EDCI 339 Blog 1
Hello. My name is Lillian Li. I am an Economics major in my fourth year. An experience that has influenced my educational journey was definitely COVID, which showed how online learning and distance learning forces us to be more self-motivated and manage our time effectively.
In thinking about some of the content from the first module, I thought a lot about the concept of open education. As stated in the lecture notes, the purpose of open education is to make practices and resources that are free to everyone, which includes open textbooks and online courses (Hotchin 2024). I have been using some of the MIT open modules for studying Japanese and they have been very helpful. However, I still feel there needs to be some kind of evaluative point in the process. Self-directed learning on an open resource makes it difficult to remain motivated, and there also needs to be some correction. For example, in the Japanese module I take, I can see the answers for the grammar and vocabulary questions I do, but it is difficult to know if the pronunciation exercises are correct or not.
Another concept from the module that I found interesting was in looking at the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face and online learning. Online learning is definitely a great way to learn for people with different learning styles and because it matches their own schedules. However, as noted in the lecture notes, one of the disadvantages is that there is not really a sense of community. Overall, online learning is very convenient, but it lacks the kind of experience that comes with learning at the same place. A good approach forward would be hybrid learning, that has the opportunity for people to attend in person or online, depending on their situation.
Lastly, the concept that I also became interested in was of digital literacy, especially the TEDx video of Shauna Begley. One thing she mentioned was on how we have in our pockets devices that had more power than what was used to send the first shuttle to the moon, but we use them to just waste time (Begley 2023). This drives home the point that digital literacy is not just about being able to use technology, such as social media, but being able to use it effectively. Digital literacy impacts my learning experiences in that I have had to use various kinds of apps that are not just for distraction but actually have a functional use for them, and this has allowed me to build on my skills. For example, I have used software to build mindmaps and collaborate with groupmates. Platforms that build on this literacy will be helpful within an educational experience.
References
Begley, S. (2023). “Digital Literacy: Realizing the Promise of Technology.” TedXRoyal Roads U. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGwSzp2xBU4&t=22s
Hotchin, J. (2024). “Module 1: Introduction to Digital Learning and Privacy.” EDCI 339.https://connectedlearningpathways.ca/category/edci-339-a01-module-1/