Learning Activity (Prompt 2): While we were sleeping

Institutions need to closely observe how the new technology that they are considering to adopt functions and ask for clarifying questions if in doubt. They need to consider the cybersecurity to protect the members of the institution and the students’ privacy. It is also important to evaluate whether the use of this new technology do not cause any unethical concerns.

Instructors should consider the following: if the new technology is better than the existing methods of teaching and learning? Can it help to fulfill the educational goals? How efficient is the technology? Does this technology breach the privacy policy of the institution? Are there any ethical issues to consider? Are there any accessibility issues; does everyone have an equal opportunity to access and use the technology? Are the students able to access the content autonomously?

There are several hidden motivation that can influence our choice to adopt new technological tools. For example, it enhances students’ interaction and engagement, it boost productivity and creativity, it encourages collaboration and decreases paperwork for the teacher.  However, it is important to have a critical approach to embracing new technologies for use in the teaching practice. Sometimes, we may not realise that we are at risk of adopting new technologies that are having a harmful effect; for example, it can affect the curriculum design and it can have implication regarding our conduct and ethics. We should also consider whether it is more of a distraction is it isolating, is it accessible, is it affecting the development of students’ skills like problem solving, etc. We also have to reflect on the impact of high use of digital technology and assess the environmental footprint on our planet, considering it is already in a crisis. I thought this activity would be very helpful as it raises many important questions about the use of new technology. I have been able to reflect on the advantages of employing new technologies in the teaching practice. I have also been able to analyze the points that we need to consider before adopting new technologies in the educational institutions and the classroom. This task helped me to analyse my own practice and consider what type of approach I will have concerning the adoption of new technology.

Learning Activity (Prompt 1): What is happening with open learning?

In the session on the Open Education Resource (OER) movement with David Wiley several key information was shared. Wiley talked about the fact that the aim is to keep OERs free of cost, which helps learners; for example if they are coming from a low-income background, it can help them to progress in their studies. He also talked about the difference between GPT 4 (base model) which is more of a one shot interaction as opposed to Chat GPT, which has been fine-tuned; the search can be more tailored to the needs of the user; depending on the request that the user makes, the results could be more specific to their needs. He talked about the primary benefit of using OER; you have the possibility to engage in continuous improvement, cycle after cycle based on the data that students and faculties generate in the course of the journey. He also referred to OER as the emergent form; it helps to learn new things and deepen curiosity and awareness.  

 OER-enabled Education is the teaching and learning practices that are done in the context of the 5R permissions that are characteristic of OER.  The 5R permissions (i.e. retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute) associated with OER offer new and stimulating way to promote student-centred instructional design.

Open pedagogy refers to a set of new teaching approaches and practices; it is possible following the use of OER in the classroom.

Open pedagogy encourages the adoptions of new types of assignments that prompt and empower students to make a meaningful contribution to public discussion and knowledge outside of the class. For example, students can collaboratively develop their course syllabus; becoming co-creators of knowledge.

 Two interesting points for discussion would be:

-While OER’s may be free or low cost, how helpful is it if some students face barriers to accessing OER’s due to the digital divide?

– Does OER have a positive impact on students’ learning or is it harming students’ learning?

I chose this activity, as I wanted to find out more about OER and open pedagogy and to reflect on how I can implement this in my teaching practice. I have learnt about the possibilities that OER can offer as well as the limitations. I am also aware of some of the barriers to adoption of OER by educational institutions.