Have you ever thought about taking an online course? What about teaching one?

Nowadays education has expanded beyond books and classroom walls as digital learning is establishing all over the planet in the form of open universities or online courses, seminars or even programs. Higher education has been enriched with digital tools while digital environments play an important role in teaching and learning activities, from lectures to workgroups, feedback and assessment. By designing an online course one has to aim to design a whole learning experience, as the learner will need guidance, stimulation encouragement and support to develop their collaborative skills working together with other learners throughout the course.  

However, many might find difficult or feel quite self-conscious following an online course. Suspensive thoughts may come to mind : Do I feel comfortable with technology and especially learning new digital tools? How can I keep up with a new environment avoiding physical presence in a classroom and not having contact with other students? How do I keep myself motivated without the physical presence of a teacher? Will I be good enough to handle such challenge? People have different levels of confidence in using technologies and digital literacies are very important especially for adult learners.  Digital  literacy  is the  ability  to  understand  and  use  information  in  multiple  formats  with  emphasis  on critical thinking (Chan et al. 2017). A digitally literate individual can find, evaluate and compose clear information on various digital platforms. However, acquiring digital literacies does not depend on age, technical knowledge but rather on motivation for engagement (Connaway et al. 2011).

According to the Visitors and Residents paradigm (White and LeCornu 2011), many see digital technology as users and place little value in belonging there as a Visitor would do while others not only use digital tools but also immerse in the web expressing opinions, creating relationships and undertaking many activities, as a Resident would do. At the same time, a person can be a Resident in their private life while they can be a Visitor when using the digital technology professionally or institutionally. Therefore, there are many speeds and ways of keeping up with digital technology. An online course should support all different levels of digital literacy and one of its aspects should be to make people familiarize, become acquainted and eventually comfortable with using digital tools for learning.

The support in digital learning can be academic, social and organizational (Schneller and Holmberg 2014). The academic institution should provide individual study plans, guidance, tutoring, teaching and study guides but in the same time support the support should be also social, where a stimulating environment should be provided by teachers for engaging with work mates and study mates for building collaborating skills as one would do in a classroom. Moreover, it is essential to build an engaging and stimulating environment with clear aims and responsibilities together with providing comprehensive steps for using digital tools independently of the level of the learner’s digital literacy.

I consider myself a Resident in my private life however sometimes I feel as a Visitor in my institutional life. A student or a teacher should find motivation for engagement with new tools and technologies for course attendance or course development, respectively. Adapting to new environments can be challenging however, it can be very rewarding as by learning new things we can grow and develop as learners and individuals.

Chan S.K.B, Churchill D., Chiu K.F.T. (2017) Digital literacy learning
in higher education through digital storytelling approach. Journal of International Education Research, 13(1), 1-16. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1144564.pdf

Connaway S.L., White D., Lanclos, D. (2011) Visitors and Residents: What Motivates Engagement with the Digital Information Environment?. ASIST2011, October9-13, 2011, New Orleans, LA, USA.


Schneller C., Holmberg C. (2014) Distance education in European higher education. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED560484.pdf

White D. S., and Le Cornu A. (2011) Visitors and Residents: A New Typology for Online Engagement. First Monday 16 http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3171