Open Network Learning Blog by Leysan

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 ...

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 perhap...