Category: edci339

Open learning means anyone can access the technical tools and achieve the learning he/she wants, according to the book A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice (Major, 2015). MOOC, a massive open course platform created in 2008 by Dave Cormier, comes as a good example. Such open learning has both advantages and disadvantages.

On one hand, it lowers the cost of education with some free classes although there are also courses requiring fees. It also make education available to people from all walks of life, providing opportunities for employees to be exposed to lifelong learning and improve themselves. Another advantage is its form of online learning, which addresses the geographical and temporal barriers, allowing more convenience and flexibility, which is especially meaningful in the era of pandemic when face-to-face interaction can be risky. On top of that, blended learning is possible through the platform, which proves to be “considerably more effective than one or other used solely” compared with traditional learning or online learning (de Freitas et al., 2015). The presence of MOOC also challenges traditional learning which “are costly to deliver, are not very scalable and rely upon an inherent élitism in that small numbers of learners are optimal (de Freitas et al., 2015)”.

On the other hand, there are also limitations, for example, lack of interaction and low completion rates. “High ‘attrition rates’ have been problematic for wider uptake of online courses. The literature has also been clear about pointing to the high ‘dropout’ rates associated with MOOCs, with around 7–10% completing the courses (de Freitas et al., 2015). So what contributes to the low completion rates and how can we handle the problem of open learning?

In the paper Unpacking online learning experiences: Online learning self-efficacy and  learning satisfaction, the authors point out that “online learning self-efficacy predicted students’ online learning satisfaction”(Shen et al., 2013). Self-efficacy refer to the students’ ability to organize, to deliver their commitment, and to attain different kinds of assigned tasks (Shen et al., 2013). It has been found that “drop-out rate is related in part to lack of self-efficacy”. The experiment also confirms that interaction with instructors and classmates is a critical factor in predicting learning satisfaction. In response, there are several suggestions for online learning construction. First of all, supervise students’ participation. This can be achieved with the help of online instructors who are responsible for monitoring of students’ participation and assignment and providing necessary help when students lack enough online experience. Secondly, promote social interaction with others. Instructors are encouraged to “create social presence and teaching presence to Forster a learning community” (Shen et al., 2013). Thirdly, provide assistance about how to use online tools in a CMS. The students’s confidence and proficiency in using the tools also play a role in their self-efficacy (Shen et al., 2013).

In conclusion, open learning like MOOC has both advantages and disadvantages. As far as I am concerned, open education is a trend for the future. If instructors can monitor students’ participation, create a learning community, and offer help in handling technical tools, the students would have a high self-efficacy, encouraging them to finish the course and harvest knowledge from it.

Part 1: Evidence and Reflection on your learning

During the course, I have read a lot of academic articles related to the topic of education, one of which left me with a deep impression: Teaching online: A guide to theory, research,  and practice. In chapter 4, the author mentioned some critical aspects of online teaching: enrollment, amount, timing, and platform. When it comes to the amount, the author points out that “putting a syllabus online and exchanging some emails with students is not blended learning. Rather, substantive and direct instructional activity should take place over the Internet in order for a course to be considered blended learning (Major, 2015).” From this, I learned a more specific and novel definition of online learning, which is not only about the online platforms of email or social media but also about how to employ the digital platforms to engage with students, to encourage more equal, extensive, and convenient interaction among the students and boost their learning. The process of reading papers helps me achieve the learning outcome “Explore and engage with current literature on the distributed and open education movement”.

In the same chapter, the author also provides a more precise definition of blended teaching: “Blended or hybrid. 30%– 79% of the course happens on the Internet (Major, 2015).” I have also talked about blended learning in my first blog: “making face-to-face learning and online powerfully complementary meant the combination of face-to-face synchronous communication with text-based online asynchronous communication.” （https:// minruihan.opened.ca/topic-1-what-does-a-blended-learning-look-like-to-you/）From doing I learned the definition of blended learning and I have reflected on its benefits. The process is helpful to “Critically reflect on and articulate concepts around blended learning”. This learning matters to me because it makes me think about the benefits of blending learning. As far as I am concerned, the reason why blended teaching is more favorable is that it can use digital tools to record the course process, illustrate boring theoretical lecturing, create a virtual environment for classmate discussion, allowing more space for students to design their personalized learning.

In the Digital Equity & Perspective Pod Project, our group has designed a fictional figure named Lisa. We have analyzed her personality, her growth experience, her family background, her talents, her likes and dislikes, and her strengths and weaknesses. Then we design a suitable learning approach for her based on all these factors. This process is really inspiring, which leads me to think that one’s learning outcome has much to do with the learning context such as the previous education experience and one’s family environment. In this case, there is no single perfect learning approach that can bring the best outcomes for everyone, and everyone should be encouraged to find their own customized learning method. The process of analyzing Lisa’s learning also points to the importance and the potential of online learning. We concluded that an open learning environment is most suitable for Lisa, “Open learning environment effectively solves problems such as rigid learning objectives, single teaching, and learning methods, lack of autonomy and flexibility in learning, and lack of full respect for students’ personal knowledge or ability background.” (https://edci339po4.opened.ca/digital-equity-perspective-pod-project/) Open learning environment can only be possible with the advancement of online learning. If the online platforms can be used properly, they can lead students to a new era of learning, which allows them to find a learning approach tailored to their needs. This process helps me build the ability to “Describe the potential of human-centered learning in distributed and open learning contexts”. The learning matters to me because I learned that all education methods have to be human-centered, and lead to reflect on the defects of traditional learning.

I attach much importance on the readings of the course. I am accustomed to using mind maps to help me to sort out the content of the academic papers. For example, I have made the mind map of the paper Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning:  twenty-first century student sorting and tracking, in which I have divided the content into three parts: the ethical issues related to edtech, the political responses, and finally the interaction between personalized learning and other social issues, like race and gender. From the paper I learned the potential disadvantages of online learning, especially its impact on privacy. Personalized learning is based on the process of collecting students’ personal information and analyzing the data. If the process cannot be supervised properly, it is likely to endanger students’ psychological development and freedom of becoming themselves. The learning contributed to my development of “critically reflect upon emerging and future educational technologies”. The learning matters to me because it reminds me not to rely too much on the statistical function of online education since it is achieved at the cost of students’ privacy.

Most of the time we are required to interact with others. I have also actively interact with other classmates and learn from them. For example, I have received comments for my blog “Topic 2: Open education vs traditional education”.(https://minruihan.opened.ca/topic-2/) As the screenshot shows, Moky pointed out the disadvantage of MOOC courses I had left out—its fees. I also admit its disadvantage of lack of interaction. In response to leihan’s recognition of the potential of online learning, I also showed my agreement that onlinelearning is especially superior to traditional learning in overcoming the geographical barriers, especially amid pandemic.

Part 2: “Showcase” Blog Post

I have improved my blog post: Topic 2: Open education vs traditional education. The original version can be accessed through https://minruihan.opened.ca/topic-2/.

This is the revised blog: https://minruihan.opened.ca/topic-2-revised-blog Open learning means anyone can access the technical tools and achieve the learning he/she wants, according to the book A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice (Major, 2015). MOOC, a massive open course platform created in 2008 by Dave Cormier, comes as a good example.

On one hand, it lowers the cost of education with some free classes although there are also courses requiring fees. It also make education available to people from all walks of life, providing opportunities for employees to be exposed to lifelong learning and improve themselves. Another advantage is its form of online learning, which addresses the geographical and temporal barriers, allowing more convenience and flexibility, which is especially meaningful in the era of pandemic when face-to-face interaction can be risky. On top of that, blended learning is possible through the platform, which proves to be “considerably more effective than one or other used solely” compared with traditional learning or online learning (de Freitas et al., 2015). The presence of MOOC also challenges traditional learning which “are costly to deliver, are not very scalable and rely upon an inherent élitism in that small numbers of learners are optimal (de Freitas et al., 2015)”.

On the other hand, there are also limitations, for example, lack of interaction and low completion rates. “High ‘attrition rates’ have been problematic for wider uptake of online courses. The literature has also been clear about pointing to the high ‘dropout’ rates associated with MOOCs, with around 7–10% completing the courses (de Freitas et al., 2015). So what contributes to the low completion rates and how can we handle the problem of open learning?

In the paper Unpacking online learning experiences: Online learning self-efficacy and  learning satisfaction, the authors point out that “online learning self-efficacy predicted students’ online learning satisfaction”(Shen et al., 2013). Self-efficacy refer to the students’ ability to organize, to deliver their commitment, and to attain different kinds of assigned tasks (Shen et al., 2013). It has been found that “drop-out rate is related in part to lack of self-efficacy”. The experiment also confirms that interaction with instructors and classmates is a critical factor in predicting learning satisfaction. In response, there are several suggestions for online learning construction. First of all, supervise students’ participation. This can be achieved with the help of online instructors who are responsible for monitoring of students’ participation and assignment and providing necessary help when students lack enough online experience. Secondly, promote social interaction with others. Instructors are encouraged to “create social presence and teaching presence to Forster a learning community” (Shen et al., 2013). Thirdly, provide assistance about how to use online tools in a CMS. The students’s confidence and proficiency in using the tools also play a role in their self-efficacy (Shen et al., 2013).

In conclusion, open learning like MOOC has both advantages and disadvantages. As far as I am concerned, open education is a trend for the future. If instructors can monitor students’ participation, create a learning community, and offer help in handling technical tools, the students would have a high self-efficacy, encouraging them to finish the course and harvest knowledge from it.

I have made some changes in my revised post.

First of all, I have changed the structure and theme of my blog. My current blog is themed on the negative and positive impact of open learning. I made this change because the discussion under my original blog is all about it and people are curious about the benefits and weaknesses of open learning. Obviously the topic is more intriguing and more meaningful. Secondly, I add more benefits and weaknesses of the online platform of MOOC after I analyzed the paper Will MOOCs transform learning and teaching in higher  education? Engagement and course retention in online learning provision. In the paper, it mentioned about the high attrition rates of online learning and also the challenge posed by online learning towards traditional learning. These points also respond to the question asked by Rbanow about “a difficulty with open courses is retaining students”. Thirdly, I add the content about self-efficacy and suggestions for instructors of online learning. The two parts are added because I was motivated to search for more academic evidence to answer the questions about why the online course has low completion rates and how to solve the problem. After I read Unpacking online learning experiences: Online learning self-efficacy  and learning satisfaction, I learned that self-efficacy is very important since a student with high self-efficacy are motivated to persist in the course and learn more from it. I also learned that self-efficacy can be determined by many factors like interaction and proficient use of online tools. Thus, by enhancing these factors, instructors can provide better online learning experience for students.

                                                        References

de Freitas, S. I., Morgan, J., & Gibson, D. (2015). Will MOOCs transform learning and teaching in higher education? Engagement and course retention in online learning provision. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46(3), 455–471. https:// doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12268

Major, C. H. (2015). Teaching Online: A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice  (Tech.edu: A Hopkins Series on Education and Technology) (Illustrated ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.

Regan, P. M., & Jesse, J. (2018). Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning: twenty-first century student sorting and tracking. Ethics and Information  Technology, 21(3), 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2

Shen, D., Cho, M. H., Tsai, C. L., & Marra, R. (2013). Unpacking online learning bexperiences: Online learning self-efficacy and learning satisfaction. The Internet  and Higher Education, 19, 10–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2013.04.001

This year the Open Education Act is related to Open Educational Resources (OER). OER was originally defined as a way for students to learn through exploration based on their own interests, rather than learning that bores them. OER is how we can complement OER by opening up our educational resources and videos. OER also allows our students to engage more freely in activities and thus take a broader approach to learning. Also the text states that pedagogy that supports OER creates complementary learning resources designed to facilitate learning for other students. Students can use Creative Commons to post content that is reviewed by the instructor and then selected for inclusion in the class, while some high level students can become teaching assistants for the next semester. It is also possible to include quality content in the courseware as teaching materials.

Also the OER approach to teaching and learning may improve the learning of future students. Through this educational approach students will not only be able to create or modify openly licensed work examples especially on topics that have been very challenging in the past. They can then review and deepen their knowledge. So OERs allow students to both demonstrate and listen to their learning and create learning resources for the next generation of learners. Although OER has so many benefits, some people think that because it is free it is not as good as some commercial alternatives. I believe that OER can change the learning atmosphere and creativity of students and can increase GPA.

I think OER is a very useful way to educate. When talking about Wikipedia and OER in the article. I noticed that these students may initially have a lot of imperfections in the articles they post on it, but they can improve by relearning later and seeing what mistakes they made in their previous studies. They can continue to improve themselves from this and what they post makes a significant contribution to the community.

Wiley, D. & Hilton, J. (2018). Defining OER-enabled Pedagogy. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 19(4).

With open pedagogy, it is important to recognize that open pedagogy has common investments with many other historical and contemporary schools of pedagogy. Connected learning and critical digital pedagogy, for example, both overlap with open pedagogy. We can see the relationship between family income and college attendance in today’s society, as according to the data in the text 54% of BC college students cannot afford textbooks. They are not lazy but cannot afford it. Through Open Educational Resources (OERs), OERs are publicly licensed educational materials, often with Creative Commons licenses. This saves students the cost of books. One of the main things about open education is that it is publicly accessible. This ensures that college is affordable and equally accessible to all college students; knowledge should not be reserved for the elite. While open education has many advantages, open education is not a panacea for the current challenging higher education crisis.

Digital redlining is usually found in some community colleges. This directly limits the future of students because of the scarcity of digital resources and the low class of students and teachers. This is very unequal for these students, who may not be able to complete a topic if they want to look it up but are filtered out by the Internet for various reasons. Digital redlining is the result of a policy that regulates and tracks student participation in information technology. Not only does it control access and filtering of information, but it also collects and retains student data and passes it on to third parties. Digital redlining is an act of discrimination because it emphasizes specific groups and reinforces boundaries of race, class, and ethnicity. Every student should be equal in learning, and students have a legitimate legal right to gather information on topics of interest to them. Digital redlining is preventing them from accessing information and controlling their learning.

In “A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice”, The author mentions that so-called “online learning” is a specific thing; it is a single approach to any education on the Internet. What we call online courses are most talked about in terms of access, but access can also be closed or open. What is closed is the same as traditional education is that the on-site courses are no longer seen as a traditional form of higher education. Open means that anyone who has the technical tools and wants to learn can come and take it. The MOOC model was created in 2008 by Dave Cormier. MOOCS is a massive open course that allows participants to take advantage of these courses to earn credits because they are usually free. I think this model is great in that it allows people from all walks of life in addition to students to join in and share different perspectives. Another benefit is that all interactions and activities are conducted via the Internet., but there are those who think this may create a stratified education system that provides onsite education for the privileged. But it does also lose some of the benefits of live teaching compared to traditional courses, such as seeing students in real time, having visual cues such as eye contact and body language. Online learning has become a regular and accepted way by now, but is there any way that online learning can make up for the benefits of offline teaching?

In ” Openness and education: a beginner’s guide”, In the article, the authors mention their research together to try to map open educational spaces. They have selected twenty key articles from the web and have included relevant data tables and references below. The ideas mentioned by the authors in the article have been brought back to the forefront by the renewed focus on Mooc, bringing the idea of openness in education to the forefront. The relationship between openness and education has been conceptualized decades ago. Open Education represents a field of study. People come from all over the world and may learn together across different disciplines and perspectives. I think open education is a trend for the future. I think if I were a teacher of an open course, I would divide all my students into tasks in the class. For example, put some common interests in a group and let them work together on a related topic. This would be a great way to increase productivity. 

We have a traditional framework concept of blended learning which is the integration of face-to-face and online activities, but not all online activity-based learning meets the characteristics of blended learning. True blended learning, as the authors conclude in the article, requires thoughtful selection and organic integration of face-to-face and online learning approaches. The innovation for blended learning is for us to rethink and redesign the ways and means by which learners can be fully engaged. By making face-to-face learning and online powerfully complementary is meant the combination of face-to-face synchronous communication with text-based online asynchronous communication. But blended learning offers more possibilities and difficult choices for educators and participants in communities of inquiry, and if learning is online then it is important to ensure that learners adhere to community norms and responsibilities. The teacher cannot guarantee that learners will adhere to these nor can interaction and collaboration alone guarantee that students will learn in a deep and meaningful way.

Indeed, compared to our traditional education and blended education, if it is only face-to-face learning then the learner may not be able to remember all the points taught in class, compared to blended education where the learner can watch the points taught in class again and again after class.

Vaughan, N. D., Garrison, D. R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and   sustaining communities of inquiry. AU Press.