When we talk about enabling all learners to have fair access to a real and meaningful learning environment in an open and distributed learning environment, we have to talk about the words fair, true, and meaningful.
First of all, we must ensure that all learners have equal learning opportunities. In Robertson’s (2017) article, we discussed diversity, fairness and tolerance in open education. The article mentioned that what we should pay attention to is not the key voices of the mainstream, but the marginalized voices and opinions. For example, how should students with dyslexia read? How should students with hearing impairment listen to lectures? In an open learning environment, how do we ensure the learning needs of these seemingly marginalized people? Robertson (2017) also mentioned that sometimes it is inappropriate or unethical to disclose information to everyone. In this case, how do we distinguish between some information that can be disclosed and some that cannot be made public? I think that solving these two problems requires everyone’s efforts. For learners with disabilities, we need to develop other learning methods based on public learning resources (for example, this book has an audio version instead of a reading version) to ensure that every learner has equal learning opportunities. As for whether all learning information can be made public, I think it is necessary to obtain the consent of relevant personnel before deciding whether it can be made public. If the relevant personnel disagree, then the learning information will not be publicly used for learning.
Second, we need to discuss how to ensure that all learners create a real and meaningful learning environment. I think we can all use UDL guidelines for self-reflection and self-evaluation. UDL is divided into three parts: participation, expression and action expression. According to these three parts, UDL has very detailed guidance. I think it is a very effective way to understand and improve your learning style according to the UDL guide. So when we are confused about our learning results or learning environment, we can use UDL guidelines to motivate ourselves to ensure that we are in a real and meaningful learning environment.
In my opinion, I learned a lot of helpful knowledge through this week’s reading materials and it also broadened my horizons. I didn’t have a deep understanding of open learning before, but now I also start to reflect on whether I take advantage of open learning and how to do it better. When I was reading Robertson (2017) ‘s article, I admired her efforts for marginalized people. I hope I can learn more about how to ensure learning opportunities for disabled students.
CAST. (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2. http://udlguidelines.cast.org
ROBERTSON, T. （2017）Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Open Research and Education
Replies to group members:
Jaime, M. (2018). What Open Education Taught Me
Author Jaime (2018) shared her experience gained in open learning. Jaime (2018) used his own experience to sum up seven points: “To Keep An Open Mind, To Take Control of My Education, That My Professors Are Still Learning Too, To Collaborate With My Peers, To Trust the System, To Be Proud and Confident In My Work and To Put Yourself Out There and Make Connections.” I think these seven points are very helpful for us to understand and use open learning. Jamie (2018) mentioned that we need to take control of our education which I think is an essential point in open learning. Open learning means that students can choose their own way of learning, so students must exercise self-discipline and intuition and learn on their initiative. Therefore, we must learn to control our learning rhythm and be responsible for our learning. Jamie has summarized these seven experiences from students’ mentality, professors, and the educational environment. I think it is worth learning.
2) Notes about UDL guidelines
UDL is a set of educational guides that provide specific recommendations for all learners. These suggestions have detailed guidelines through which learners can learn how to use resources and tools to improve learning. UDL is divided into three parts: engagement, representation and action expression. These three parts represent why, what and how of learning respectively. I think it is a very effective way to understand and improve one’s learning style according to the UDL guidelines. By following the detailed guidance requirements of UDL, I can improve my original learning methods on my basis and maximize the benefits of my learning results.