Skip to main content

Week 5, Post 1: Universal education

For the blog this week, the first article that caught my attention is "Open Educational Resources : Enabling universal education." In the article, it was my first time learning about OpenCourseWares (OCWs), which are online resources that provide access to educational materials from courses in universities (Cite here). This initiative was not one that I was aware of, but is a great development that was initiated by MIT.  I do support the availability of course materials for all the people who lack the resources to purchase some of those materials, those who may not be able to access them in person, and the global learners who want access to them. 

Distance education is becoming increasingly popular and has more affordances than traditional education. With the ability to access education anywhere, and the availability of wifi, we can continue to expand our education through online learning environments. With additions of movements such as OCWs, we are making social impacts in supporting the idea of universal education. The Declaration of Human Rights  supports also provides support for this notion and should inspire universities worldwide (beyond the current numbers) to start sharing educational sources for learners everywhere to access. 

Learning is a fundamental human ability that needs to be exercised to continue the path toward intellectual enlightenment. While there may be consequences for providing access to all, this access could be a catalyst for change as we continue to live and develop on the planet. Some of the brightest minds on earth sometimes lack the proper resources to expand education on what we currently know. The universal education movement will continue to make progress, and I believe this will help us solve several research questions or problems and make new discoveries. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 6 Post 3: To Future Me

 Out of the tools listed this week, I was very surprised to learn about a tool where you can write a letter to your future self. With this 6th week, I have had several challenges and have felt like I needed a lot of encouragement. So it was nice to explore this tool, and even seeing that I could send money to my future self was such a cool feature. I ended up writing myself an encouraging letter that talked about what I have done, my goals, my hopes, and my aspirations. I wished my future self well and told her that no matter what she has going on in the future, she will succeed.  Writing that letter made me emotional and reminded me that I must be my biggest fan. With everything going on in life, there are times when things feel tough, and we can feel a lack of motivation. When I lack motivation, I think it is helpful to take a step back to reflect on the past challenges and how they have passed. Times like these are temporary, and without challenges, we stay stagnant. In my ...
3 comments
Read more

Is Social Media a Practical Method for Learning?

 In this week's readings, one of the articles I read was about the case study done on high school students and how they use social media platforms for informal learning. The article, titled "Teens and Social Media: A Case Study of High School Students’ Informal Learning Practices and Trajectories," found that students can potentially learn through non-traditional methods, such as social media when it aligns with their interests. The primary themes found within the research were that there are three sorts of informal learning that include "career/future planning, entrepreneurship, and hobbies" (baggy et al. 242).These themes came as no surprise as we are aware that there are algorithms on social media for a reason. However, it was interesting to see career planning as one of the main ones that came up.  When I think about the concept of learning through social media, I think more about entrepreneurship and hobbies. There have been several instances where people h...
4 comments
Read more

Week 6 post 2: Technology & Pedagogy

 The Salomon article was an interesting read and basically discusses the importance of balancing technology and education. Indeed, there has been an influx of online learning strategies and techniques being utilized, but there is also concern about maintaining the primary focus of education. Education aims to provide knowledge, allow collaboration, and continue to grow our fundamental knowledge of particular topics.  Because of the many technologies that have been developed, some have lost sight of the importance of pedagogical approaches to learning. Salomon mentions failed approaches such as the one in Los Angeles, where a $1.3 billion iPad initiative resulted in poor usage and did not support education as was hoped. The article argues that this occurred because of the lack of proper implementation or pedagogical techniques to ensure proper use and practice. While technology is expected to change education, unlike other subject areas, education is not responding well to thos...
Post a Comment
Read more