This unit is about the emergence of open educational technologies and open education and learning. Discuss the opportunities you see for adult learners through these developments.

I am a learner in open education and learning, taking full advantage of open educational technologies. Transitioning from a Luddite to embracing technology has not been easy for me. My advantage is that I am a mature learner who figured out through online learning I can learn at home in my pyjamas or at Starbucks with friends if I read the assigned chapters and articles and watch the videos. I was once an on-campus learner and knew no other type of learning. Online learning re-shaped the educational activities I do as part of my learning. But I realize that being a privileged white male living in Canada has allowed me to use the highest speed internet and uninterrupted service to work on my studies anytime and anywhere. I agree with Westera (2013, p. 246); I am used to the immediate gratification of my impulses, expecting my devices to answer my queries in seconds, reflecting my impatience. But I disagree with Westera, who suggests this thinking is nothing more than striving for instant pleasure, satisfaction, happiness, and usefulness.  I have patience and self-control, but I know when, where, and how they are of value. My online learning is a lived experience that I enjoy very much, and my door of learning opportunities is wide open for ubiquitous learning technology and its advantages.  

            I see in the future how thoughtful and well-informed design of educational environments can improve the accessibility and participation of learners with disabling conditions. The technology will be used to personalize and specialize approaches to addressing specific challenges. For example, sight-impaired learners require screen-reading software. It is incumbent on the learning institutions and, while designing my course, provide assistive and standard technologies to make the online environment as accessible as possible.

            Aside from opportunities, the shift to furthering open educational technologies is a necessary evil. Younger learners have higher expectations in engaging in their pedagogical environment wanting self-direction and technology-enhanced learning and educating.  They demand sensory-rich activities and input opportunities oriented to visual media. They want that tactile feeling rather than by listening or reading.

            For the course I am designing, it is incumbent on me to pay attention to the technologies and technological skills that my learners will use within the educational context and support their transition into the workforce. From my vantage point, the dam is overflowing; flood gates of open educational technologies and open education resources and learning are wide open, and the turbines produce power of opportunities at an unprecedented rate. From reading the articles assigned in this unit, there is no way to stop it. But, why would we want to?

Laurie

Westera, W. (2015). The digital turn: How the Internet transforms our existence. AuthorHouse UK Limited. http://www.thedigitalturn.co.uk/