Hello everyone! My name is Mostafa, and I am in my final semester of Computer Science as an undergraduate. I love problem-solving in general, and I lead the UVic Calisthenics Club, which I am very passionate about. Doing so has taught me the value of conveying information to others in a matter they understand, tailoring it to their knowledge background.

One of the reasons I took this course (besides it being asynchronous) is to learn more about education in the digital world. I do a lot of online learning in my own time to better my knowledge in varying areas that interest me, something that I take for granted. I can do a quick Google search and learn about basically anything I feel like learning. The limit to learning is simply how much time and effort you want to put in, as long as you have a computer and an internet connection. This is a fairly recent phenomenon, whereas before the age of the internet, people would have to go out and look for that knowledge, whether it be through finding a teacher to learn from or by indexing information yourself from books in a library.

So with this massive shift from in-person learning to online learning, one has to educate themselves about the digital world and how they can participate in it.

What is Distributed Education?

It is a learning model where instruction, resources, and support are spread across different locations, often facilitated by technology.

One example here that I use a lot myself is Coursera. You can go there, sign up for a course, and learn through pre-recorded lectures set by an instructor. You can find the resources and get support from the instructor through the course. This learning method is unique to the digital world, and is supported by technology.

What is Open Education?

Open education involves educational practices and resources that are freely available to anyone, with no or minimal barriers to access.

I was a little confused as to the difference between Open Education and Distributed Education, but the difference lies on the focus.

Distributed Education focuses on geographically dispersed learners and instructors, using technology to connect them. Its primary goal is to allow teaching and learning to happen across different locations, often through online or blended formats. The accessibility here is more about overcoming physical distance rather than cost or licensing.

Whereas open education focuses on removing barriers to education, making it accessible to everyone, regardless of geography or economic status. It emphasizes free or low-cost resources and open licensing that allows reuse and modification.

Modes of Learning

Different modes of learning exist that have their different strengths and weaknesses:

• Face-to-Face Learning
  • Advantages: Strong sense of community, easier to build relationships with peers and instructors, and immediate clarification of doubts
• Online Learning
  • Can be synchronous or asynchronous
  • Advantages: Flexibility to learn from anywhere, often self-paced
• Blended Learning
  • A combination of face-to-face and online learning, integrating the strengths of both
  • Think: Having a class-room where you are sitting together with peers, and the teacher is presenting on the screen
  • Advantages: Offers the personal interaction of face-to-face learning while providing the flexibility of online components
• Hybrid Learning
  • Similar to blended learning, but with more flexibility, often allowing students to choose between attending sessions in person or online
  • Students can choose to select to attend in-person or online
  • Advantages: High flexibility, accommodating different learning preferences and schedules

My favourite is face-to-face learning when it fits well in my schedule. I love the sense of community it forms, and how it forces you to interact with the stuff you are learning in real time.

At the same time, asynchronous online learning shines when you are internally driven and have a plan set for yourself as to how to utilize it best. For something like this course, this mode of learning is perfect since you practice learning about distributed learning, in a distributed learning environment. This is very meta.

Digital Literacy

It is the ability to effectively and critically use digital technologies to navigate, evaluate, and create information.

If you are able to fully participate in the online world, while being able to learn tools that are new to you, then you are digitally literate. For example, if you are able to navigate the contents of the course and execute them comfortably, then you probably have a high degree of digital literacy.

Digital Identity

Digital identity is very important in an age where anything you do is easily searchable online. I try to manage my digital identity by only posting stuff that is authentic to me and how I want to present myself. I keep my private life private to me and my friends.

Conclusion

I am excited for this course and for getting the chance to practice my blog writing skills. I hope I find my writing style as I write more of these posts, too.