"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning" -Brad Henry

Topic #2- History and Context of Open and Distributed Learning

After the past 2 topics, I now have a better understanding of what open and distributed learning looks like in education. The other day I watched a Youtube video and at the beginning of the video the person was promoting a website called “Skillshare”. When they were explaining what Skillshare was right away I thought of open and distributed learning. It is an online platform where individuals can pay for a monthly membership to take online classes without receiving any credits from any institution (Skillshare, 2021). I am unsure whether Skillshare would be considered open or distributed. I am leaning more towards open because anyone can join and it is available for anyone who has access to the web and wants to learn about a topic. There is a membership fee though so does that still make it open learning? Distributed learning “mirrors the enrolment structure of an onsite classroom” (Major, 2015, p. 78) and Skillshare is not necessarily set up as if you were in a classroom. If anyone knows what Skillshare is and they have a different opinion feel free to share with me!


The first reading this week helped me break down what Skillshare is in regards to online learning. I believe Skillshare is a cMOOC as it is open, diverse, and there is a network all over the world (Major, 2015). Skillshare is the central hub where people of any age and location who can pay for a membership can learn various skills from cooking, to entrepreneurship to technology, and much more (Skillshare, 2021). I am still unsure whether Skillshare is a centralized pathway or not. I feel like I would need to get a membership and take a “class” to see how it runs.


I feel like people who have access to the internet are extremely privileged especially because of all the open learning there is now in today’s age. You can google anything and find an answer to it and you can learn about anything and everything. I was shocked to find out the internet started in 1995 (Admin, 2019). We really have had internet for a very long time. Social media now is a large part of online learning. Individuals use social media every day in their lives including me and when professors and professionals incorporate social media into our learning it provides a familiar, native environment to learn (Major, 2015).


Overall, online learning has come a long way and I am excited to learn more about who and how can you get access to online resources.

References:

Admin. (2019, June 11). Timeline: 25 Years of Ed Tech book. Retrieved from http://edtechie.net/25Years/resources/timeline/

Major, C. H. (2015). Teaching Online – A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=3318874 (pp. 76-108)

Online Learning by Skillshare: Start for Free Today. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.skillshare.com/

Skillshare. (2021, July 28). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skillshare

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