Hello everyone!
My name is Marco Chong, and I am a fourth-year sociology undergraduate student with an education minor. This is my last year at UVic and I am cherishing every moment I am having right now. I joined UVic during the COVID-19 pandemic and initially majored in computer science. I originally chose computer science because I had no clear direction for my future, and following my sister’s career path seemed like the safest option. However, I soon realized that I was not interested in programming. After exploring various courses, I discovered my passion for sociology, which has opened my eyes to many of the world’s problems. My word of advice is to choose something that interests you the most in your education journey because you will learn more in the process.
Last fall, I took EDUC 100 and discovered that many of my peers were pursuing an education minor alongside their sociology or psychology degrees. To my surprise, I had already completed half the requirements for an education minor because I had taken numerous art education courses as electives. I also took EDCI 338 this summer with our instructor, Joshua, and I loved his website setup.
What is Distributed Education?
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
As mentioned in Module 1, distributed education is a learning approach where students can learn from themselves outside of classroom setting. Just like this asynchronous course, we have all the necessary materials online and support. Distributed education impacts accessibility and flexibility in learning because students can finally learn at their own pace. A lot of the students live outside of Victoria and may even have a full time job.
What is Open Education?
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Personally, I am a fan of open education because students already have to pay so much for tuition. It helps promoting equity because not everyone has the same socioeconomic status. Moreover, textbooks may not be reused for other courses and we may waste them. I think open education can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable learning environment because students can easily share learning materials. We shouldn’t let financial difficulties hindering high quality learning materials.
Modes of Learning
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
There are four modes of learning style mentioned in Module 1: face-to-face learning, online learning, blended learning, and hybrid learning. I prefer hybrid learning because it allows more flexibility. Face-to-face learning can be useful for meeting with other classmates and making friends. However, this kind of traditional learning can be time-consuming because you have to spend more time getting to school, and is usually more boring. Back in COVID, I hated the online learning environment because I just entered the university but I did not get to make any friends. Therefore, I did poorly in those courses because I felt like I didn’t get the support I needed. However, once COVID ended, I liked online courses a lot because I already had some connections in the classes so it made everything easier. I am fine with blended learning and hybrid learning but I prefer hybrid learning. Hybrid learning is rare but I like letting students choose their learning environment. From my experience, this flexibility increases my success as a learner.
Digital Literacy
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Digital literacy means taking advantage of the current digital world and using technology to benefit yourself. This could be learning how to use pc, the internet, and websites. It is important in open and distributed learning settings because we have to learn how to participate in online discussions to foster a community. Digital literacy impacts my learning experiences because sometimes it takes time to learn a new set of skills for example setting up this website. However, I am very confident because I know how to use opened.ca.
Digital Identity
Digital identity means how others see you online. Especially in this course, we rely heavily on technology for learning. There, we have to be mindful of what we post online because it can potentially harm your professional profile. I usually manage my online presence by separating private and public profiles.
Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash
I am very excited to be a part of this online course and look forward to engaging with all of you. Let’s make the most of this experience and support each other along the way. Cheers!
emmaw
September 28, 2024 — 11:57 am
Hi Marco, I enjoyed reading your first blog post! Your ideas on Open Education were interesting. I fully agree with your point about textbooks being a prohibitive sunk cost that can be avoided to promote more equitable learning. Furthermore, I also prefer hybrid learning for similar reasons. It is nice to build connections within the classroom while still having the option of online learning for flexibility purposes if sickness occurs or personal conflict arises with the course schedule. I also agree with your statement on how digital literacy can impact the learning experience. As someone newer to using opened.ca, I have had difficulty adjusting and developing my skill set for this course. However, I believe that the acquisition of digital literacy skills is very beneficial in the long run! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
-Emma Williamson
jerryhu
September 30, 2024 — 6:57 pm
Hi, Marco!
Your blog post really stood out, and in particular, your personal story of switching from computer science to sociology inspired me towards doing the same thing, and paging through a very fulfilling educational career. First of all, I want to thank you for sharing your thoughts on open education, which makes finances relatively fair by offering access to free resources. I also like the way you push forward that hybrid learning offers flexibility and at the same time maintains the advantages of face-to-face interaction, to which interactions I totally agree create rapport. Interesting to see how your view about online learning changed before and after COVID; it shows how agile we must be as learners within an educational environment that is in continuous evolution. Excellent posting, and I look forward to reading others that you will make during this course.
-JiaoNing Hu（Jerry）
okchan
October 1, 2024 — 10:30 pm
Hi Marco,
Thank you for your post. We are in the same pod group like EDCI 338. Nice to see you again. I like your idea of open education helps promoting equity since we share course materials and textbooks, and so we do not have to pay extra on top of our tuition fee. I also agreed that hybrid learning provides the flexibility of online learning and the direct interaction with my instructor in the classroom. We are able to choose the learning environment where we feel comfortable with. Your reflection on digital identity resonates with me. It is important to protect our professional images and information, being aware of the wordings which are violating and trigger negative emotions.
Looking forward to reading more of your blog posts and learning with you this semester!
Marsha