July 2021 – Jayne's Site

July 29, 2021July 30, 2021

E-Portfolio -Assignment #2

Please click on ALL the underlined links below to take you to the described documentation.

Part 1: Evidence of the Completion of 3 Course Activities & Their Connections to The Learning Outcomes

Activity 1: Wiki Edit

Activity 2: V&R Mapping

Activity 3: Twitter Chat #EDCI339

Part 2: Evidence of Course Readings Through Blog Posts:

Part 3: Evidence of Collaboration

Weekly Collaboration with Colleagues

Link to BrightSpaces Conversations

Discord Conversations Highlights

Part 4: Evidence of Understanding from Course Readings/ Videos

Canva on Theory– Connectivism vs Constructivism
Sketchnote Notes – David Porter Interview
Canva – Twitter Experience
Canva Mind Map – Jade Davis’ Innovation and translation
Canva Poster – UDL

Part 4: Final Reflection on the Future of Open and Online Learning

Below is a Canva I made to describe Open and Distributed Learning in my own terms as it is difficult to find any true ONE definition anywhere.

What is Open and Distributed Learning to Me?

My Journey and Future Thoughts on Open and Distributed Learning, Specifically to OERs.

My experience in this course has allowed me to critically analyze the equity, access and human centred learning that open and distributed learning can bring to the table when it is delivered in a Constructivist and UDL fashion. It has also enlightened me to the many discrepancies which still exist in these contexts and has given me ideas of how I can move forward by evaluating, creating and using Open Educational Resources (O.E.RS) in hopes to develop more equity, inclusion and accessibility for learners and educators everywhere.

When I began this course, I was quite unaware of what open and distributed learning entailed, specifically regarding OERs. I had no clue what an OER was, where to find them, or why they were so beneficial. I quickly learned, through readings, Twitter experiences and online discussions, about the CC and the licensing which goes with it, that they are free accessible resources that are available to me. Weller describes OERS as, “educational content with an open licence so [they] could be accessed freely and adapted” and that are, “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions” (Weller, 2021). Not only did Weller’s definition allow me to truly understand what an OER was, what they consisted of and where they were found, but it also helped me see WHY they are a VITAL part of creating a more diverse and equitable learning environment.

Since an OER can be remixed, shared and accessed freely and free of costs, learning barriers are being broken down. There is no cost, which makes them more accessible and they exist in multiple mediums which allow them to benefit more users. This reminded me of the WIKI edit we were asked to complete. I was intimidated at first, but I FOUND AN ERROR and I had something to offer. Not only did it make me feel like I had a voice, but I experienced the value in it. Back to the point, OERs can be remixed. Therefore, as Weller explains,“while there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision” (Weller, 2020)”, so allowing people to make changes can only serve to increase knowledge and real time answers. Not only that, but remixing an OER, by changing it into Spanish rather than English, allows more accessibility to learners who may not have English as a first language. This breaks down language barriers and demonstrates that the CC, has similar goals to UDL, as they consider the fact that there can be bias, privilege and power imbalance in resources as well as the importance to put the learner first. By allowing an already created resource to be remixed, they are acknowledging this imbalance and putting the HUMAN first by recognizing that the resource could be bettered for MORE, if not ALL humans.

When OERs and open learning are used in settings which allow for scaffolding and the building/sharing of knowledge through collaboration, as well as which practice UDL principles, it presents a more equitable way of learning/teaching. This is because they shift roles and allow the learners to be at the centre of the learning, as well as ask big questions, such as; “who is included and who is excluded and in what ways? (Cronin, 2021). In social settings who is in the room? Who is at the table? Who speaks a lot? Who has social capitol? Who feels welcome? Whose ideas are respected? Who is missing? Who isn’t even in the room? Who is sitting on the margins?Why?” (Robertson, 2021). These questions relate directly to the policies in the CC and in the freedom which exists in accessing them. These policies and questions NEED to be at the forefront if we EVER want to reach equity in open and distributed education. This course was an example of that. We were in charge of our learning with a guide on the side. This is not to say it was easy. I was challenged and I was insecure and unsure if I was doing it “right.” However, it challenged me as a learner and I think I have come out of this course with more skills, more knowledge about open and distributed learning, and with more connections to potential colleagues (or at least more practice collaborating and working with others). I have also come out feeling more creative because I was allowed to use tools that fostered MY way of thinking and improved upon my strengths, rather than struggles.

Now, I know that, “open education narratives have been criticized in [many] respects, as well as for an overall tendencies towards idealism and optimism” (Cronin, 2021). Open learning and distributed learning has its faults as well. One being that,“the creation of open educational resources relies heavily on institutional resources and the appropriation of academic labour.” (Cronin,2021) Another fault which I see in in how open and distributed learning existed during the pandemic.

When I think of equity in open and distributed education, I think about the pandemic and the quick move to online and open learning which happened within it. I ask myself, “was that period of time one of accessibility, inclusion, flexibility and having the learner at the centre of their learning?” Unfortunately my answer is, NO. I did not have the ‘pleasure’ of teaching this way. Although, I have many educator friends who described their own experiences to me. Their experiences depict a time of disconnect, difficulties in providing learners with what they needed, dealing with policy change, and anxiety due to new skills, technologies, privacy and more. That being said, I am not sure if this was caused due to a lack of understanding of HOW to deliver online learning in an open and distributed way, or if it was from a lack of acknowledgement in accessibility for learners and teachers, or both. All I know it that, as we move forward with open and online learning, we need to develop more skills as educators to help scaffold and give allowance or, “ins and outs” (Davis, 2021), for personal comfort and readiness.

I see the evolution of digital spaces and OERs as one of a mostly positive impact on society. Yes, there are still some problems in accessibility and privacy. However, if we put the human first and allow for all voices to be part of the conversation, we are bound to create humans who are compassionate, inclusive, motivated and innovative who will push more boundaries and keep moving toward an equitable state of being. Criticize me for being an idealist, but I believe OERs are a step in the right direction because they are accessible and allow many voices to be heard by allowing for revamping. When we teach our youth that they hold power and that they have voice and choice, by modelling how to share/create/co-create knowledge through using CC and open and distributed learning safely and respectfully, we show them that shared knowledge is a form of equity and that together we can always do better. I have begun my journey into creating for the commons and will leave you with the website that I have created with a colleague of mine which we hope to share out freely for everyone to use and adapt in whichever way will make it more diverse, accessible and inclusive. I cannot wait to continue my journey towards developing/revamping resources to ensure more equity, inclusion and accessibility for learners and educators everywhere.

Citation

Carla Rinaldi. thinkersinresidence. (Sept. 04, 2012).Carla Rinaldi on Documentation. [Video]Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUVi-fLc0zA

Robertson, T. (2017). Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Open Research and Education. Press.rebus.community. Retrieved 29 July 2021, from https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/chapter/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-open-research-and-education/

Davis. J. (2018). Frugal Innovation & Transferrable Skills {Keynote} https://ctl.davidson.edu/admin/the-toolbox-jade-davis/ (Start at 12:40)

Cronin. C. (2019). Open education: Walking a critical path. In D. Conrad, & P. Prinsloo (Eds.), Open(ing) Education: Theory and Practice. Leiden: Brill. Open Access Version http://eprints.teachingandlearning.ie/4345/

July 28, 2021July 29, 2021

Topic #3 – Equity and Accessibility In OL

How can equitable access to authentic, meaningful & relevant learning environments for all learners be afforded to all learners in open and distributed learning contexts?

“Open education seeks to eliminate as many [barriers] as possible, with the aim of improving educational access, effectiveness, and equality”
Cronin, 2019

This quote by Cronin, in my opinion, sums up the goals of UDL and how adding open distributed learning into learning settings can create more equitable, authentic, meaningful and relevant learning environments.

When we aim to break down barriers and create relevant and meaningful materials and spaces, by allowing learning to happen in a variety of spaces through a variety of voices and choices, we allow for more people to take part in, connect to, take ownership of and enjoy, learning. Open learning attempts to accomplish this by offering access to materials, resources, information, and data freely and with no fees attached, while opening up the conversation to a wider range of humans. This happens by “making content more inclusive [which] begins with understanding what kinds of alternatives are needed, and realizing that inclusivity and accessibility are achieved through awareness, adaptation, collaboration, and flexibility. ” (OCAD, 2021). It is also achieved by asking the learners themselves what they need and where they need to go, as well as placing them in learning environments that will foster their abilities to successfully become part of their future workplaces or promote innovation.

Although, open learning can, at times benefit in information accessibility and diversity, it does continue to have its pitfalls. Lisa, a colleague I have been working with in this course, questioned, “is there truly equity in learning when not everyone has equal opportunity to access said learning?” (Swan, 2021). This struck home with me because I work with learners in Africa who have have minimal resources and technologies. They have no access to these due to costs and accessibility to electricity and wifi. I can see them struggling to obtain and to sustain any learning that is not necessarily happening in larger facilities or towns nearby. Therefore, are open distributed learning resources truly open and accessible to all? No. This makes me question HOW can we make this possible?

What did you already know, what do you know now based on the course readings and activities, what do you hope to learn?

I already knew about UDL and how it is designed specifically to give the learner advocacy over their learning and to shift any power roles that exist in a learning environments. I knew that UDL helps the learner organize or demonstrate their learning which increases engagement, allows for voice and choice and that if given relevance, can increase motivation and meaning behind what and why they are learning. UDL also creates more of an equitable environment, because when a learner is at the centre of their learning, and they are given choice in tools and technology to use in a way that is accessible to them, they can demonstrate where they are at without the barriers of having to use only a single mode they may not be savvy with or even be able to physically do.

I would still like to learn about how we can make OERs more accessible for ALL and how we can get training on developing these OERs for our learners and for ourselves. I am currently trying to get a website I made licensed for CC, so I think it may become easier once I go through the motions once.

Citation

Cronin. C. (2019). Open education: Walking a critical path. In D. Conrad, & P. Prinsloo (Eds.), Open(ing) Education: Theory and Practice. Leiden: Brill. Open Access Version http://eprints.teachingandlearning.ie/4345/

Welcome to the Inclusive Learning Design Handbook | Inclusive Learning Design Handbook. Handbook.floeproject.org. (2021). Retrieved 27 July 2021, from https://handbook.floeproject.org/

Swan, Lisa. (2021). EDCI339 Open and Distributed Learning.

July 13, 2021July 14, 2021

Topic #2 Connectivism & Constructivism

*Please note: What you will find (in italics), my added thinking after our second Webinar. I learned more information after the activities and conversations we had and wanted to add it to this post.

Constructivism vs Connectivism

While reading this weeks informational objects, I found it easiest to create a Venn diagram in Canva to show my thinking and to demonstrate my understanding of the materials.

While curating this diagram, I realized quickly that I was having a difficult time pulling out differences and that I was finding mostly similarities. This made me register that these two theories are very similar and that, at times, Connectivism can act as an aid to the Constructivism theory by offering it principles to improve it. For example, Connectivism adds chaos into the mix and can teach a Constructivist that information is constantly changing and that, “while there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision” (Weller, 2020). Therefore, a constructivist’s mindset, or ways that they develop their pedagogy, may take a more connectivist approach. This could be as simple as implementing WIKIS to the mix so that learners can see information being developed and curated in real time, thus witness how information is ever changing through collaboration and an open continuous conversation. Those same learners then have the opportunity to add to the conversation as well.

That being said, Connectivism expects the user to have the cognitive abilities and soft skills to be able to problem solve and to understand the privacy concerns related with it. This is a problem when it comes to youth, or people who are not aware of these concerns. Using tools, such as open VR games, withouut thinking of the privacy concerns can put people at risk without even knowing it. Creating a user name, or signing up for an account can offer up pieces of your identity that can be used/sought out by anyone. Another issue comes to light when we see digital natives heading straight into connectivism then being expected to learn in a behaviourism or cognitivism based environment. This poses issues since the digital natives are used to having voice, choice, autonomy and the ability to freely access and share ideas in real time. This contradicts the behaviourist methods and can create a strain on the learner because they are used to other, more flexible and freeing, ways of learning and sharing. This only highlights the importance of shifting our teaching systems to better fit the learner. We need to shift current systems by implementing connectivism into teaching theory so that we can increase connection, engagement and truly meet our learners where they are at: In open learning environments that are increasingly connected and globalized. We must adapt to as our learners have.

Similarities and Differences

When I look at similarities, both theories favour collaboration, having the learner at the centre, using multiple modes, allowing for autonomy and recognizing that learners already bring knowledge and experiential insights to the table. When I look at the differences, the one which presents itself is that Constructivism seems to be more structured around Theorists such as Vygostky, Bruner and Skinner, while Connectivism seems more chaotic and less researched. I did note however, that although both theories allow a learner to learn at their own pace in their own way, Connectivism truly allows the learner to continue that learning journey into their future outside the course which acts as an aid in lifelong learning. The ability to continue learning outside the course, sets the learner up for success in their future because it gives them vital skills to innovate and create within their passions, as well as move forward in the unknown possibilities of their future learning.

EdTech Trend – PLE (Personal Learning Environment)

The“EdTech trend” which interested me the most from Weller’s (2018) article was PLE. This interested me the most because I can see how valuable tapping into several tools and platforms can be. I believe that the more skills and tools that are available for someone to learn/ use, the more they are set up for demonstrating their knowledge in a way that best suits them at the place there are at NOW. This is much like the constructivism theory in a sense that it is learner centred and learner accessible. It also speaks to connectivism since it provides them with multiple platforms and tools, which allows learners to gain several vital skills needed to perform in their futures, thus setting them up for life long learning. I have seen this in my past courses where I have been asked to use specific environments that may not have necessarily been on my radar, or of preference to me. However, those same tools have now been used in my future depending on who I am working with and what best suits our/my own needs. Weller’s article mentions how, ” each learner had his/her own particular blend of tools,” (Weller, 2020) and for me, this is true. However, that being said, I do tap into the plethora of PLE’s which I have learned over the past year in my education courses as well, depending on when I need them. This ability to tap into, and change my personal learning environment based on what I need now, has truly made me become a resilient and adaptive learner. This resilience and adaptability will only prove to enhacce my skills as a learner and individual in my future.

I hope that in the next few weeks I can truly define open learning and e-learning. I am still struggling to divide the two. That being said, perhaps they are much like the Venn Diagram above where there are more similarities than differences. Either way, I hope it becomes clear sooner rather than later.

Citation

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 17 –Connectivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/198057f5-1a3e-4436-a4b8-c6e1a3e0bd69#ch17

Weller, M. (2018, August). Twenty Years of Edtech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4). Retrieved fromhttps://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/7/twenty-years-of-edtech

July 6, 2021July 7, 2021

What is Online Learning?

Online learning has opened up opportunities in my life which may not have been possible with in-class learning, as well as helped me reach my learning goals in a flexible and personally driven way. Online learning has also made me feel more secure with my online privacy, as I have become more aware of it and been given explanations on how to manage it. This is not to say that there have not been steep learning curves and some difficulties with security which have come with it. However, for the most part, the online learning experience has only acted to enhance many learning opportunities.

I am a mom of two children and am currently on maternity leave. I have been wanting to upgrade my pay and enhance my education for awhile now, but have found previous attempts at going to University while juggling two kids, work and home life extremely difficult since I was never able to attend the times slots offered. Online learning has given me the flexibility to tackle courses and material at my own pace in my own time. I can work on assignments and readings after I put the kids down for the day, or while they are snacking. Online learning felt liberating and I can see how, “the blending of face-to-face provision with online delivery has been one area of significant growth, and [that] it has allowed many “traditional” universities to offer flexible learning opportunities”(Weller, 2020) because I have experienced that flexibility and that growth personally.

Not only is online learning flexible, but it also offers “a curriculum [that can] be offered electronically not just to hundreds of students nearby but to tens of thousands around the world” (Weller, 2020). Therefore, learning is becoming more accessible to everyone all over the world. Furthermore, online learning offers the ability to work with people from all over the world. This has broadened and diversified my PLN (personalized learning network) because it has allowed me to learn from, and learn with, a variety of individuals whom I may never have had the chance in a “traditional” setting. This diversity in my learning network has provided me with diverse insights and life long learning.

All that being said, while attempting to use open learning resources, or creating media for myself or with others, there are so many regulations and privacy issues that come along with it. When I teach, there is the privacy act that we must follow, as well as parental consent for image release etc… There are also limited Apps that we can use . Even in my past course, we needed to use the Open Ed website rather than one of our choice. This presented a couple issues. When in Open Ed, we cannot share it with the public. I was hoping to use my website created for my classroom, but I will need to make another in a separate way. Another issue I ran into was sourcing and confirming where those sources come from. Many times you trust the person who has posted a resource, but they may not be adhering to FIPPA regulations.

After absorbing this weeks readings, I realized that I have never actually heard the term OER (open educational resources). I have possibly used some as an educator, but I have not ever truly known the term or where to find these open resources. I feel like this may be what this course is all about, becoming a creator of learning resources and having the ability to share those ideas freely and openly online, without the restrictions of some e-learning. This would entail learning about privacy and securities, as well as how we would go about creating and sharing in general. I truly hope to learn more about how we can help our learners create learning objects which will enhance their understanding of intended learning materials, as well as to share that said information to educate others. As Weller mentions, “there [is] more to an education than simply the content” (Weller, 2020). I believe the same. I think that once we can produce something for others, collaborate around different ideas and enhance/ remix original ideas, we not only have a solid understanding of the material, but we gain more insight and skill sets which can aid us in becoming life long learners/ educators.

CItation

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 6 – 1999 E-Learning. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/2f403890-5fb5-431a-baf8-876144a4656d#ch06

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 11 – Open Educational Resources. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/ad633722-07b5-494f-80e7-a572f543bc1c#ch11