After a few months journey, the “Open Networked Learning” course has come to an end. It has been a really nice experience, which has enriched me with new knowledge from several different perspective. I wouldn’t say it changed my view upon teaching and learning, but nevertheless it made me more aware that learners are the center of any teaching activity. Here, some points I will bring with me and might be useful to you, too.

  • Digital tools might help your teaching experience (but they can ruin it, too). Digital tools should be used carefully and should not add further complexity and distraction to the teaching activity. Digital tools might be used in many ways and not just for teaching , but, for instance, for an improved communication experience with your students.
  • We lack of (real) open education. Using the parallel with open-source software, some aspects to condor for a full-fledged open education are: price, source availability, open-sourcing, quality, development methods.
  • Learning can benefit from communities. To learn something one has to see herself as a member of a given group and possibly sharing some objective(s). However, me must acknowledge that boundaries (of a group) are constantly changing as old members go out and new members come in. 
  • Feelings are the truth (but not the whole truth). Feelings and emotions play a pivotal role in the learning process. Educators should keep this in mind when engaging with students. At the same time, the actual course content should not be sent backwards and should always be prioritised over feelings.
What’s Next?