This week’s readings were very interesting and taught me things I’d never have the chance to learn without taking this course. As I refer back to the course learning outcomes, in my opinion, #4 “Examine and reflect upon the potential for equitable access for all learners in online and open learning contexts” is one of the most important to remember. The readings this week had a strong relation to not only this learning outcome but also many others which is why I believe they are important to understand while completing this course.
Ryan’s introduction for the week allowed me to instantly relate to what he was explaining, especially on the topic of confusion between “open” and “distributed” learning. When I look back to my first discussion post in the course and my description of what I believe “open” and “distributed” learning to represent, I almost laugh at my answer! From weekly readings to discussions with my group and other members of the class, my knowledge on the topic of learning has sprouted and grown in multiple ways. It makes me appreciate the time and effort we’ve all put into learning this course.
The most interesting information I learned from the “Open Pedagogy” reading was the 5 R’s used with the topic of OER’s or acting as ingredients to the knowledge. Reused, Retained, Redistributed, Revised, and Remixed are all 5 present within the reading.  Open Educational Resources, in my opinion, are the future and what should be available. From what I learned in the readings, the benefits of an OER are much more than a closed resource. On this topic, The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “higher education shall be equally accessible to all.” The authors of the reading go on to state that the chances of earning a college degree heavily depends on a student’s family income. To me, this is a horrible truth within the educational system. The use of OER’s would help combat this issue and add more value to a student’s life. It makes me wonder why this movement hasn’t been “snowballing” for a while considering its positive impact.
Mays, E. (Ed.). (2017). A guide to making open textbooks with students. Rebus Community.
Open license – Creative Commons. (n.d.).https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Open_license
Hi Noah!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I agree, we have learned a lot throughout this course!
How do you think using the 5 R’s can make learning more equitable and accessible?
Unfortunately higher education is not accessible for all and the use of OER’s is a good start to making it more accessible, however I think it goes a lot deeper than that and there are a lot of systems in place that prevent many people of various backgrounds from accessing higher education. What do you think?
Thanks again for sharing 🙂
Hi Noah!
Thank you for your post! I definitely agree with you about looking back and laughing at my initial confusion of open and distributed learning. Our progress within this course has really helped clarify those terms and a lot of other concepts for me. It is sad to acknowledge, but the education is systematically flawed. It is and has been set up to benefit those who are more well off. This is seen even when we look at students just starting school. Those with more financial stability often come from families who have reaped the benefits of the education system. That is to say their parents have attended post-secondary. This allows them to grow up seeing themselves to have the same opportunity. We also see that these students come into school often with more literacy skills as this is something that has been supported and developed more during the early years. When we see these differences even from the beginning of the education journey you would think we would make sure the system changed, but change of an entire system can take time. Hopefully we are on the right track, especially with open education and more open resources. I wonder what this topic is like in countries with different education systems, for example in Germany where higher education is free (or has just a small cost). Do they value OERs? Do they only use OERs in their classes? What do they think when they look at how inaccessible or education system is?
Hey Noah!
I really like how you linked this weeks reading back to the course learning outcomes! I feel like that will be very useful for you for the final digital portfolio!
I was just wondering if you’ve had an expiernce with using open education resources (OERs) prior to this course? If so, I’d love to hear it! I know personally my textbooks cost well over $500 / per semester but more recently more and more courses are making use of OERs.
To address your last question there, I imagine good ol’ capitalism (sarcasm but truth) plays a role here. I can’t even begin to guess how much textbook publishing companies make on each edition of the books they put out! I think that the only way to get more profs to use OERs is to request, if not (politely) demand them! The more they are used, the better and more accessible education can become. It won’t be the ‘be all end all’ in terms of affordability and accessibly but it’s certainly a good way to chip away at the growing costs of education.
Friendly (but sad) reminder that UVIC raised their tuition every single year – even during the pandemic!! Currently tuition sits at $604.47 per a 1.5 unit course! :'(
Thanks for the post, Noah! I appreciate how you explored your growth in understanding over the past couple of weeks. Including a course learning outcome was the cherry on top!
I am disheartened by your post. You wrote: “It makes me wonder why this movement hasn’t been “snowballing” for a while considering its positive impact.” As an undergraduate at UVic I would have expected you to realize that this has been snowballing. There has been tons of work and progress in open over the past 5-10 years, especially in BC. But to realize that you’re not seeing that progress is disappointing. Have you taken any courses with open textbooks? Any courses with obvious use of OERs?
Thanks!
Hello Noah!
Nice going connecting the readings to course outcomes!
I’m so glad most of us have a much better understanding of open vs. distributed learning. My first take on the terms in the 1st discussion posts wasn’t quite there either. Yay us for putting in the time and effort into the concepts of this unique (in my opinion) course.
The 5 R’s also caught my attention in the textbook reading. It’s great to see the continuing movement of accessible learning resources in education. I totally agree that it’s our future, which is pretty exciting.
Hey Noah!
My response at the beginning of the course was laughable as well, but I agree in that my understanding of the learning experience has definitely grown. I think largely in the that the context of learning/education has really expanded for me, considering how information is shared, accessed, and essentially how the process of knowledge gathering fulfills the 5 R’s mentioned in this week’s readings reflect in some sense how that education system is built.
As we’ve progressed through this course, I think it’s made me reflect a lot on the education systems I’ve been involved in, which is important if I want to really reflect on my own experience and self-locate. Thank you for sharing!