Online education is defined as the creation and proliferation of the personal computer, the globalization of ideas and other human acts, and the use of technology in exchanging ideas and providing access to more people.  Audio, video, computer, and networking technologies are often combined to create a multifaceted instructional delivery system. The fundamental method to unite the distance learning instructor with the distance learner is the network. Networks suitable for distance learning implementations include satellite, cable modem, digital subscriber lines (DSL), and wireless cable, (Collins, 2002).

By using the open education, I have been introduced to the Open Network learning which I had never known about. Looking back this course has been completed in a very small space of time and making the deadlines for each topic didn’t give us much time in between, though at the end I have learnt and developed my skills as an individual and new tool I can use in my teaching as an online lecturer.

In my PBL Group we had discussed many ideas on the topic and with all the diversity over an online space we worked well individually and as a team and in this I feel I have rested my strengths and weaknesses and for me that was an important lesson. We have helped one another, and I have improved on my weak areas and gained strength on my area of expertise.

As an online course lecturer, I have had prior knowledge of how the online space operates but only after completing the course that I realised how much more information there is to still research and understand there is always knowledge to be learnt. For the future and my practices, I have learnt so many design and software tools that I can adapt to my learning approach and assist my learners in their own environment. I have learnt from topic one about digital literacy, openness and sharing, coloration and most importantly blending and design tools which I have enjoyed researching about the most.

In future practices the software tools and models will be adapted for greater and resourceful methods of learning. The tools I will use again is Zoom, G+ and the simplicity of integrated sharing, Trello which was the most effective and efficient way of participating Abd keeping on track of tasks, and the Padlet I felt was a good representation for me and is well structured. I will be using this tool.

The topics in this course have really inspired me to learn and research more to make the online platform better and improve on what we have. Being introduced to a course like this with the support structure was really an experience and I look forward to building my level of knowledge with other courses like this in the future.

 

References

Collins, M., and Du
y, N. (2002). New Ranking Algorithms for Parsing and Tagging: Kernels over Discrete Structures, and the Voted Perceptron. In Proceedings of ACL 20

 

 

Griffith has adopted the term ‘blended learning’ as the principal means of addressing the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance its learning and teaching activities. In the Griffith context, the following definition is used to inform policy and practice in relation to blended learning: Blended learning is realised in teaching and learning environments where there is an effective integration of different modes of delivery, models of teaching and styles of learning as a result of adopting a strategic and systematic approach to the use of technology combined with the best features of face to face interaction (Krause, 2007)

 

There has always been a difference between the design of online and blended learning but how much do we really know? In our PBL Group we have investigated bridging the gap between face to face and online delivery. I have been in both ends as a face to face lecturer and in my current position deal with online students and courses. Finding and researching the tools and methods and applying these approaches made me really think and use my past experiences to see how to blend the design of face to face and online learning.

 

In this topic I have used my approaches in my previous role to adapt it into the online environment and have learnt a lot from my team members and the approaches we can use to tackle this scenario and we came up with challenges that were very interesting. Looking at these challenges and methods we used will help me and learners I teach as I am developing my online space and looking at the many tools that can assist me in my approaches.

 

I am happy with our outcomes and I have done more research into this topic and how can we blend or bridge the gap and in South Africa it is still a new concept of offering online courses with this new content or Blogs , videos, discussion forums and documents you need to complete for the next module to open up, it is the following of instructions that you would do in a face to face environment and making sure you use the right tool and method to blend the same learner experience or similar situation. An Online environment involves a lot of focus.

Krause, (2007) Mastering Online Blended Learning, Genome Data. Available from https://www.yeastgenome.org/reference/S000131933. Accessed on 27 November 2018.

Other reading about blended learning. Available from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.88.8465&rep=rep1&type=pdf i Accessed on 24 November 2018.

 

 

The sustainability of Networked Collaborative Learning (NCL) is a key topic of discussion amongst the institutions where it has been or may potentially be introduced. To determine the extent of NCLs sustainability, the added value university education may yield by adopting collaborative learning strategies must be quantified. In turn, an understanding of the implications NCL produces in terms of design and management is gained. After comparing NCL with other Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) approaches and discussing the possible reasons for adopting it, a multidimensional model for the sustainability to his university teaching.

Collaborative work is very critical for learners as it enhances decision making it allows the learner to develop their skills and learn different aspects from other learners. As we are currently on the ONL course we are collaborating as a team to perform our tasks. As part of being a lecturer online it is different to face to face but by using tools such as webinars and having students participate within the webinar they can work together, or tasks set and do research by the outcomes and ideas mentioned.

 

Thus far in this course have learnt many new skills and in this topic learning in the community of our PBL group which our community is and being able to see how other groups present their topics on the same question. Working with individuals over a platform which is International .and being able to perform tasks shows where we have come with learning and how we can develop ourselves through these means and communities and working as a ream. With research done on collaborative learning i have found a well explained article. According to Graduate School of Education on Human Development practical, real-world assignments, students find information through research and forming real opinions help students better than traditional learning.

References

Available from https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/facultydevelopment/docs/WhatisCollaborativeLearning.pdf that has helped me to understand what ut is and how do we acheive it. Accessed on 17 Novemeber 2018

Graduate School of Education on human development. Available from https://gsehd.gwu.edu/articles/10-strategies-build-student-collaboration-classroom. Accessed on 03 December 2018.

 

 

Sharing and openness is a vital and new approach to learning and developing skills in the educational environment. We look at so many new concepts and tools that we didn’t have many years ago and we are still adapting to these new methods of sharing online compared to the traditional method. Open educational resources(OER) is a good method to share and it is open for others to use but in South Africa there are still some costs when it comes to this method. Online resources may lie more in enabling our students’ learning experience than in saving time developing resources.

According to Forbes, (2015) Students naturally learn from one another while solving problems and working collaboratively in a traditional classroom. Education is different in each part of the world. Similarly, the state of open education depends of the social, economic, and cultural context of each region. However, there is a global awareness of the importance of promoting education as a vehicle for development, which is why there are open education initiatives in every region of the planet.

Learners and students do not always have access to computers or internet as it is expensive cost and depending which area they are coming from whether being rural areas. With OER the issue arises if the content is free are there any payments from accessing them, as students only use to rely on textbooks which are expensive to purchase and sometimes to source. According to Karabell, (2017) schools have embraced the online world because it allows them to use the power of their brand to extend everywhere.

In Global South faces several key interrelated challenges, for which Open Educational Resources (OER) are seen to be part of the solution. These challenges include: unequal access to education; variable quality of educational resources, teaching, and student performance; and increasing cost and concern about the sustainability of education. The Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project seeks to build on and contribute to the body of research on how OER can help to improve access.

 

Source: Adapted from Serhat Kurt (2017) accessed on the 09 November 2018

 

References

Conole, G. C., & Ehlers, U. (2010). Open Educational Practices: Unleashing the power of OER. http://efquel.org/. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://efquel.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/OEP_Unleashing-the-power-of-OER.pdf.

Forbes, (2015) College is going online, A college journal. Available from, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/college-is-going-online-whether-we-like-it-or-not/275976/ Accessed on 22 November 2018.

TechTaget (2018). Will online education replace classroom education soon? Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/05/08/will-online-education-replace-classroom-education-anytime-soon/#3be0e1f7690c. 19 November 2018

 

 

Lifelong learning has become associated with participation in the digital age, affecting everything from access to information technology, to its use in teaching and learning. It is therefore inevitable that educationists turn to digital literacy practices to examine their contribution to, and influence on, learning. Online learning and participation is the way in South Africa and we are still growing and developing our infrastructure.

Research indicates there is a small but consistent group of first-year students who have insufficient basic computer literacy skills when they arrive at university (Nash 2009), and that the majority of students – even those who are deemed to be computer literate – lack the most basic information literacy skills and are extremely poor at finding and evaluating sources of information (Asher et al. 2010). Furthermore, even those students who are more acquainted with a variety of digital media lack the ability to transfer their technology skills into the academic context (Kennedy et al. 2010).

Digital literacy is a new concept by using online courses and platforms to engage on tasks with people all over the world as we are currently doing in this course. We are using the tools to interact and learn from one another as learning is a process. Information today has changed so much from reading a book when you need to research and now using the internet to find information in an instant for research and stats. Our world is changing, and we must keep up with the times, I am excited to learn more and as a topic I have researched more information I haven’t heard about and have expanded my knowledge on systems and how digital literacy has impacted the world. Online participation is a critical factor and i have researched factors that influence online participation and will leave the link below.

Click to access EJ728902.pdf

References

Asher A, Duke L & Green, D (2010) The ERIAL
Project: Ethnographic Research in Illinois
Academic Libraries. Academic Commons, May
2010, ‘Advancing Towards Liberal Arts 3.0’

Kennedy G, Judd T, Dalgarno B & Waycott J
(2010) Beyond natives and immigrants:
Exploring types of net generation students.
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 26(5):
332–343. Available at:

Nash J. (2009) Computer skills of first-year
students at a South African University.
Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Conference of
the Southern African Computer Lecturers
Association, Mpekweni, pp. 88–92

 

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to my first blog. I am an academic who has been in the educational sector for a few years after coming from an FMCG sector. I hold a Masters degree in Business management and supply chain management from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. I will be speaking about my experiences on my new course which is the Open Network learning and give you insight. I am excited to meet new people across different country’s and engage as a team,