Topic 5: Lessons learnt – future practice

It is now three months since my ONL-journey started. In the beginning I really did not know what ONL was and I was not really sure of its purpose and certainly not the aim. Now, three months later I at least know the journey, am a little bit more aware of the purpose and the aim. And I sure know my personal outcome.

What are the most important things that you have learnt through your engagement in the ONL course? Why?
This is the first question to reflect on from the ONL community. When thinking back, there are several things I like to highlight here and I like to do that by summarizing my learning topic by topic.
First, digital literacy. I had to dig deeper into to even understanding these terms. And where do we university teachers stand according to our digital literacy? How well are our student’s literacy in the digital and technological world? Are the students really as well educated in digital literacies as we think they are? This was discussed in my PBL-group as well as at home and with my colleagues at work. I can really identify myself in the expressions of digital literacy as a “native” or “second” language.
Second, openness in education and learning. For me, this topic was very interesting and concerning. And it is political! It is about freedom of learning what you want to learn and the opportunity to form your own future. For me, it is a question of empowerment and democracy! No matter what country you live in, if you live in a city or in a rural area, if you are young or old, your sex or religion, your language – education is about sharing knowledge. And knowledge is power!
Then there was learning in communities – networked collaborative learning. During this topic we discussed our personal learning networks (PLN). A PLN is kind of a collective brain, meaning I can be able to use my PLN to give and receive information from everybody’s brain, and it is open 24-7. For me it is crucial to have a large and wide personal learning network, both privately as well as professionally. We all need each other. And by interacting with many different people, with different ideas and from different countries and cultures, I can both contribute and receive and therefore be nothing but richer, both in knowledge and in personal well-being. We need to guide our students in collaborative learning, guiding them to get personal learning networks and learn them to both share and receive. We all need each other! Let us all take part of this worldwide learning community, but in a responsible and academic way!
Finally, design for online and blended learning. Due to the pandemic we had to go through a significant rethinking of how to approach the teaching and learning in a very short time. Fortunately, at my university we have had some online and blended teaching already, so the transformation was not so difficult as for others. But during this topic I still got the chance to discuss how to support and design learning, both face-to-face learning, blended learning as well as e-learning. We were introduced to the five stage model and the scaffold of learning as well as the three key elements or dimensions of the Community of Inquiry framework; social, cognitive, and teaching presence.

Then why?
All the things that I have highlighted above are important to me in the way that I have had the chance to stop and think about these different topics over quite a period of time (3 months). I have had the chance to read about it and to discuss the topics with colleagues from different countries in my PBL-group. That has been very important to me. I have also noticed that I have brought my thoughts back to work. I have talked to my colleagues at work about the topics in the ONL and my reflections, which has started some discussions at work as well. As a senior lecturer, and as a teacher for over 20 years and with over 30 years of being a physiotherapist, I love teaching as well as receiving knowledge from my patients and students. I have learned to teach by “trial and error” for so many years, but now I have had the time to reflect on my teaching with focus on the digital part. That has been very important to me.

How will your learning influence your practice?
It already has! I have already made some changes in my courses, both due to the pandemic but also due to this ONL-course. I have recorded several of my lectures so that the students can look at them in advance, and then using the lessons for discussions instead. I believe that this is a better way of using my skill and experiences as a teacher.
Another change that I have already done is having more lessons in Zoom. I also try to use breakout-rooms more frequently to get more students to be active in discussions. By “going around” in the break-out rooms I can more easily listen to them and contribute when needed. My experience is that more students are more active in breakout rooms than in face-to-face classroom.
In face-to-face classes, as a teacher you are always in the classroom some time in advance and afterwards to meet the students and answer questions. I will try to do this as well in my Zoom-classes. So if there is a student that have any questions, they know that I will be there in advance.
In my PBL-group, we discussed the problem with collaborative learning, students working in groups but be graded individually. A very “hot” and interested discussion! I do think we all agreed on that this is a problem. By having both collaborative tasks as well as individual tasks, the students get to practice both. Also, by having synchrony as well as asynchrony tasks, more students get to explore their own ways of learning as well as practice the ways that they do not like so much but most probably will have to do out there in the society during a future job.

What are your thoughts about using technology to enhance learning/teaching in your own context?
I already do, but after this course I will try to use it even more. Most of my classes are in physiotherapy methodology and therefore face-to-face lab classes. But I still have some classes where technology can improve my teaching. As I am working at Luleå University of Technology, we have an IT-department with such skilled IT-pedagogic personnel that are just waiting for me to contact them if I need their help (which I do and will).

What are you going to do as a result of your involvement in ONL?
I will do an inventory in my courses and see what changes I can do to improve learning for the students. I am also involved in developing a new education plan for the physiotherapy program, where the ideas from this ONL-course will fit right in.
Why?
Because I believe that several pieces from this course can improve the courses and education programs that I am involved in or in charge of. You always have to keep the best part from every course you take, the parts that can improve your teaching.

Summary:
For me education is such a big question both in society and in the world. For me open learning is about freedom and opportunities. Freedom of learning what you want to learn and the opportunity to form your own future. It is a question of empowerment and democracy! Education is getting knowledge. And knowledge is power! So let’s keep on sharing the power!

Topic 4: Design for online and blended learning

In this topic, we were to shift our focus from participation in a learning environment to how to support and design learning, both face-to-face learning, blended learning as well as e-learning (ONL webside, 2020).

The definition of blended learning in higher education is “the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p. 148). By organic the authors meant grounded in practice, and by the use of the term thoughtfully, they wanted to indicate a significant rethinking of how to approach the learning experience. They believe that blended learning is the inspiration of much of the innovation, both pedagogically and technologically, in higher education. By innovation they mean significantly rethinking and redesigning approaches to teaching and learning that fully engage learners (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes & Garrison (2013).

The strength of integrating face-to-face synchronous communication and text-based online asynchronous communication is powerfully complementary for higher educational purposes. The goal of blended learning is to bring these together to academically challenge students in ways not possible through either mode individually (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes & Garrison (2013).

Online learning
In our ONL network, Professor Salmon gave an interesting speech about online learning, the five stage model and the scaffold of learning (Salmon, 2013). This model is based on pedagogical resurge for over 50 years. It is a model when you want to mix face-to-face learning with blended learning and e-learning. When building a course, it is important to make sure all these steps are fully covered and stable before going on to the next step (Salmon, 2013).

The five different stages in the model consist of the following steps;

1. Access and motivation – To begin with, the participant have to have easy access to the online community or platform. The participant also have to be motivated to engage her/himself in e-learning and e-ctivities.
2. Online socialisation – Once in the community or platform, someone has to welcome the participants and make sure they feel comfortable in the group. Everybody present themselves in some way, by putting the camera on or by speech. This is the “building of the team” part.
3. Information exchange – Over time, the participants feels comfortable in the group and start interacting with each other. That also leads to exchanging of information and knowledge.
4. Knowledge construction – The participant now start to become a member of the constructive community of knowledge by taking more and more control over his/her own learning. Everyone in the project add their knowledge to the project. This is when you can ask for more complex activities and more complex group goals. The participant is not only a consumer of knowledge but also a distributer of knowledge.
5. Development – The participant is now more confident in learning and ready to try her/his own “wings” and, for example try to integrate more e-learning into her/his classes at home. This is the level to introduce more information about “learning about learning”, as well as time for reflection, evaluation and critiquing (Salmon, 2013).

Community of Inquiry

Then, we were introduced to a concept called “Community of Inquiry (CoI)”. The Community of Inquiry, is supposed to be the practical implications of blended learning in higher education. This concept introduced us to a way to learn about different pedagogical aspects in creating good blended and online learning environments.

A community of inquiry is also where “students listen to one another with respect, build on one another’s ideas, challenge one another to supply reasons for otherwise unsupported opinions, assist each other in drawing inferences from what has been said, and seek to identify one another’s assumptions” (Lipman, 2003, p. 20). Lipman (1991) also argued that education is inquiry. He suggests that, “The community of inquiry is perhaps the most promising methodology for the encouragement of that fusion of critical and creative cognitive processing known as higher-order thinking” (Lipman, 1991, p. 204). Critical thinking is most often cited as the hallmark of higher education (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes & Garrison, 2013).

The three key elements or dimensions of the Community of Inquiry framework are social, cognitive, and teaching presence. Social presence creates the environment for trust, open communication, and group cohesion. Cognitive presence has been defined “as the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community. The third and cohesive element, teaching presence, is associated with the design, facilitation, and direction of a community of inquiry. This unifying force brings together the social and cognitive processes directed to personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile outcomes (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes & Garrison, 2013).

The following principles provide a map and guide to creating and sustaining purposeful communities of inquiry: 1. Plan for the creation of open communication and trust. 2. Plan for critical reflection and discourse. 3. Establish community and cohesion. 4. Establish inquiry dynamics (purposeful inquiry). 5. Sustain respect and responsibility. 6. Sustain inquiry that moves to resolution. 7. Ensure assessment is congruent with intended processes and outcomes. These seven principles are the first step in providing specific practical guidelines to the design, facilitation, and direction of a collaborative community of inquiry (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes & Garrison, 2013).

Theories into action

Ok. Now we have read and heard about face-to-face learning, blended learning as well as e-learning. How can I get this into action as a teacher in my classes? Therefor I would like to analyse one of my classes that I teach from this point of view and try to put my teaching actions into these theoretical models.

I am a senior lecturer in physiotherapy at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. I am also a course coordinator, as well as teacher, for a very practical, hands-on course in basic joint examination. The course uses blended learning with some hands-on lectures as well as recorded lectures as well as Zoom-meetings/classes. I love my work and I love my profession. Therefore I am very engaged in all the parts of this course. Now I am going to reflect on my role as teacher in this course according to the seven principles of CoI:

1. Plan for the creation of open communication and trust. – At the course introduction I present myself and my background as a clinician. As I have a personal background in team sports as well as a physiotherapist for the national U21 female team in football, I emphasize my teacher role as a “coach” and the students as “players” in the team. We have all the same goal and that we are to help each other to reach that goal. Since I have such a passion for my profession and that I really want them to become very excellent physiotherapists, I really want them to tell me if there is something they do not understand during the course so that I can guide them to the knowledge. I also take lots of time walking around in the classroom during practical tasks, talking with them on one-on-one and giving them positive feed-back. I do have high requirements but I am always there to guide them. And I know that they too have high requirements on me as a teacher. That goes both ways.
2. Plan for critical reflection and discourse. – When I get questions I sometimes give them the answer, but more often I throw the question back and want them to answer it. I always tell them that there is only one correct answer, and it is: “It depends”. I want them to know that the world is not black or white, but a variety of different grey colours. They need to use their academic knowledge, as well as the knowledge from life, to solve the problems that arise also during their professional life. I try to be teaching present and not teacher present (Vaughan 2018). I want them to be able to solve the problems using their own knowledge and life experiences. But I will help in guiding them.
3. Establish community and cohesion. – Students at the physiotherapy program is already a community where the students stay together in the same class for 3 years (unless you do not have to take some time off for some reason). Therefor the community is quite obvious. During practical moments they work in pairs or 3 and 3. Normally we want them to work with different persons during different tasks. If it is a theoretical task, we randomize them into groups. They have to learn to work with different people and put personal difficulties aside. During Corona we have had to change our group ideas, so now they only work with other students that they socialize with and/or travel to school with. But for theoretical tasks they can still be randomized.
4. Establish inquiry dynamics (purposeful inquiry). – Every class has its own culture. Some classes are very open minded and talk freely while other classes have some issues in their group dynamics. As a teacher I have to sense the dynamic in the class and go with it (when the dynamic is ok) or try to change it to the better (when there are problems within a group/groups). This really calls for a lot of experience as well as knowledge in group psychology. I take this task very seriously, but I often have to remind myself that this is not my major task as a teacher in that specific course.
5. Sustain respect and responsibility. –It is very important as a teacher as well as a physiotherapist, to be professional but not personal. The students have to trust me, as a teacher, but I am not their friend. I still need to keep some distance, without using the power that I do have as a teacher at a University. That really is a balancing act.
6. Sustain inquiry that moves to resolution. – I put a lot of time and effort in the study guide. I believe that if they can see the way from the beginning of the course until the end, it is easier to follow the path. I want them to use their time to dig into the subject, not trying to find answers on what to do. The class also have a digital room (in Canvas) where all the information, tasks, recorded lectures, Power Point lectures etc. are. This is also where they leave their written assignments and get feed-back. Almost all communication is through Canvas or mail, when not meeting them during practical classes or in Zoom. I try to answer mail as soon as I can, but most questions can often be answered during class. Before a methodological lesson the students get lessons like literature to read or a recorded lecture to listen to. All this material are found in their Canvas-room.
7. Ensure assessment is congruent with intended processes and outcomes. – As Vaughan says; teaching presence begins with a design phase and then progresses to facilitation and direct instruction to ensure the successful resolution of the problem or task (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes & Garrison, 2013).This is very important to me. I always encourage the students to evaluate the course, both during the course but mainly afterwards. The do this evaluation both orally in the classroom as well as a written form (unidentified). I always also, at the beginning of each course, go through the evaluation from the former course and explain the differences I have done or not (and why not).

Summary
During this topic I have been encouraged to reflect on my own experience of what constitutes good learning design as well as to consider how I can design and support flexible, networked and community-based learning in my own teaching practice. I have reflected both in the theories of online learning, blended learning but more in-depth concerning the seven steps of Community of Inquiry.

In my teaching life, I use both in face-to-face learning, blended learning as well as e-learning. I have both classes on campus as well as classes using distance e-learning. So far I have not had any classes with only online learning. But if that day comes, I will go back to Dr Salmons 5 stage model for guidance. After the Corona pandemic, blended learning has become more common. And here I have still a lot more to learn concerning the techniques. Fortunately, at Luleå University of Technology we have a very good department with IT-pedagogues that are always ready to help. I have already made several changes in my classes towards e-ctivities, but still I feel that my journey of e-learning has just begun.

References:

Cleveland-Innes, M. (2020). Roles, learning design, and the Community of Inquiry. Introductory presentation and slides on the Padlet.

Garrison & Vaughan (2008). Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines. John Wiley & Sons. DOI: 10.1002/9781118269558

Lipman, M. (1991). Thinking in education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lipman, M. (2003). Thinking in education (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

ONL Webside (2020). Design for online and blended learning.  https://www.opennetworkedlearning.se/onl202-course-overview/topic-4-design-for-online-and-blended-learning/

Salmon, G (2013) The Five Stage Model. [Homepage] http://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html.

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Edmonton: AU Press. Chapter 1 “The Community of Inquiry Conceptual framework”.

Vaughan, N., (2018). The Concept of Teaching Presence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOxbA_axgI

Topic 3: Learning in communities – networked collaborative learning

Such an interesting topic! Working in groups. Learning from each other. The never ending story about collaborating and conflicts.

This topic consisted of mainly two parts; learning in networks and collaborative learning.

First, Personal learning networks. Kay Oddone introduced us to personal learning networks in theory and practice. As you all can understand, personal networks is not anything new. We have had our personal networks of friends and colleagues forever, but in the late 1990’s term “personal network” started to be used (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be ). A personal network is a group of people that can guide your learning.

There are so many different definitions for this. Kay Oddone tried in her lecture to sort out some of the different definitions. The one I liked the most was: “A collective brain”, meaning to be able to use everybody’s brain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be). Now, with internet, our personal networks can easily be both national as well as global and we can get answers from all over the world, 24-7. There is always someone, somewhere awake ready to respond to your question or problem. Your personal network can be a connection both off line as well as online. “The power of PLN comes from the interaction that occur”, Kay Oddone stated in her lecture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be). But an online network is not only about getting. Sharing is as important in PLN. Through the constant circling and remixing of the existing knowledge and ideas the ideas and knowledge develop in a very rapid way. This also puts a challenge in interpreting the answers/findings! You have to carefully choose your partners out there in the global internet world!
Kay Oddone also lectured on the differences of online learning community and online learning networks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be. Basically a community is a stronger group of people with a known membership while your network can be more undefined and with a more flexible membership. It is important to have access to different tools so that you can interact with different types of people and ideas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be).

For me it seems crucial to have a large and wide personal learning network, both privately as well as professionally. I believe that our western society of today has got very much a “do it yourself” mentality. But for me “no man is an island”. No one can live a life all by themselves. We all need each other. And by interacting with many different people, with different ideas and cultures, I can be nothing but richer, both in knowledge and in personal well-being. Of that, I am sure!

Collaborative learning and collaborative environment
Another other part of this topic was about collaborative learning and collaborative environment. As a teacher this is also very important. Once again; “no man is an island”. Social learning or learning as part of a group is an important way to help students gain experience in collaboration as well as developing important skills in critical thinking, self-reflection, and co-construction of knowledge (Brindley et al., 2009).

The value of group learning is by assessing both the product and process of group work (Brindley et al., 2009). But this is not an easy task. This was well showed in our PBL-group during these two weeks. Collaborative learning is so important, but what happens when it doesn’t work, when you have someone in your group that doesn’t want to interact, when the work is to be done in a group but then the result is graded individually. These discussions took very different paths and were very creative in our PBL-group. And when looking back, we clearly followed Siemens four steps (Siemens, 2002). Siemens (2002) noted in his blog that learner-learner interactions in an e-learning course can be viewed as a four stage continuum:
1. Communication- People ‘talking,’ discussing.
2. Collaboration – People sharing ideas and working together (occasionally sharing resources) in a loose environment.
3. Cooperation – People doing things together, but each with his or her own purpose.
4. Community- People striving for a common purpose.

Brindley et al., (2009) showed in their study a strong argument for including small group collaborative learning experiences in online courses. They also found that literature reveals a significant relationship between participation in these experiences and deeper learning as well as the development of learning and teamwork skills. As a result of their study they came up to some strategies to improve the quality of group collaboration and to increase the likelihood of student participation, which I find quite helpful:
*Facilitate learner readiness for group work and provide scaffolding to build skills.
*Establish a healthy balance between structure (clarity of task) and learner autonomy (flexibility of task.
*Nurture the establishment of learner relationships and sense of community.
*Monitor group activities actively and closely.
*Make the group task relevant for the learner.
*Choose tasks that are best performed by a group.
*Provide sufficient time.

Another interesting article in this field was the study by Capdeferro & Romero (2012). The purpose of that study was to explore the phenomenon of frustration among students involved in online collaborative learning experiences (Capdeferro & Romero, 2012). As a conclusion of this article, as well as other literature and discussion, it is important to plan your online group activities with your class thoroughly. You have to make sure that your students know the purpose of the collaborative learning, what everyone are expected to contribute with, and what they all can gain on being in this collaborative environment. “What’s in it for me?”, has to be a leading theme.

Summary: We need to guide our students in collaborative learning, guiding them to get personal learning networks and learn them to both give and share. Because nobody is an island. We all need each other! Let us all take part of this worldwide learning community, but in a responsible and academic way!

References:

Brindley, J. Blaschke, L. M. & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3).

Capdeferro, N. & Romero, M. (2012). Are online learners frustrated with collaborative learning experiences?. The International review of research in open and distance learning, 13(2), 26-44.

Oddone, K. PLNs Theory and Practice, part 1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be

Oddone, K. PLNs Theory and Practice, part 2,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be

Siemens, G. (2002).  Interaction. E-Learning Course. October 8, 2002. Retrieved May 19, 2008, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/Interaction.htm

Topic 2: Openness in education and learning

In this second topic we were to discuss the pros and cons concerning openness in education and learning. We have discussed the usual conceptions of openness and access as well as discussing how this phenomenon may differ from the perspectives of the educator and the learner; open educational resources (OERs), and the consequent development of open educational practices (OEPs); issues around copyright and in particular the open licensing of content (Creative Commons) and how this opens up new opportunities for collaborative learning and development and finally open online course (MOOC) phenomenon and; the different models of MOOCs and how this affects higher education (https://www.opennetworkedlearning.se/onl202-topic-2-open-learning-sharing-and-openness/).

In my PBL-group (no 11) our discussions have been both high and wide. So many questions has risen but not many answers. As usual. Apart from our meetings my mind has been working with this topic and in this blog I would like to share some of my thoughts.

To begin, I want to discuss the pros:

First of all I believe that open learning is a question of empowerment and democracy! Open learning reaches out to all people around the world. But there are some obstacles concerning accessibility such as language, access to a computer, access to Internet and in some cases economy. This highlights in the talk between Mr. Creelman and Mrs Ragupathi in “What is open education?” (https://blog.nus.edu.sg/openeducation/video/). Therefore, I believe that it is important that open network courses are distributed in different languages, so that they are assessable to as many people as possible.

Technology has expanded over the boarders and today a numerous of people might not have their own computer but probably a mobile device. I believe that it is important for the government locally to give the citizens access to computers, e.g. at libraries. That way you, as a citizen, can for example get access to open network learning classes and therefore education. In some countries though, the government control the internet and can close it down on short notice.

For me it is also e question of reaching out to people living in rural areas around the world. Online education courses is an important way of learning for those living in rural areas with no possibility, or willingness, to move into town. With online education courses they can stay home with their families but still get an education. That way, we can give high educated citizens the possibility to stay, work and live their lives in rural areas.

Online education is also a question of having the opportunity to keep on learning throughout the whole life span. It is not so easy for a person in their upper ages to just move back to a university city to attend classes for a period of time.

As I have understood, most open network classes are for free but some courses have a fee if you want to examine the course and get a grade. There are not many countries around the world that provide the people with education without charge, especially higher education. That means that if you come from a family that doesn’t have so much money, you might not be able to fulfil your dreams of a higher education and the kind of work that you would like to do. By expanding the possibilities of opened learning, higher education could be a reality for a lot of people.

Open learning is freedom and opportunities. Freedom of learning what you want to learn and the opportunity to form your own future. It is a way of getting to know people with the same interests as you and getting new networks, maybe all around the world. It is a way of sharing knowledge and sharing new information or scientific studies.

And now to the cons:

As Mr. Creelman and Mrs Ragupathi said in their lecture, “What is open education?” (https://blog.nus.edu.sg/openeducation/video/), there is a back side of opened learning too. Or maybe not the opened learning by itself, but all the dark things that surrounds open learning networks and Internet. Therefor it is very important that you, as a learner, are very “on guard” concerning what is shared. And if you share things on open network learning pages, make sure you share facts.

Another thing to be aware of is sharing pictures, drawings etc. from other sites. Make sure they are not copyright. Since the Internet has expanded so fast, and the willingness of sharing have extended, new regulations concerning using others material have been created. Now there are several ways of being able to use materials from others. New regulations have been formed and are explained by Creative Commons (ww.creativecommons.org). If I share documents, pictures and other knowledge on Internet, my fear is how other people will use my material and that it will be used in the wrong way.

The biggest con though, I believe, is economy. Who is going to pays for these courses? We, the universities or governments of the countries, have to find a way to pay the teachers/universities that form and arrange open learning courses. These courses take a lot of time to administrate, lead and teach. So, who pays for them? I believe this has to be solved so that we can expand the opened network learning.

Summery:

As a summery, I would like to address Dave Wiley in his lecture: “No sharing = No education.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb0syrgsH6M). We have to understand that education is all about sharing our knowledge. I really liked his words: “Education is nonrivalrous. They are not competitive. I can share without loosing it”. He compared it to giving light from your candle to your friends candle. Just because your friend get the fire from your candle, your candle would not stop burning.
He also said “A successful educator is an educator that share most thoroughly with most student” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb0syrgsH6M).

For me, I always try to see every student as he or she is, and try to meet their expectations of knowledge as much as I can. As a senior physio I have so much experience to share. “I had a patient that…”, is a sentence I often express. And I do believe that my experience counts for my students, even if we are in the classroom or if we meet in open learning environment. And I am happy to share it like the fire of a candle.

Knowledge is empowerment and democracy! Knowledge is power! Keep on sharing the power!

References:

Creelman, A. & Ragupathi, K. What is open education? https://blog.nus.edu.sg/openeducation/video/. Downloaded 2020-10-24.

Opened network learning, homepage. https://www.opennetworkedlearning.se/onl202-topic-2-open-learning-sharing-and-openness/ Downloaded 2020-10-24.

Wiley, D. Open education and the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb0syrgsH6M. Downloaded 2020-10-24.

Topic 1: Digital literacy

We have just started to work on our first topic; digital literacy. In my ONL-group we have discussed this topic in a couple of meetings now but I still have some problems getting familiar to the meaning of these word. So I dug into the Internet to try to find some explanation and/or definitions. Some of the explanations I found on YouTube. As a senior lecturer at a University I am more used to searching for my answers in academic databases. But this time, as a result of our discussions, I chose to turn to the digital world (eg. YouTube) but without losing my critical eyes regarding the credibility regarding the digital sources. So here are my reflections after our first topic weeks.

Digital literacy is about using technologies as you live, learn and work in a digital world (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4wLvLQ5AFI).

For this you have to be able to;
1) Search, locate and navigate in digital environments.
2) Evaluate, analyse and apply your findings. And by using your critical skills you have to evaluate if your findings are relevant to your needs.
3) Organize and store your information, in a digital way.
4) Create, construct and generate digital artefacts, eg. an online presentation or a film.
5) Communicate, connect and collaborate with others in digital environments, using a variety of technologies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4wLvLQ5AFI).

During our ONL-course we were introduced to some films in the subject. In two of the lectures, as well as during a webinar, David White from Oxford University gave me some very interesting lectures and perspectives. He compared the digital literacy and technology to language. Young people learn it from birth while we older people have to learn it over time. His comparison was that for the younger the digital world is their native “language” while for us older the digital world is like a second language (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOG3iThmRI&feature=youtu.be).  I can really adapt to this. This is exactly how I feel. But with a lot of practice, a second language can be almost like a native one. So I just have to practice!

David White also introduced a model of technological skills. Mode of engagement in “residents” and “visitors”. This model also includes another dimension; “personal” and “professional” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOG3iThmRI&feature=youtu.be). This has to do with how we use different platforms online, such as Facebook, Wikipedia, Instagram, Zoom etc. In visitor mode we leave no social traces, while we in residual mode we chose to be present with other people. We also, during the webinar, got to draw our own personal model. This way we could analyse where we all are right now. This model will change over time as we individually develop our digital literacy. These traces remain even after we go offline. So, don’t write what you can not say out loud!

In another lecture David White talked about credibility of the web and how fast the credibility of the web changes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO569eknM6U&feature=youtu.be). We use the web as it is a fast way of getting information. But that also require the ability to analyse the information in a scientific way. We are eg. used to getting our scientific work published in scientific literature. But time changes fast and now we rather want our scientific results to be published inline, but in a “safe” way after being checked by referees.

Another interesting lecture was listening to “The essential elements of digital literacies” with Doug Belshaw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78). He talked about that using internet has to be easy, but it is not so often logic. He compared it to learning to play the guitar. You have to practice. His aspect is that you should focus on a persons interest and try to get them to develop their digital skills for themselves. At the same time we need some structure in this work, some guidance. He came therefor up with “The eight essential elements of digital literacies”; cognitive, constructive, communicative, civic, critical, creative, confident and cultural and a remix of these (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78).

Digital media is also getting more sophisticated and harder to navigate. To survive you have to know how to navigate in a network digital age, you have to know and understand how to access and evaluate it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o96ey4jCgE).

By talking about digital literacy, while David White was walking around in the library of Oxford University, gave me a very interesting view about the culture of the academia with all the books on the bookshelves vs. the new world of Internet. Such a paradigm shift. Or not? And where do we teachers at universities stand? What are our digital literacies? And how well are our student’s literacy of the digital and technological world. Are they really as well educated in digital literacies as we think they are? David White showed in his webinar that his studies show that there are no age differences in digital literacies. Is “native” or “second” language just a myth?

Getting started

September 21: Getting started week. What a struggle! We are supposed to start a blog, a Twitter account, getting together with our PBL-group, present ourselves in a short movie and all sorts of things. At the same time I have my physio students to teach at the University. My hours per day or days per week are not close to enough right now. What a struggle!

My ONL starting week

September 14, 2020.
This is my starting week for my online networked learning course. This will be interesting to attend. I could sure use some more knowledge in this internet area and getting the knowledge in an international environment will be very interesting. So here we go!