Open Network Learning Blog by Leysan

  So many things to focus on when it comes to designing an online course! I have seen an approach in the beginning of the pandemic, of putting an offline course online, without any consideration of the nature of the internet, and remote learning. In my university, we've learnt so much about the peculiarities of online environment, yet it seems we still think of the Internet as a back-up option: If face-to-face is not possible, then we adapt the offline content to online platforms. With this approach, I am afraid that we are missing the opportunities provided by the Internet and the various platforms.  But I would like here to discuss one aspect of online courses - facilitating community of inquiry. And I think this is the aspect that does need special attention. When we have classes face-to-face, communities often form naturally (although here we also can develop our approaches more than we usually do). But offline, facilitating a community of inquiry requires a certain structure

What a great topic this was to explore - networked collaborative learning.  Collaboration often happens in groups. We know (and maybe some of us also feel that way) that group work is often avoided. There are many reasons for it - and many of them are valid. It seems there is some kind of an assumption that when we get together, we should easily figure out how to work. When we see that we are different, we see those differences as obstacles. For example, in research on intercultural teams, studies focused on how to overcome those cultural differences and assumptions. Yet, I see little research (if any) on looking at how those differences - of opinion, of background, of gender, of cultural background, etc. - can be used for group collaboration to foster innovative thinking, better work environment, building inclusive and sustainable communities, etc. Could those differences be a resource? And how can we get to the point where we use those differences as a resource?  Prior to the course,

The second topic in the course focused on sharing and openness.  The idea of sharing materials and ideas can be scary. I tend to worry about where the recordings of my lectures may end up for example. I guess things that we know little about are especially scary, so it was valuable to read about Creative Commons, for example.  It was also good to discuss in this topic how to introduce the topic of openness to students. Teaching students how to appropriately and ethically use outside materials probably addresses our own fears: If people understand that it is important to cite sources and attribute ideas, then we instructors would be less fearful of sharing those resources.  But I think the most challenging of open education for me, is openly sharing my own resources on public platform (accessible to everyone). Even to write this blog is not always easy, knowing it is your ideas that can be judged and criticised. As one article pointed out:  "Individual determinations regarding open

The first topic in the course focused on online participation and digital literacies, and with this first post I will reflect on my own relationship with digital media and online engagement.  Digital media relates to both my research and my teaching. In research, I am interested in how digital media is used for various purposes - how it can help achieve goals that are beneficial for individuals and societies, and how digital media can also be used to create confusion and disunity. Digital media offers a lot, but humans give it meaning, in the way they use digital media tools and the goals they achieve with them.  In teaching, I also find it important to talk about the opportunities digital media provides for various actors for various reasons. I often feel behind in terms of the various platforms that emerge all the time and the opportunities they provide. To keep up with the platforms and their uses requires time and mental energy, so this is something to consider (and perhaps, a reas