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
emilytrelford
August 9, 2021 — 8:44 pm
Hi Hannah!
Thanks for your post. I like that you brought up Skillshare, I think this is a really great example! I also honestly had a lot of the same questions as you – is it still considered open if we have to pay for it? I found this website: https://www.mooc.org/
It lists a bunch of free courses that you can take that are considered MOOC’s. In the Major (2015) reading, they talk about how most MOOC’s are free, but if you want credit for it, you will have to pay a fee. This confuses things more for me! I’m wondering why I have never heard of MOOC’s before, because a free online course could be very beneficial to me with my job at a daycare. I’m wondering what those fees look like as well. If it’s around the same as a UVic course, or it’s a smaller fee. Definitely worth looking into, I think!
Thanks Hannah!
Emily
Kayla Krug
August 10, 2021 — 12:16 pm
Hi Hannah!
Wow that is so cool that you have now learned concepts we have learned in this course and applied them to your everyday life. I have never heard of Skillshare before, but from how you are describing it, I would agree and say that it is leaning towards being an open learning resource.
We are extremely lucky to have the internet. I honestly cannot imagine life without it now. Furthermore, I find it very cool how the older generations, who did not grow up with the internet, have adapted their ways and now use it everyday. I was also shocked to find out it was invented in 1995. I feel like the internet has progressed massively in the last 25 years, and now has become this amazing tool that we use everyday.
Thanks for your blog post. I found it very insightful and beneficial to read.
Kayla
kianaarch
August 10, 2021 — 7:38 pm
Hannah,
Thank you for sharing the Skillshare resource! I will definitely have to check it out. I agree with you that I now have a better understanding of what open learning is- however there are still some grey areas. I had to think about the membership fee that you mentioned- I’m still unsure if it would be considered open.. I am leaning towards no as you do have to pay- however you are not receiving any type of credit and it’s still accessible to the public.. interesting.. something to think about.
I agree with you in that I feel very privileged to have access to the internet during my higher educational career. It’s truly insane to think about getting my degree- say 40 years ago where everything was textbook and less accessible.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Kiana
rianneyuen
August 12, 2021 — 11:20 am
Hey Hannah,
Thanks for sharing!
That is great how you related Skillshare with open and distributed learning. Now that I am more educated on this topic, I can understand the differences. A few days ago, I used open learning to help set up my laptop. At first, I tried to follow the written steps on Apple’s website. However, I could not figure it out. Then, I thought about this class and open learning. I used Youtube to help me finish the steps that I could not complete. We are very fortunate to have these learning opportunities from just being connect to the internet.
I also agree with how social media takes a huge role in education. I often find my research topics based off social media topics.
Ryan Banow
August 15, 2021 — 4:13 pm
Great post, Hannah. It is great that you are bringing in an example to try and interrogate your understanding of the terms. To be honest, even among “open” experts, you won’t find consensus on whether or not Skillshare is open or not. The term MOOC was one that caused a lot of controversy because different people’s definitions of open are different. The purists would say that to be open you need to have free access. Perhaps you do charge something for the certificate at the end, but you should be able to participate fully for free. Others would say that since it doesn’t require registration at a school, it is open. Who’s right? Maybe both are.
When I taught a MOOC we actually called it a TOOC, which stood for “Truly Open Online Course”. This was a shot at all of the other courses that weren’t truly open.
One other note from your post is that you think Skillshare courses would be cMOOCs. Without looking into it, I would suggest that they are xMOOCs. cMOOC courses are really about the community interaction and most of the content emerges from the community of learners. If the course begins with modules with videos, readings, quizzes, etc. it would fall more into the xMOOC category.
Ryan