I find this week’s readings very suitable for me to read due to the current pandemic. I have taken many courses online since the pandemic, most of the professors of those courses used tools such as zoom to try to reconstruct face to face lectures, I find it more convenient for me to learn as I could rewatch the lecture, however; I know that it was very inconvenient for students who took courses that need practices and experiments. And I have 2 open learning course experiences (including this course). Learning in an open learning course is a very unique and special experience for me, almost everything in the course has to be done through the internet, I can access any course material anytime I want to and there is no class time. Personally, I love this learning style A LOT, however; I strongly believe that I do not have the self-control to follow the course schedule (August is a very busy time for me as I have some family business to deal with. And the second dose of the vaccine I took yesterday makes me feel a little dizzy, they are not excuses, I just want to tell you guys how lazy I am).
The pandemic has caused us great pain, but it has also created a huge improvement for the online learning platforms, before the pandemic, I did not even know what zoom is, and now, almost every student of UVIC knows and sees the improvement of online learning. I really believe that open learning resources can help us to develop a better learning environment even after the pandemic. And after reading the articles written by Regan and Jesse (2019), I know the ethical challenges we are facing and understand that the laws we currently have are not enough to protect our internet safety. I still have faith in ourselves and believe that the current laws will adjust and integrate just like the online learning platform we use nowadays.
Comments
Hi Hang,
Thanks for the post. In your description of open learning, I was wondering if you are conflating open with asynchronous. What elements of open do you love? Are those exclusively open practices or are they features of asynchronous online learning?
You mention concerns about your safety online. What do you see as something that needs to be adjusted to be better for learners?
Ryan
Hello, professor Ryan,
Thank you for replying. I really love the fact that open learning can be done in any place at any time, it gives me so much more flexibility in my schedule and also the fact that it saves my time and effort to walk to school (I walk more than I take buses) and last but not least importantly, I can learn in my own pace. I think these elements are features of asynchronous as I could adjust my schedule. And for internet safety, I think it is extremely difficult to achieve convenience and safety. For the current status of technology, I could not think of any better solution than using a trustworthy secured website and a good computer protection system (and of course do not give away your identity for some easy causes like I once did).
Iat Hang