After reading this week’s articles, I have a clearer distinction between distributed learning and open learning. When we post content on Brightspace, what we are doing is distributed learning. When we post content on WordPress, because some permissions have disappeared, all the public can view your content. This is distributed learning.
In contrast, open learning provides more learning opportunities for more people, not just for university students. Open education resources(OER) provide a more affordable learning environment for students. The high cost of textbooks is often prohibitive for many students, especially for students with difficult financial condition, the cost of completing higher education is enormous. OER, on the other hand, not only provides students with a free alternative to high-priced commercial textbooks, but also, allows them to share their views and ideas and contribute to knowledge. For teachers, ORE is making instructors rethink their teaching methods so that more students can persist and succeed in their secondary education.
With regard to privacy and access, as Gilliard and Culik describe in the article Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy, digital redlining creates a degree of inequity and privacy issues while regulating students’ use of information. Sometimes, when we want to access some information, the presence of “filters” makes some sites with sensitive information blocked from search. These information restrictions act as invisible walls, creating a “new world” within the existing online world, isolating students from the outside world.
References
Gilliard, C., & Culik, H. (2016, May 24). Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy. Common Sense Education.
Mays, E. (Ed.). (2017). A guide to making open textbooks with students. Rebus Community.
Thanks for the post, Judy! You’ve provided a good overview of the key ideas from the readings and made some connections to our course (i.e., Brightspace and WordPress). One thing you’ll want to fix is that you say ORE, when it should be OER. Also, at the end of your first paragraph, I think you mean “open”.
You wrote that: “[OER] not only provides students with a free alternative to high-priced commercial textbooks, but also, allows them to share their views and ideas and contribute to knowledge. “. That ability to contribute to knowledge is a big one. Can you expand on what that might look like?
Lastly, you explained digital redlining. What do you think about that? What implications does it have for learners?
Thanks!
Also, try to give your post a title that communicates the key message. Entice your readers!
Hi Meng,
I totally agree with you that open learning actually make contribution to more people. As Mays (2017) mentions, open pedagogy offers a free alternative to expensive commercial textbooks. That is to say, not only students, but also vulnerable groups can access to the world of knowledge. This lowers the threshold for people to learn resources that they are interested. Moreover, I agree with you that teachers should adjust their lesson plan with regard to ORE. They can learn more effective multimedia tools to teach, follow and assess learners.
When I took online courses in China, I couldn’t access many academic materials due to regional restrictions. The VPN provided by Uvic was not very useful, so I finally bought another VPN to use. This invisible wall holds back many students and knowledge.
Hey Meng,
Great post! Thanks for your discussion of topic 3 this week.
I like how you described distributed learning versus online learning. Similar to you, I was confused on exactly the distinction before this weeks reading. I very much like your example as it clearly illustrates how I came to understand the difference as well!
I like and agree on how you observed ORE in the reading. I do agree that teachers ought to rethink how they distribute the course topics as I feel it is outdated and doesn’t at the heart obtain student’s recollection of knowledge and rather their recollection to regurgitate ideas.
I liked your description of Gilliard an d Culik’s article. Zhaotan (our other group member) talked very similar about redlining affecting student’s ability to learn. I recommend you reading his post about his friend who couldn’t acquire certain information by the process you described in your post. I do agree this create inequity and doesn’t give an even playing field in terms of letting students have full range to information and content at the risk of privacy. This conflict is something that is interested and sure will be a bigger topic of discussion as online learning begins to develop more.
Overall I really enjoyed your post for topic 3 Meng! Thanks again.