How would you describe the historical and theoretical trends in k-12 open and distributed learning? What did you already know, what do you know now based on the course readings and activities, what do you hope to learn?
Roberts et al (2018) article âOpen Educational Practices in K-12 Online and Blended Learning Environmentsâ discusses and reviews open learning practices and blended environments by considering the pedagogical foundations of open learning practices. This article was interesting to read and provided me with a better insight on what exactly open education actually is!
The article explained that open learning âcannot be inclusive only with distance learningâ, which I needed clarification on (Roberts et al, 2018). The authors further explain that open learning is not a learning theory, instead it can be seen as a teaching and learning method where âlearners identify and locate learning opportunities for themselves as well as create learning opportunities for others (Coffey et al, 2006 as cited in Roberts et al, 2018). Â These definitions helped solidify my understanding on the subject.
As I was reading Roberts et al (2018) article, the discussion on how learners should have access to learning choices regarding time, place, medium and content (Lewis, 1994 as cited in Roberts et al, 2018) reminded me of the UDL guidelines and their importance. I also saw an alignment between Deweyâs (1938) theory being that there should be groups of people âlearning from and with each otherâ (Roberts et al, 2018) to what we are taught in this program about the importance of collaboration. I believe that there are many positives to allowing collaboration within education. Â Roberts et al (2018) explain the view of scholars who âargue that knowledge should be free and open to use and re-use; collaboration should be easier, not harder; individuals should receive credit for contributing to education and researchâ and that ideas and concepts should be explained in methods that involve more than âpresentation of a printed textbookâ (Roberts et al, pg. 530, 2018).
It makes sense to hear that due to the geography of Canada, online and blended learning is present in Canada today, however I did not realize that the first correspondence school in BC opened in 1919 and that Canada âcontinues to have one of the highest per capita student enrolment in e-learning courses and programs (Barbour and Labonte, 2015 as cited in Barbour and Labonte, 2018). I find it surprising that 101 years later from when distanced learning began, there still has been little research conducted, as we learned from our topic readings.
I hope to learn about the research that is conducted after COVID-19, as this pandemic has caused a scenario where children, teenagers and adults had to resort to learning in online environments (asynchronous and synchronous) and I believe there will be an increased focus on researching online learning environments and its impacts on learning. It will also be interesting to see if a company like CANeLearn will begin to have more of a presence going forward (I hadnât heard of this company prior to our readings), as Barbour and Labonte (2018) feel that there needs to be an investment in Canadian-based research and that CANeLearn could be used as a tool in providing research, support and communicating with local practitioners, rather than just academic journals.
References:
Roberts, V. , Blomgren, C. Ishmael, K. & Graham, L. (2018) Open Educational Practices in K-12 Online and Blended Learning Environments. In R. Ferdig & K.Kennedy (Eds.), Handbook of research on K-12 online and blended learning (pp. 527â544). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press.
Barbour, M & Labonte, R. (2018) An Overview of
eLearning Organizations and Practices in Canada. In
R. Ferdig & K. Kennedy (Eds.), Handbook of research
on K-12 online and blended learning (pp. 600-616).
Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press.
Seesaw was the app that I reviewed and one of the downsides that I came across was that they charge $7.50 per student. Although I am sure that there are funding options that you can seek out, Khan Academy Kids is free, which makes it that much easier to see how it works for your class.
TedEd Talk is also an interesting app that I can see beneficial to use in an elementary classroom. They have a wide variety of subjects, which could be useful, especially if students are doing something inquiry based.
While reviewing this app, I evaluated it using the 
My overall experience while using this app was positive. It seemed to be user-friendly and I liked being able to look at other activities posted by teachers to get inspired. I also think an app like this would work well for remote learning, as students can review the materials posted by the teachers and submit their work within the app. Another feature that caught my attention was that the app allows you to import work directly from Google Drive. If you are trying to create a portfolio and want to include something from another document outside the program this seems like a useful tool. Other benefits that I came across are that it can be used for a variety of ages, multiple subjects and student collaboration.
This week, we have looked at topic 2 and 3, which provide a deeper explanation of multimedia and how it can be incorporated into the classroom in an effective way. As we know, each learner can have different styles of learning and will learn at a different pace than others. I found that topics 2 and 3 have confirmed that and provided us with information on how to design effective multimedia learning material.
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