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Topic 5: End of a journey

The ONL course is almost over. What a journey! I learned many things through my engagement in this course. First of all, I experienced how it is to learn through sharing experiences, concepts and ideas and through building your own experiences together with other people in an online group. I learned that collaboration with other people is possible and can be very successful even though we have never met physically! I had the great opportunity to be in a group with members of different backgrounds with rich and interesting educational experiences and views. In each topic in this course, each member contributed meaningfully to the group not only in terms of content but also by transferring and sharing their experiences and their ideas; they opened up! Moreover, I learned how to formulate and communicate new ideas in a more direct and visual approach, by getting to know new digital tools to me thanks to the fruitful inputs and brainstorming of our group. During this course, very int
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Topic 4: Blended learning

Many educators nowadays implement blended learning designs in their courses. The development of technology has brought the possibility to use different digital platforms and tools for education that can aid teaching and learning and facilitate their processes. Blended learning is an educational approach that combines online educational materials and opportunities to interact online with traditional classroom methods. In contrast with online learning, blended learning requires the physical presence of students and teachers however; traditional classroom-based learning is combined with computer-mediated activities regarding the content (teaching & learning activities, instruction) and delivery (assessment and feedback) (1). One important aspect in blended learning design in to personalize the online teaching & learning activities to meet the specific needs of each student. Teaching should be adapted to each student’s strengths and weaknesses in a dynamic way. Hence, the digi
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Topic 3: Connectivism and online collaborative learning

How learners can learn collaboratively while taking an online course if they are not in a classroom filled with classmates and they are physically isolated interacting only through their computer? At first, it may seem like an oxymoron but would it make more sense if the course was an online networked course? Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are three broad learning theories whose central idea is that learning occurs inside a person. These theories tend to not address learning processes that occur outside the person, such as learning that is happening and supported by technology and learning in online networked communities (1). In particular, constructivism's central idea is that learning is constructed, since learners build new knowledge upon the foundation of previous learning (2). Given the context of online learning, constructivism seems to acknowledge the impact of technology on learning the most among those three theories. Constructivism could be r
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Topic 2: Openness in education

When we refer to open education, we usually think about an education that is offered without requirements for academic admission and nowadays is primarily supported by digital technologies. An essential quality of open education is the removal of barriers for learning (1). Higher education can be regarded as limited to access, as prior qualifications and/or tuition fees are usually required for enrollment. Here, open higher education programs aid to give people a chance to gain knowledge without following a traditional campus-based university. However, they are often regarded as lacking the status and the recognition of a campus-based institution, as usually no prior requirements are necessary for enrollment. One aspect of openness in education is the development and adoption of open education resources (OER). This term was first introduced in the early 2000s and was defined as “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the publi
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Topic 1: Teaching and learning in a digital world

Have you ever thought about taking an online course? What about teaching one? Nowadays education has expanded beyond books and classroom walls as digital learning is establishing all over the planet in the form of open universities or online courses, seminars or even programs. Higher education has been enriched with digital tools while digital environments play an important role in teaching and learning activities, from lectures to workgroups, feedback and assessment. By designing an online course one has to aim to design a whole learning experience, as the learner will need guidance, stimulation encouragement and support to develop their collaborative skills working together with other learners throughout the course.    However, many might find difficult or feel quite self-conscious following an online course. Suspensive thoughts may come to mind : Do I feel comfortable with technology and especially learning new digital tools? How can I keep up with a new environment avoiding
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Hello!

This is my blog for the course ONL201.
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