To be honest, I really got confused by the course design at the very beginning of the semester. I posted topic 1 discussion in the discussion thread, read all the posts and replied to my pod members through Brightspace. Then I was required to copy it to WordPress blog. I did not understand the setting until I read this week’s commentary reading materials. When I log in Brightspace to complete assignments for my degree, it is actually distributed learning. However, when I update the discussion in WordPress, others can choose to follow along for their own interests. In this way, anyone can learn the course materials. We call this kind of learning method as open learning. It allows everyone to participate in further education, create new knowledge, share new ideas and in turn, serve for a better society. With this course design, I have a better understanding of distributed and open learning.

What’s more, I am impressed by the concept of access.  Gilliard and Culik (2016) illustrated that a student who studied in college school has been digitally redlined, walled off from information based on the IT policies of her institution. The Guided Pathways to Success program in her college has kept her from exploring unknown options beyond her majors. This is actually negative and can directly limit the futures of students. It reminded me that once my friend Emily who studies in a college  asked me to share some children literature. I collected six website links and sent to her. However, she could only access to three of them and the others were restricted due to the sensitivity of the unknown links. This reveals that her school restricts information access and digitally redlines the intellectual territory. From my perspective, this kind of pedagogy decreases some students’ interests in exploring other fields and limits their knowledge scope.

Therefore,  I think the open pedagogy is of necessity in the current educational system. As Mays (2017) mentions, open pedagogy offers a free alternative to expensive commercial textbooks. And it allows students to share their unique ideas and make contribution to the knowledge commons in a meaningful and enduring method. When it comes to teachers, open pedagogy positively improves students’ enrollment rate and their decision to attend and gradate from school.

References

Gilliard, C., & Culik, H. (2016, May 24). Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy. Common Sense Education.

Mays, E. (Ed.). (2017). A guide to making open textbooks with students. Rebus Community.