In A. Guerra, J. Chen, M. Winther, & A. Kolmos (Eds.), Educate for the futur : PBL, Sustainability and Digitalisation 2020 (pp. 561–570). Aalborg: Aalborg University Press. https://vbn.aau.dk/files/357965178/AAU_8th_PBL_2020_interaktiv_2.pdf. Accessed 29 January 2021. 

  • Brown, J. S., Pendleton-Jullian, A., & Adler, R. (2010). From Engagement to Ecotone: Land-Grant Universities in the 21st Century. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 42(6), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2010.523398.

  • Cohen, A., Nørgård, R. T., & Mor, Y. (2020). Hybrid learning spaces––Design, data, didactics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(4), 1039–1044. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coles, R. (1993). Ecotones and Environmental Ethics: Adorno and Lopez. In J. Bennett & W. Chaloupka (Eds.), In the nature of things: Language, politics, and the environment. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coles, R., & Scarnati, B. (2015). Transformational ecotones: The craftsperson ethos and higher education. In H. C. Boyte (Ed.), Democracy’s Education: Public Work, Citizenship, and the Future of Higher Education (pp. 115–125). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

  • Davidsen, J., Ryberg, T., & Bernhard, J. (2020). “Everything comes together”: Students’ collaborative development of a professional dialogic practice in architecture and design education. Thinking skills and creativity, 37, 100678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020). Ecotone | ecology. h. Accessed 4 March 2020. https://aws.qa.britannica.com/science/ecotone

  • Fawns, T. (2019). Postdigital education in design and practice. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 132–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0021-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagood, A., & Price, C. E. (2016). Classroom ecotones: Connecting place-based pedagogy and blended learning. ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 23(3), 603–625. https://doi.org/10.1093/isle/isw043.

  • Hecht, M., & Crowley, K. (2019). Unpacking the learning ecosystems framework: Lessons from the adaptive management of biological ecosystems. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 1(21). https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2019.1693381.

  • Hilli, C., Nørgaard, R. T., & Aaen, J. H. (2019). Designing hybrid learning spaces in higher education. Dansk UniversitetspædagogiskTidsskrift, 15(27), 66–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbell, D., & Ryan, J. (2016). Scholarly ecotones in the information landscape. Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language, 7(1). https://ro.ecu.edu.au/landscapes/vol7/iss1/24. Accessed 29 January 2021. 

  • Jandrić, P., Knox, J., Besley, T., Ryberg, T., Suoranta, J., & Hayes, S. (2018). Postdigital Science and Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 50(10), 893–899. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2018.1454000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jandrić, P., Ryberg, T., Knox, J., Lacković, N., Hayes, S., Suoranta, J., et al. (2019). Postdigital Dialogue. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 163–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0011-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kells, M. H. (2016). Writing across communities and the writing center as cultural ecotone: Language diversity, civic engagement, and graduate student leadership. Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, 14(1), 27-33. https://doi.org/10.15781/T2PZ5234X.

  • Knox, J. (2019). What does the ‘postdigital’ mean for education? Three critical perspectives on the digital, with implications for educational research and practice. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(2), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-019-00045-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolmos, A., Fink, F. K., & Krogh, L. (2004). The Aalborg PBL model - Progress diversity and challenges. Aalborg: Aalborg University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krall, F. R., & Shepard, F. R. (1994). Ecotone: Wayfaring on the margins. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Land, R., Meyer, J. H., & Baillie, C. (2010). Editors’ preface: Threshold concepts and transformational learning. In J. H. Meyer, R. Land, & C. Baillie (Eds.), Threshold concepts and transformational learning (pp. ix–xlii). Rotterdam: Brill/Sense.

  • Nardi, B., & O’Day, V. (1999). Information ecology - Using technology with heart. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pendleton-Jullian, A. (2019). Education and innovation ecotones. In R. Barnett & N. Jackson (Eds.), Ecologies for Learning and Practice: Emerging Ideas, Sightings, and Possibilities. Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351020268-8.

  • Ryberg, T., Davidsen, J. G., & Bernhard, J. (2019). Knowledge forms in students’ collaborative work: PBL as a design for transfer. In N. B. Dohn, S. Børsen Hansen, & J. J. Hansen (Eds.), Designing for Situated Knowledge Transformation (pp. 127–144). Abingdon and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429275692-8.

  • Ryberg, T., Davidsen, J., & Hodgson, V. (2018). Understanding nomadic collaborative learning groups. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49(2), 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair, C., & Hayes, S. (2019). Between the post and the com-post: Examining the postdigital ‘work’ of a prefix. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 119–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0017-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Söderlund, J., & Borg, E. (2018). Liminality in management and organization studies: Process, position and place. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(4), 880–902. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stommel, J. (2012). Hybridity, pt. 2: What is hybrid pedagogy? Hybrid Pedagogy, 9 March. http://hybridpedagogy.org/hybridity-pt-2-what-is-hybrid-pedagogy/. Accessed 29 January 2021. 

  • Thomassen, B. (2016). Liminality and the modern: Living through the in-between. Abingdon: Routledge.

  • Wikimedia, & Lamiot (2020). Variations in Ecotones. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8620647. Accessed 17 December 2020.

  • Wikipedia. (2020). Ecotone. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ecotone&oldid=935204288. Accessed 4 March 2020. 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Thomas Ryberg & Jacob Davidsen

  2. Institutionen För Teknik Och Naturvetenskap (ITN), Linköpings universitet, Norrköping, Sweden

    Jonte Bernhard

  3. Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Malene Charlotte Larsen

Authors
  1. Thomas Ryberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jacob Davidsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jonte Bernhard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Malene Charlotte Larsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Ryberg.

Ethics declarations

Statement on Data and Ethics

The study was conducted under the ethical guidelines in place at Aalborg University. Informed consent forms were signed by each participant in the present research. In the empirical examples, pseudonyms have been adopted and faces covered to avoid recognisability.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ryberg, T., Davidsen, J., Bernhard, J. et al. Ecotones: a Conceptual Contribution to Postdigital Thinking. Postdigit Sci Educ 3, 407–424 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00213-5

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00213-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation