Final paper

The future of open and distributed learning

With the continuous maturity of internet technology, Information Engineering and other technologies, future learning will become more open and flexible, and distributed learning is also an inevitable trend in the future. In the future, the teacher-student role relationship will also change with a more open and distributed learning approach. Modern school teaching is moving from the classroom teaching mode in traditional classrooms to a spatially discrete mode that brings together multiple paths of knowledge transfer.

With the continuous influence of information technology on education and teaching practice, we can’t help but imagine the classroom in 2040. As a outstanding representative of media information technology’s intervention in teaching practice, the new teaching picture of teacher-student interaction presented by distributed learning gives us with the shape of a future classroom. The so-called future classroom refers to a new classroom form oriented to social development and individual needs. Since it is future-oriented classroom teaching, it will always reflect the general trend of technological development, which means the requirements of social and personal development for teaching practice together tells the shape of future classrooms.

Then, with the condition that the boundaries of various disciplines are gradually broke and the knowledge system is broke up, the classroom and teaching of schools in the future need to have the characteristics of subject synthesis. The goals and processes of learning will be designed around problem solving. Student learning and teacher teaching reflect a trend of interdisciplinary integration. In educational practice, school education and teaching should focus on whether students can find the individual’s exact goals for learning and development in learning (Selwyn, 2020). Which means an important mission of the current classroom teaching reform is to pay more attention to students’ self-learning and development of the meaning and ability building on the basis of knowledge learning. The feature is that it has broken the various orders of the traditional society in the past. The production and dissemination of knowledge has changed from a teacher-student order to a disordered one. However, faced with the new trend of education and teaching activities, some people are panicked and believe that the wisdom of individuals are continuously beat by artificial intelligence, and their own values and meanings are constantly being dispelled. However, the ordering of school knowledge and the disordering of social knowledge is not a matter of right or wrong, but a fact that is happening every day in reality. School education and teaching need to make corresponding responses to social progress and change. Change can provide better education services for social development.

By 2040, students will be more free and open in class, and learning time will no longer be limited to the classroom. Students can break free from the limits of school. Personal development will be able to be more free and personalized. The learning process is no longer controlled by the teacher, but by the students themselves. So moving from “teaching” to “learning” will be the basic characteristic of future education. In future schools, there will no longer be such unified textbooks, and standardization, personalization, and customization will become the future learning direction. Now every school is a closed closed loop or a relatively closed “kingdom”, but the future learning center will be a round island, students connected with each other.

By 2040, students will be more free and open in class, and learning time will no longer be limited to the classroom. Students can break free from the limits of school. Personal development will be able to be more free and personalized. The learning process is no longer controlled by the teacher, but by the students themselves. So moving from “teaching” to “learning” will be the basic characteristic of future education. In future schools, there will no longer be such unified textbooks, and standardization, personalization, and customization will become the future learning direction. Now every school is a closed closed loop or a relatively closed “kingdom”, but the future learning center will be a round island, interconnected with each other.

A real learning community will appear. In 2040, we will have a general learning center. This learning center will choose different schools to cooperate, and a student can study in different schools, thus forming a learning community together. The biggest feature of distributed storage of learning resources is that it increases the channels of knowledge access, reduces the time and economic cost of acquiring information and knowledge, and guarantees the possibility of students’ freedom of learning from the root. In distributed learning, students have the great right to choose knowledge and content independently. Under the guidance of the same learning goals, learners can choose different learning materials and path methods to complete the learning goals.

For example, the study of foreign languages is taken as an example (Ally, 2019). Traditional foreign language learning is mainly the knowledge and ability of students to learn about the “listening, speaking, reading, and writing” of a language under the guidance of school foreign language teachers. In distributed learning, learners can use online and online Various learning resources, fully collect relevant learning materials and guidance strategies, and combine self-study and seeking guidance from relevant teachers, experts or peers to effectively complete the goals and tasks of foreign language learning. Students can choose courses at different schools, they can also choose each other, and teachers can provide guidance across schools. The future study center time is flexible. The school is open 24 hours, no summer and winter vacations, no weekends, and students will arrange study time according to their needs.

Teachers in schools will be more open and diverse in the future. After the knowledge is networked, the smartest person in the room is definitely not the teacher who stands in front of the whiteboard and gives you lessons, but the wisdom of all people. In other words, future learning centers will no longer rely on traditional teachers. The school will have some of its own teachers who have the advantage of the learning center. However, most courses can be purchased, and educational resources can be used across schools.

Examinations for future learning centers will move towards description, diagnosis, and consultation. A very important feature of big data and artificial intelligence is that it will track and record all the learning processes of students. It will find your learning process and the difficulties and points of learning. It will help you adjust the learning process in time and help you achieve better learning effect. It is no longer a simple evaluation for you, giving you a simple score. Each person makes his own course and study plan, and the evaluation is also for the individual, and it is not an education that compares him with others. Each child develops his or her own lesson plan, and the content of each child ’s iPad is different. With the development of virtual and augmented reality technology, in 2040, students can bring VR glasses and immerse themselves in books through smart terminals. Teachers can make virtual field trips flexible and applicable to teaching content. The videos that students watch are the same, and the specific explanations of the teachers are changed (Gao,2019). By taking advantage of the modern technologies of the Internet, cloud computing, and big data, we create a 3D-based virtual learning environment, scenarios, and conditions that can fully reflect the learning subject’s emotions, operating behaviors and thinking participation, so that students can be realistic and close to the real In this context, learn easily, joyfully, and efficiently to create a new form of educational development based on 3D virtual reality technology that reflects the core concepts of innovation.

In the future, no matter what age stage and education level students are, they are not learners all the time, so the age range of students has been expanded, and each student is a lifelong learner (Raspopovic, 2017). In the age of digital education where media and information technology is highly involved, the combination of interdisciplinary has been called the needs of the times, and the ability of education as the transfer of cultural knowledge in disciplines is gradually weakening. The lifelong learning and development of students facing the needs of future society is mainstream. The traditional role of students, whose main content is the knowledge of learning systems, has gradually changed to face the needs of future society and serve the new characteristics of students’ own development.

In distributed learning, all knowledge is being presented to any individual through terminal devices such as televisions, computers, and smartphones, regardless of country, subject area, and level (Sigri,2010). Students of different regions, ages, and majors can easily access The same media tools have obtained the same knowledge and information. It can be said that for the first time, human beings have gained equal rights in terms of access to knowledge. Through the correlation between knowledge and learners in different periods, it can be found that the traditional teaching model that increases the breadth of students’ knowledge with systematic learning and extensive memory has obviously been impacted by the social trend of information explosion (Downes,2017). In this knowledge environment, the capacity of individual memory and the way to obtain information are gradually depreciating. The most important thing a person learns is the method of learning. The ability to use systems thinking logic to learn to process and integrate massive amounts of information will become increasingly important.

 

References:

Ally, M. (2019). International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning. Competency, 20(2).

Ally, M. (2019). Competency profile of the digital and online teacher in future education. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 20(2).

Downes, S. (2017). New models of open and distributed learning. In Open Education: from OERs to MOOCs (pp. 1-22). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Gao, C., Bai, Y., & Goda, B. (2019, September). Are We Ready for a VR Classroom? A Review of Current Designs and a Vision of Future Virtual Reality Classrooms. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual SIG Conference on Information Technology Education (pp. 39-39).

Raspopovic, M., Cvetanovic, S., Medan, I., & Ljubojevic, D. (2017). The Effects of integrating Social Learning Environment with online learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(1), 142-160.

Sigri, U. (2010). The paradigm shift in educational management: An evaluation of distributed learning as future approach. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 9(2).

Selwyn, N., Hillman, T., Eynon, R., Ferreira, G., Knox, J., Macgilchrist, F., & Sancho-Gil, J. M. (2020). What’s next for Ed-Tech? Critical hopes and concerns for the 2020s.

SHOWCASE

One of most memorable online learning experiences for me is my Korean learning. I was interested in Korean celebrities and K-pop when I was in grade 9. I tried to learn Korean by myself in my summer vacation. I found an awesome website called Hujiang wangxiao.

This website mainly provides language learning, and is split into different levels according to the difficulty of the course and the needs of learners. For example, some courses are mainly provided for enthusiasts like me at that time who is interested in this language, they only need to master simple everyday language. There is also some course for students who want to go abroad. They are here to pass the test of IELTS or TOEFL, which is relatively difficult. As well as business English course and so on for those people with multinational business.

I chose a two-month elementary Korean online course. First of all, as long as you registered in the course, you will get a complete schedule, this schedule recorded the time, content of every single class. During my study, my teacher used lots of popular Korean music and TV series in order to assist us. According to the media richness concept in the article, a wide variety media using can help students learn and understand knowledge more effectively. As I learning Korean, those music and videos bring fun to boring language learning, this makes it easy for me to keep concentrating. And those complex words become easier to remember the lyrics and dialogue between the actors.

Humanization of online learning means learners are not isolation. They can connect with each other and communicate and exchange ideas from others. In my Korean learning experience, I interact with my classmates very often, because it was a live class, all of us can make questions during class, sometimes our teacher would stop and then answer it, sometimes students who know the answer would help them directly. It is worth mentioning that at the end of our course, teacher separated us into different groups, as a group we pick a TV series we like, and then dub it by ourselves. That was extremely funny.

In terms of grading, I always had a little quiz at the end of class, I would see how did I do. The question I made the mistake would show up at my next quiz, until I choose the correct answer. Some students would feel uncomfortable with the rank, they may feel stressed. My teacher chooses to rank but not show all the members, she only shows the first three students who did better in the quiz. This is a very effective method, not only did not hurt anyone, but also praised the outstanding students and encouraged others to work harder.

Overall, my Korean online learning experience is great, my teacher uses various beneficial teaching techniques. That’s wonderful.

HuJiang Wangxiao had fully met the need for variety kinds of learner. This proves a very important concept that I have gained in recent weeks, which is individuals have different preferences of learning. For example, I personally prefer flexible course schedule, I don’t always have time to visit the website every single day, so what I pursue is that I can arrange my own time and my study results will not be affected.

Another important idea I learned in the last few weeks is the importance of access to certain learning resources. HuJiang WangXiao made web design super simple, the users can easily find what they want, as well as the teachers posted all the course resources right under the course button. Students won’t waste their time to look at the resources they need.

These two advantages of HuJiang WangXiao make it develops freaking well and being very popular in all ages.

At the same time, I think Hujiang has something can improve. The purpose of education is to support learners to reach their potentials. For now, Hujiang is more value how much benefit they can earn, instead of care about their students and learning outcomes. I suggest the Hujiang can vary their teaching form in more ways. Let their students really love the language they are learning, and let them dig their potential in this field. For instants, they can organize their students to play a small drama in their new language, encourage students to use the new language as much as they can. If they continue only care about the consequences of the after-class quiz, they can not really help the student.

 

References:

https://images.app.goo.gl/EoLMTKbN8tuDRkbZ8

https://images.app.goo.gl/BSu8NxyjpVJ1U9WU6

https://images.app.goo.gl/CxiCS3GLncgCweYh8

https://images.app.goo.gl/dbjysTEFoxRRYCse7

Fourth Reflection

By reading the materials from these two weeks, the three most important concepts I think are individuals have different preferences of learning, the purpose of education is to support learners to reaching their potentials and the importance of access certain learning resources

People have their own preferences. Some people like to use a computer to work with a cup of coffee while sitting in a sunny place during the day, while some people like to study by reading the textbook and other materials while listening to music at night. Some people take notes with a computer or tablet in class, while others rely on pens and notebooks. Therefore, flexibility of learning forms can meet the needs of learners to the greatest extent.

The purpose of education is to support learners to reaching their potentials, instead of sitting in the classroom, receiving the knowledge passed by the teacher, trying hard to get an A. The most fundamental purpose of education is to allow children to find the areas where they are most interested, so that they can have a future life which is rich of fun and meaningful.

Some tutors have made learning materials very difficult to find. For example, a professor of mine asked us to read a book that is not provided on the market, and even e-books were not found, but he made us write an essay after reading. This not only fails to make students understand the knowledge, but also discourages students from learning.

What makes me most incomprehensible is the advice apply whether you can create curriculum resources for preschoolers, graduate curriculum or lifelong learning resources. I do not accept. Differences in age and identity lead to differences in understanding of materials. Children can learn from educational cartoons, but students like graduate students still have to learn through more authoritative materials.

Global Kids on the Sky illustration

Universal design is a good world trend, and more and more resources are beginning to take this form, allowing more people to participate, but lack of interaction between these participants In addition to translating resources into different languages to serve learners in different countries, maybe we can establish a channel so that learners in different countries can connect with each other and share their understanding and learning results with each other.

 

 

 

References:

https://images.app.goo.gl/n6tjQFAMPpFUKUZYA

https://images.app.goo.gl/CxiCS3GLncgCweYh8

https://images.app.goo.gl/MkyXzE9bGGzpW95d9

Third Reflection

Online learning experience

One of most memorable online learning experiences for me is my Korean learning. I was interested in Korean celebrities and K-pop when I was in grade 9. I tried to learn Korean by myself in my summer vacation. I found an awesome website called Hujiang wangxiao.

This website mainly provides language learning, and is split into different levels according to the difficulty of the course and the needs of learners. For example, some courses are mainly provided for enthusiasts like me at that time who is interested in this language, they only need to master simple everyday language. There is also some course for students who want to go abroad. They are here to pass the test of IELTS or TOEFL, which is relatively difficult. As well as business English course and so on for those people with multinational business.

I chose a two-month elementary Korean online course. First of all, as long as you registered in the course, you will get a complete schedule, this schedule recorded the time, content of every single class. During my study, my teacher used lots of popular Korean music and TV series in order to assist us. According to the media richness concept in the article, a wide variety media using can help students learn and understand knowledge more effectively. As I learning Korean, those music and videos bring fun to boring language learning, this makes it easy for me to keep concentrating. And those complex words become easier to remember the lyrics and dialogue between the actors.

Humanization of online learning means learners are not isolation. They can connect with each other and communicate and exchange ideas from others. In my Korean learning experience, I interact with my classmates very often, because it was a live class, all of us can make questions during class, sometimes our teacher would stop and then answer it, sometimes students who know the answer would help them directly. It is worth mentioning that at the end of our course, teacher separated us into different groups, as a group we pick a TV series we like, and then dub it by ourselves. That was extremely funny.

In terms of grading, I always had a little quiz at the end of class, I would see how did I do. The question I made the mistake would show up at my next quiz, until I choose the correct answer. Some students would feel uncomfortable with the rank, they may feel stressed. My teacher chooses to rank but not show all the members, she only shows the first three students who did better in the quiz. This is a very effective method, not only did not hurt anyone, but also praised the outstanding students and encouraged others to work harder.

Overall, my Korean online learning experience is great, my teacher uses various beneficial teaching techniques. That’s wonderful.

 

REFERENCE

https://images.app.goo.gl/2JmpmUhnmHuMAUbG7

https://images.app.goo.gl/uWsFiGCfkrU3ajTC7

 

Second Reflection

The difference between online educational content and openly licensed educational content

Online educational content refers to the ways in which people can watch videos, read articles, do exercises, etc. to gain knowledge online. As the developing of technology, online education becomes more and more popular. But if you wish to access these resources, you must get permission from the author before you can access. Openly licensed educational content is totally free and open to the public, which means it’s easier for learners to find the resources. Another difference is that openly licensed educational content allows people to use the knowledge they want to do the second edition.

Khan Academy is an excellent OER example I found. I known and visited this website since high school. This website is non-profitable and useful, in most cases you can find the course you want, no matter is math, physics, English etc. They post short videos on the website which is short and easy to understand.

Evaluation by using the faculty guide

RELEVANCE

There is a short sentence on Khan Academy website for students and leaners.” you can learn anything. Build a deep, solid understanding in math, science, and more.” videos include all subjects covered in school and for all grades from kindergarten up to high school. As an Economics undergraduate student, I can still find the course I need in Khan Academy.

ACCURACY

Khan Academy has been questioned for their academic accuracy, because the founder of this website is not a professional educator, and the history course of Khan Academy has made mistakes, but they timely corrected the errors in the video. As a user I think in most courses, especially science, their accuracy is still very high.

PRODUCTION QUALITY

I personally very much like the course videos produced by the Khan Academy. They are short, concise and easy to understand.

ACCESSIBILITY

There are many ways you can watch videos at Khan Academy, for example you can visit their website directly. All the courses are totally free for watching. You can also find their videos on YouTube. The website and its content are provided mainly in English, but are also available in other languages. Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic so and so forth.

INTERACTIVITY

Video style of Khan Academy is concise. Usually, the solution of example questions is written directly on the blackboard. No other photos or interesting videos are provided. They have certain exercises and quizzes for learners to check if they have understood the knowledge.

LICENSING

If you log in to the Khan Academy website you will find a classification of different course, which gives students the option to watch the course they are interested in. Students can start or pause the video at any time based on their speed of understanding. Of course, leaner can reuse the materials.

OER in my life

As a student I like to study by myself, OER played a very important role in my life, it is very suitable for my learning style. For example, after I review the materials given by the teacher before each exam, I will log in to various websites to see other people’s different views and teaching steps on my problems in order to understand more deeply.

 

REFERENCE

What is OER? https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/What_is_OER%3F

How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education.https://www.wired.com/2011/07/ff_khan/

 

 

 

Reflection 1

Teachers and students play different roles in a class, teacher is the person who teaching knowledge to students, they are the one giving, in the opposite student is the person receiving. In my opinion, I prefer the student-centered teaching style.

I spent my middle school and elementary school in China, relative to most western countries. The number of students in one class in China is far greater than the western countries. Due to the large numbers, it’s almost impossible for teachers to take care of every single students, so traditional Chinese teachers pay more attention to their course efficiency, they are more likely to explain the problem as clear as they can, mention the mistake student may made in the future test. Although instructor-centered learning is very efficient, it has lost the process of student’s autonomous exploration.

There is an old saying in China, teaching people how to fish is better than giving the fish directly to them. As the saying we know the results are important, but mastery of problem solving is a lot more critical. That’s why I prefer student-centered.

With the development of the Internet, the way of teaching has become very diverse, and teaching is no longer confined to a small classroom, online teaching has become more and more popular.

The traditional way to teach is synchronous, which means students obtain the information from teachers at the same time. They go to lectures at the same time, teacher teach the knowledge and hand out homework, students use their spare time to complete it with their friends. This kind of approach is best for elementary and intermediate school students with poor self-control and regular time.

In contrast, some online teaching is asynchronous (live course is an exception). The teacher posted the recorded lesson online, and the students watched it according to their own time.

This teaching method is more suitable for college students with strong self-control or worked adults with irregular time. For this group of people, free and flexible class time is more conducive to enhance their learning efficiency.

The development of the Internet has created more opportunities for people to study and undoubtedly promote the transmission and exchange of information. It solved the problem of time in conflicting and places for teaching to a certain extent. Connectivism is a theory that explain how the internet worked for making learning easier.

Teachers will provide students with accurate information and guide students to answer the key questions by their own understanding. Teachers would encourage students to get more information online and communicating with students with different point of views. In the process of information exchange, new information will affect students’ previous judgments, which will lead to thinking, the collision of disparate thoughts produces different wonderful views. Another point is it is easy to be involved in information exchange. This makes the course more interesting and exciting, as well as the class gain becomes more diverse and valuable.

In general, I prefer a flexible teaching style that is student-centered and allows network access.

Reference:

Crosslin, M. (2018). Basic Philosophies of Distributed and Open
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 3-10.