Author: matthewgibala

Notes on: Chapter 3: The Fallacy of “Open”

– The shift to open education often lacks interrogation.

– Open is not just about access, but rather a way of “being”.

– The initial goal of the internet was to create an open/democratic space.

– Privilege is a term that refers to the particular accessibility of something.

– It is important to remember that social media platforms were designed for a specific audience, often not minorities or other marginalized groups.

– Social networking platforms help build communities of other like-minded individuals.

– Online academic identity allows for opportunities to collaborate & network that would not normally occur.

– Twitter hashtags are a great example of access points that allow for people to connect with specific communities.

– Being a scholar in the digital age is completely different than traditionally.

– The social media landscape today is not the “democratic” internet we were initially promised.

– “Networked Participatory Scholarship” is an effective model to help with peer review on scholarly work/ articles.

– The risk of open scholarship is inequalities for minorities and marginalized groups.

– Open is NOT good for everyone.

– People supporting open are often privelaged.

– There are things we can do to be more sensitive such as creating inclusive spaces and being self-reflexive.

Resources

Bali, B., Cronin, C., Czerniewicz, L., DeRosa, R. & Jhangiani, R. (2020) Open at the Margins. Rebus Community Pressbooks. Retrieved from: https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/

UDL Guidelines: Provide Multiple Means of Representation

Checkpoint 1.1 (Customizing the display of information)

– In digital materials, the display of information is very customizable.

– Digital ≠ accessible but rather equally inaccessible.

– The size, colour, font and contrast of text and images should be flexible.

– The speed and volume of video should be malleable.

Checkpoint 1.2 (Alternatives for auditory information)

– Information conveyed through audio/sound is not equally accessible for all learners.

– Including, subtitles, transcripts and sign language can increase accessibility for audio/ video information.

Checkpoint 1.3 (Alternatives for visual information)

– Visual content is not equally accessible for all learners.

– Implementing audio descriptions, auditory cues and touch equivalents makes visual content more equally accessible.

– Text-to-speech programs are essential in allowing the visually impaired to have equal access to written information.

Checkpoint 2.1 (Clarify vocabulary and symbols)

– All key vocabulary, labels, icons and symbols should have alternative meanings provided.

– Glossaries, information banks, charts and maps are a great way to organize this information.

– Providing additional information or descriptions of symbols, images graphs etc. allow for a more accessible learning experience.

Checkpoint 2.2 (Clarify syntax & structure)

– When the syntax or structure is not obvious, clarification is necessary.

– Highlighting key structural points or explicit elements such as transition terms can elaborate upon structure and syntax for learners.

Checkpoint 2.3 (Decoding text, mathematical notation and symbols)

– Learners need meaningful exposure to symbols so they can comprehend.

– Provide options that reduce the task of decoding symbols through solutions such as text-to-speech and alternative explanations to clarify symbolic meaning.

Checkpoint 2.4 (Promote understanding across languages)

– Accessibility is restricted when language alternatives are not available.

– Providing information in secondary languages (eg: French in Canada) and sign language (ASL) for the visually impaired increases accessibility.

– Providing additional translation tools are also key.

Checkpoint 2.5 (Illustrate through multiple media)

– Classroom materials contain too much text.

– Implementing graphics, images and simulations can help learners better understand the information.

Checkpoint 3.1 (Activate and supply background knowledge)

– Barriers and inequities exist when learners lack the critical background knowledge.

– Activating and referring to prior knowledge helps refresh the content in learners minds.

Checkpoint 3.2 (Highlighting patterns, features, ideas & relationships)

– Expertise comes from knowing what information is critical, unimportant & irrelevant.

– Providing explicit cues and prompts help learners to identify what information is important and not critical increases accessibility.

Checkpoint 3.3 (Information processing & visualisation)

– Giving students strategies to better organize and understand critical information is key in memorization.

– Well designed materials help assist learners in understanding processes, models and text, removing unnecessary details.

Checkpoint 3.4 (Maximize transfer and generalization)

– All learners can benefit from assistance in how to transfer the information they have to other situations.

– Techniques that are designed to heighten the memorability of the information are key in increasing accessibility.

– Some of these strategies include reminders, checklists and graphic organizers.

Resources

The udl guidelines. UDL. (2021, April 9). https://udlguidelines.cast.org

Utilizing twitter as a live discussion forum for educational purposes can be a refreshing experience for any connectivist learner.  The 280 character limit is one of the best features, forcing students to keep their answers concise, while hashtags make it easy to follow along as a fellow classmate.  Another positive quality is the ability to bring people together from all across the world at the same time, creating an amazingly diverse community of like-minded individuals.  User-friendly features allow students to hyperlink, share and mention others in their own tweets, allowing for more collaborative learning opportunities.  One possible negative about using twitter as an educational resource is the risk of exposing your personal information/data in order to use the social media platform.

Learners can be influenced while using online digital resources, like wiki editing, in many ways. Wikipedia is a place where anyone can add information as they please, of course it will be monitored and fact checked but it’s not always the most reliable source for some information. Some people who edit may have biases or misinformation that may influence the way they make changes on certain pages. Media and information comes at us from all directions in this day and age. It’s important to be selective and careful of what we as the consumer take in and what we dismiss.

A Visitor/Resident Map describes how we use digital spaces. A matrix was developed where the Visitor/Resident continuum formed the horizontal axis and personal/institutional formed the vertical axis. In my understanding, we are acting as visitors when we use an online space and then log off without leaving much of a trace, for example, logging on and conducting a google search and logging off. We act as residents when we leave some trace or resources behind after logging off. For example, commenting on an article or posting some questions on Twitter. I think this is a useful way of learning, which can help us summarize knowledge points and is more suitable for discussion.

K-12 OER Cheat Sheet is an Open Educational Resource. It is in the form of Google’s online documents and allows cost-free access, reuse, adaptation and redistribution by others. K-12 OER Cheat Sheet has a relatively concise and clear table of contents on the left so that you can quickly browse the branches of interest. Here not only provides the link of General Resources but also has Notes/Comments, which can save you a lot of time to find the resources you want. In general, it is a great OER that can help everyone learn better.

We would say that there is endless potential for online digital resources and online participatory activities for those with the resourcesand support in place to access them. We think that the online repository “New America Resources” that we looked at this week is a great representation of the variety of resources available online for all school subjects and all ages. Looking forward, we think that the integration of technology and online resources is inevitable. In the digital age we live in, it is of utmost importance that teachers learn how to help their students access online resources and participatory activities in safe and effective ways and we think that this repository is a great place to start.

Resources

Barbour,B. (2019). Teaching Students How to Use Wikipedia Wisely. https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-how-use-wikipedia-wisely

Mali, B. (2017). Give & Take as Participation and empowerment #BeOpen. https://blog.mahabali.me/whyopen/give-take-as-participation-and-empowerment-beopen/

White, D. (2017). V and R mapping. {Weblog}. http://daveowhite.com/vandr/vr-mapping/

Connectivism and constructivism are two separate frameworks that demonstrate different ways teaching can be delivered, along with how students can benefit as learners from either concept.  Constructivism, unlike connectivism appears at the surface as a much more rudimentary and archaic way of learning when comparing it to the more modern and technology centric idea of connectivism.  Back at a time when bandwidth limitations did not allow for a seamless video streaming experience, constructivism demonstrated how educators engaged with technology in a rather conceptual manner compared to the central role that it plays in a connectivist style of education.  One large similarity that both styles share is the idea that reflecting and utilizing prior knowledge or experiences is essential in creating a strong base of information or data that helps with a current problem or assignment.  The proposal from Carr-Chellman and Duschatel (2000) for what make up an “ideal online course” were things that I believe are still relevant in todays education world.  The idea of no online textbook with an assignment based content schedule, paired with ample communication channels such as open discussion forums is a formula that really works for certain students (including myself).  This system provides a clear outline and format for what is expected and due at a certain time and place, leaving little to no confusion.  I feel that connectivism is just an evolved form of constructivism that effectively integrates the copious amounts of technological resources available to us while trying to fix some of the previously discovered issues of constructivism.

After reading Weller’s (2018) article, I was intrigued at the concept of open educational resources (OER’s) and how crucial they are in creating an openly available database of resources for us students to use online for FREE at any time.  For example, I took an english course last semester that always referred to the University of Perdue for things such as citation and writing formatting.  At first I was confused because I almost thought of it as stealing another schools intellectual property.  But after this week’s content and readings, I now see the convenience and reason behind open educational resources, because there is no need for each educational institution to have their own extensive citation and formatting guide, creating a space of confusion and inconsistencies as each guide would not be the exact same.  But rather using one or a few guides creates less confusion and simplifies an already complex topic.  The example shared about MIT releasing all materials for their over 1800 courses was one that initially shocked me.  Wouldn’t such a prestigious and highly regarded institution not want to release what students pay tens of thousands of dollars for each semester?  But clearly that has not effected them, and rather bolstered their reputation and popularity as their highly regarded materials can be now found all over the web for us students to use.  I think that the idea of having open educational resources greatly benefits a connectivism style of learning whose assumptions are that content is free, abundant, varied and easy to share.  With more and more institutions publishing their content online it only benefits the bank of data available to us  as connectivist learners.  The course readings have really expanded my knowledge about the growth and history of e-learning and how a traditional lecture style compares to the more modern online approaches and how us as students can benefit and mature as learners.  In the upcoming days and weeks I hope to continue learning about how connectivism continues to be an effective way for us to learn and also how studying can tie into this topic.

Resources

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 4 – Constructivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/0442be0f-0347-40eb-9c19-de80b7e13d47#ch04

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 from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/198057f5-1a3e-4436-a4b8-c6e1a3e0bd69#ch17