Category: weekly-reflection

In previous weeks, our readings briefly discussed the various ways in which online learning promotes aspects of equality and inclusivity. This is the result of the nature of the concept compared to the rigidity provided via in-person learning. Providing study opportunities at a lower cost, without restriction on location and flexible scheduling is just the beginning of fostering equality and inclusivity in the online learning space.

Learning for All

Universal Design for Learning (UDL), as outlined in this week’s readings by CAST, is a framework or blueprint that allows for curriculum in a way that provides individuals with equal opportunities to learn. The idea is not that UDL is a “one-size-fits-all” approach but it recognizes the needs for flexible teaching and resources to meet all learners where they’re at.

There are three main sections to UDL: Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. The below graphic provides an overview of the UDL framework:

UDL Framework, taken from the CAST UDL in Higher Education Website

Why Care?

Traditional education models align with only certain types of learners. While they are great for those who flourish in that type of setting, it can feel horrible for those who don’t. The essence of learning is to share knowledge and gain understanding. By promoting methods that increase the ability for more people to learn, and learn comfortably, we are increasing the number of perspectives, experiences, ideas, and innovations being brought into the world.

This wonderful video resource by GEM Report UNESCO does a fantastic job explaining why fostering an inclusive environment is so important in education:

Inclusivity in the Open Learning Environment

As noted in the article by Funes and Mackness (2018) sometimes in trying to foster inclusivity in the open online education environment we actually end up excluding learners. For example, some people wish to stay anonymous to protect their privacy in their learning communities can cause them to be excluded from class discussions. We need to constantly be reevaluating our learning materials and teaching methods to ensure what we are offering is being done so in the most accessible, inclusive, and equal way possible.

Looking online, I found a few articles that showcased various tips and tricks regarding to make online learning more inclusive. Some of these ideas include the following:

• Choosing diverse imagery
  • Taking into consideration gender, races, ages, nationalities, etc.
• Using inclusive language
  • Saying “hey folks” instead of “hey guys”
  • Saying “older adults” instead of “seniors”
• Ensuring course content is accessible to learners with varying needs
  • Having compatibility with screen readers
  • Using appropriate colour contrasts
  • Including alternate text
  • Having closed captions and transcripts available
  • Supporting keyboard navigation
• Offering supports and accommodations to students who need them

References

 “About UDL” from CAST http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_about

CommunityTeam. (2021). 4 Ways to Make Your Courses More Inclusive | Articulate – Community. E-Learning Heros. https://community.articulate.com/blog/articles/4-ways-to-make-your-courses-more-inclusive/1149128

Funes, M., & Mackness, J. (2018). When inclusion excludes: A counter narrative of open online education. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(2), 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2018.1444638

GEM Report UNESCO. (2022, June 22). Inclusion and Education: #AllmeansALL [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/kEyjlqixq9c?si=g1os5wQ4eXIH9Rhn

Lambda Solutions. (2023). Creating Inclusive eLearning: Strategies for Ensuring Equal Access and Engagement. https://www.lambdasolutions.net/en/blog/creating-inclusive-elearning-strategies-for-ensuring-equal-access-and-engagement

Building a Social Presence in the Online Learning Space

The theme I resonated with most from this week’s readings is the importance of building connections within your online learning community. Particularly, I thought Barnes (2016) and their take on the impact of the presence of the educator on student engagement is incredibly interesting. Barnes (2016) explains that educators can make or break the learning experience for students in the online setting and while it is crucial to establish some form of social presence with students, it can be very difficult to do so.

Within the publication I found this table that I thought provided many great examples of how instructors can foster presence in their online classroom:

Created by Barnes (2016), taken from Chapter 2 of Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning: Where’s the Teacher? Defining the Role of Instructor Presence in Social Presence and Cognition in Online Education

Interested in learning more, I did a Google search to see what else I can find related to increasing social presence and student engagement and came across this great resource by the University of Colorado called Strategies for Promoting Social Presence in your Online Courses. They had lots of really great information on the subject, so I decided to summarize some of my favourite points below:

• Encourage students to update their university profiles by adding a bio or profile
• Use icebreaker questions during discussions
• Encourage students to share a short introduction about themselves with their classmates
• Use discussion boards as a social engagement tool
• Encourage multimedia responses
• Create “ungraded spaces” like coffee chat opportunities
• Involve students in making choices and setting the tone as much as possible
• Provide opportunities for peer review sessions where students can receive feedback and build on their work
• Encourage group work

Reflecting on this list, many of these strategies are employed in our own EDCI 339 class which makes sense as I find this to be a very effective online course!

My Personal Experience

Comparison of In-Person Learning and Online Learning, created by the Yellowdig Team (2021), taken from their website

As a high school graduate during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of online courses and online learning is not new to me. I’ve taken a variety of classes with many instructors, and some were definitely more successful than others. Around 2020, I think people realized that teaching online required a whole different skill set than teaching in person, and that the techniques used for in-person teaching do not always translate to the online environment. Particularly, the educators I had at the time did not realize the importance of establishing their own social presence in the course and expected us as young adults to be able to navigate the new learning environment perfectly by ourselves. As you can imagine, it did not always go well.

Throughout the years generally my online courses have gotten better because the instructors have made themselves available for questions and also organized open discussion opportunities. That being said, some instructors I feel still refuse to believe that there is a difference between online and in person learning so it really is a toss up with how my online classes go. Educators really do make or break the learning experience, and I am happy to hear that efforts are being made to address the needs of the online learning community to improve engagement and the overall learning experience.

To Summarize

This video called Creating a learning community in your online course posted on the Digitallearning Designunit concisely summarizes the importance of establishing a social presence in online learning environments and how to begin doing so:

Free Inquiry Project: Update #2

Wrapping up our Free Inquiry Project has been very exciting because while I feel I’ve dived into many aspects of our topic, I continue to be more and more curious about the psychology behind motivation. I find the science behind behaviour to be incredibly fascinating and honestly comforting. It reassures me that other people experience and feel a lot of the same things I do which makes me feel less alone. This project has inspired me to pursue my newfound interest in psychology casually for now but maybe through some more formal means later. Who knows, maybe that’s a field I’ll pursue in the future!

Regarding the project work itself, I thought that Mandy and I worked well together to make a project we are both very proud of. There were times we thought we bit off more than we could chew but through a little bit of perseverance (and caffeine!) we managed to finish everything we were hoping to accomplish. I appreciated our open communication and how we both had similar philosophies on how to tackle group projects.

References

Barnes, C.L. (2016). “Where’s the Teacher? Defining the Role of Instructor Presence in Social Presence and Cognition in Online Education.” Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning. https://humanmooc.pressbooks.com/chapter/wheres-the-teacher-defining-the-role-of-instructor-presence-in-social-presence-and-cognition-in-online-education/

Critten, J. (2021, December 2). Strategies for Promoting Social Presence in your Online Courses [Text]. University of Colorado. https://www.cu.edu/blog/online-teaching-blog/strategies-promoting-social-presence-your-online-courses

Digitallearning Designunit. (2020, November 11). Creating a learning community in your online course [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/41_qL1EmCHM?si=TlDvFIwXB3_q16tD

Stewart, B. (2016) “Networked Pedagogy” on Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast  https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/networked-pedagogy/

Yellowdig Team. (2021, May 17). In-Person vs. Online Learning – Pros & Cons of Each. Yellowdig. https://www.yellowdig.co/post/in-person-vs-online-learning-can-they-compare

This week’s readings largely focused on the future implications of technology on society. In previous posts, I have mentioned that I have a strong love for technology. However, I am well aware that not everything technology-related is all sunshine and roses. Outside of privacy and security concerns, one aspect of technology that has not been discussed nearly enough is its impact on our environment. Discussing how technology impacts our environment is also directly related to how we introduce technology into our educational spaces.

Saving Our Planet?

As Selwyn (2021) mentioned, it is hard to imagine a world where technology is truly considered “sustainable.” Right now, there seems to be a trend where innovators are arguing that technology use can be and is sustainable (see Sustainable Technology: A Key Element in Corporate Strategy for examples of technologies that claim to promote sustainability). Yet, they fail to address the fact that procuring these technologies is arguably one of the most unsustainable and environmentally impacting practices in the world today.

The below infographic by Inemesit Ukpanah from GreenMatch illustrates the issues with current technology consumption perfectly:

Created by GreenMatch, taken from their website

How can we bring awareness to this conversation before it’s too late?

I decided to do a little digging and came across a fantastic video resource posted on the Architect Tomorrow YouTube Channel. This presentation by Oliver Cronck summarizes the current issue with the technology creation mindset in industry today and why it is impacting the environment so heavily. It also dives into what it takes to truly make technology sustainable and align its production with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Changing the way an entire industry runs is a bit tricky however that is not a reason to give up hope. While the lasting changes need to be made on a global scale through global efforts, there are many ways that us as individuals can be more mindful of technology’s impact on the environment. Check out this resource for 10 Ways to Be Eco-Friendly With Your Tech.

Teaching as a Superpower

To make a change there needs to be widespread awareness of the issue. This is where the educational piece comes in. If we want to develop a change in mindset towards something, we must start by bringing awareness to the subject and there is no better way to do so than in schools. This goes hand in hand with what Selwyn et al. (2019) were saying about “reimagining forms of EdTech suitable for an age of climate change” (Selwyn et al., 2019).

Currently technologies are being used in academia for the sake of using them, instead of for reinforcing educational concepts and advancing learning in a meaningful way. However, when used productively technology can be an incredible tool in educational spaces. This Venn diagram shows how content, pedagogy and technology can be integrated to improve learning:

Taken from the Technology Integration Framework guide on the Stanford Teaching Commons website

Using technology to teach about the impacts of technology can help society become more conscious of the issue.

This reminds me of when I was in elementary school and there were these educational campaigns about how air pollution and excessive plastic waste are ruining the environment. To teach students about the issue, my school

• Participated in the Bike to Work Week initiative
• Organized beach cleanups
• Invited guest speakers to talk about the impact of microplastics on our oceans
• Hosted workshops for students to make their own reusable bags
• Generally increased awareness about the importance of the issue

Around the same time, I recall the public was really involved in speaking up, so much so that it resulted in serious actions being taken in the city surrounding environmental preservation. Now, at least in Victoria, plastic bags aren’t usually given in grocery stores, coffee shops are using paper straws, and every take-out style restaurant will provide patrons with compostable utensils. It is also common to see people with reusable bags and water bottles and staying away from single use plastics.

All of this began with the efforts of educators. I believe if we apply the same strategies to bring awareness to the harm technologies bring to the planet there is hope for change. People will begin using technology with intention in all spaces, not only in academia, and we can begin to push for more sustainable technology innovation practices. I believe that using technology as a tool to support learning, when done right, opens up a world of endless ideation, creativity, and learning opportunities that all serve to better our society.

Free Inquiry Project: Update #1

For the Free Inquiry Project, Mandy Song and I are working together to tackle the subject “The Psychology of Motivation: The Impact of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on Lifelong Learning.” In a previous post I mentioned that we would be working together but now we have solidified the details of the project and have come up with a project plan. We will be making six blog posts in total, with each person responsible for three. Each blog post addresses one of the learning objectives we came up with for this project.

After some preliminary research, I am very excited to work on this topic. There are various areas of debate and consideration with motivation which I find quite fascinating. For example, some people are extrinsically motivated to avoid punishment whereas punishment doesn’t even factor into intrinsic motivation. I also think lifelong learning should be considered a lifestyle. It takes a dedicated effort to be a lifelong learner, to prioritize gaining knowledge and staying away from falling into habits of distraction (my phone does a great job of keeping me off-task!). We are making great progress on our work, and I am looking forward to seeing how the project comes together very soon.

References

Architect Tomorrow. (2022, December 8). Making technology more sustainable [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/FNAz1_-m60k?si=wfnUQbBU523RgBBH

Marsh, J. (2023, March 17). 10 Ways to Be Eco-Friendly With Your Tech | Green City Times. https://www.greencitytimes.com/10-ways-to-be-eco-friendly-with-your-tech/

Selwyn, N. (2021, April 12). Facing up to the dilemma of sustainable digital futures | Digital Education Research @ Monash. https://der.monash.edu/facing-up-to-the-dilemma-of-sustainable-digital-futures/

Selwyn, N., Hillman, T., Eynon, R., Ferreira, G., Knox, J., Macgilchrist, F., & Sancho-Gil, J. M. (2019). What’s next for Ed-Tech? Critical hopes and concerns for the 2020s. Learning, Media and Technology, 1–6. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci339/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2020/03/What-s-next-for-Ed-Tech-Critical-hopes-and-concerns-for-the-2020s.pdf

Technology Integration Framework | Teaching Commons. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2025, from https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/teaching-guides/foundations-course-design/theory-practice/technology-integration-framework

Ukpanah, I. (2024, May 8). Environmental Impact of Technology: Stats, Trends and Insights. GreenMatch.Co.Uk. https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/technology-environmental-impact

Yasmina. (2025, April 15). ▷ Sustainable Technology: Benefits and Examples | Esade. Beyond by Esade. https://www.esade.edu/beyond/en/what-is-sustainable-technology/

This week’s reading, Openness and Praxis: Exploring the Use of Open Educational Practices in Higher Education by Catherine Cronin (2017), provided great detail into the nuance of open educational practices (OEP) that I had not previously considered. It was particularly interesting in hearing the dimensions shared by educators using OEP. Pursuing OEP seems like a tricky, but well worth it, balancing act. I particularly resonate with the point about developing digital literacies. I believe technology is an integral, and inevitable, part of our future. Being able to understand and adapt to ever-evolving technologies allows learners to stay afloat in our online society. Open resources are a great way to develop those related competencies.

Note. This figure was created by Cathrine Cronin in 2017 that shares her findings of the four dimensions shared by educators using OEP. From “Openness and Praxis: Exploring the Use of Open Educational Practices in Higher Education” by Cathrine Cronin, 2017, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(5), p. 9.

Skimming through the references in the Openness and Praxis paper, Pedagogy, Technology, and the Example of Open Educational Resources by Robin DeRosa and Scott Robison (2015) caught my eye. This publication argues against using technologies in the classroom solely because they are new and flashy. Instead, it explains how technology can be used to advance learning and empower students within the context of Open Educational Resources (OER). Once again, I am a big advocate to being exposed to technologies that support ideation and the learning journey. Opportunities to invite growth rather than stagnation should, in my opinion, always be favoured in academia.

I found this resource, OER Commons, which compiles a variety of open educational resources for institutions, educators, and learners to explore. It also allows people to create and share their own OERs. They also have various OER collections related to technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI).

This got me thinking, what types of technologies could benefit from being open source that many people may not know about? Reflecting on my own professional and personal interests, three applications come to mind. My professional interests lie in project management and prototyping. My personal interests are in graphic design. As such, some of the applications I use quite frequently are the JIRA Project Management Software, Figma (a prototyping software) and Canva (a graphic design software). I decided I wanted to challenge myself to find potential open alternatives to the three software. This is what I found:

JIRA Project Management Software OpenProject

Based on my preliminary research on this software, it behaves pretty much exactly the same as the JIRA Project Management Software except it is open source and provides both a cloud and on-premises edition. All the exciting new features of JIRA that come with a cost are freely available using OpenProject.

This screen capture is taken from the OpenProject website that showcases how to create a work package in OpenProject.

Figma PenPot

Similar to OpenProject and JIRA Project Management Software, PenPot offers practically the same capabilities as Figma however does so as an open-source technology. Even the interfaces are incredibly similar. However, what I do enjoy more about PenPot compared to Figma is that PenPot has an option for users to directly code HTML, CSS or SVG into their designs.

This screen capture is taken from the PenPot website that shows an overview of its application.

Canva

Although I searched far and wide, unfortunately there is currently no open-source alternative to Canva that is quite as seamless or user friendly. I came across various open-source photo editing software however they are not comparable to what Canva has to offer. While I am disappointed that I wasn’t successful in finding an alternative to Canva, I am hopeful that an open-source option will be available in the future.

References

Berdygylyjova, M. (2025, March 10). OpenProject: The open source alternative to Jira. OpenProject.Org. https://www.openproject.org/blog/open-source-jira-alternative/

Canva. (n.d.). Canva. https://www.canva.com/

Cronin, C. (2017). Openness and Praxis: Exploring the Use of Open Educational Practices in Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i5.3096

DeRosa, R., & Robison, S. (2015). Pedagogy, technology, and the example of open educational resources. EDUCAUSE Review. Retrieved from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/11/pedagogy-technology-and-the-example-of-open-educational-resources

Figma: The Collaborative Interface Design Tool. (n.d.). Figma. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from https://www.figma.com/

Jira | Issue & Project Tracking Software | Atlassian. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2025, from https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

OER Commons. (n.d.). OER Commons. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from https://oercommons.org/

Penpot: The Design Tool for Design & Code Collaboration. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2025, from https://penpot.app/

Hello world!

I am so excited to be diving into my first EDCI class with you all. My name is Eleonora Stoynova, and I am a Health Information Science student here at the University of Victoria. I am taking this elective to gain some new perspective on learning modalities and hope to apply the knowledge and experiences I gain throughout this course in my future academic and professional pursuits.

Many of the social spaces used in this course are new to me (ex. Mattermost) but thankfully the set up instructions provided were straight forward. Setting up my blog for the first time was a bit tricky but as many of you might have experienced, that was largely due to the changes OpenETC underwent prior to the start of this course. Now that those issues have resolved themselves, I am ready to hit the ground running and jump into everything EDCI 339: Open and Distributed Learning has to offer.

While I am mostly stepping into this course blind, I am eager to learn about the different methods of teaching and some of the psychology behind different learning styles and capabilities. As such, my Learning Pod Pair Partner, Mandy Song, and I will be exploring the topic “The Psychology of Motivation: how do intrinsic and extrinsic factors shape lifelong learning?” for our free inquiry assignment. This topic aligns with both our interests, and we are excited to see where our research and discussions take us.

Week 1 Reading Reflection

Of the three readings posted for this week, I found the video How Distance Changes Everything, the most intriguing. I believe I favour this one above all because I found that it challenges the way I think about learning and provides a new perspective for me to consider.

Pursing a Bachelor of Science, I am used to a very traditional approach to education where I attend lectures and then get tested on the material. It seems like my education journey is majorly reflective of the thinking in the early days of how universities came to be, as described by Jon Dron. I am used to learning in an environment where teachers are in full control that when I find myself in a place where that is not the case, I quite frankly feel lost.

I believe this also plays into the point where extrinsic motivation takes away from the joy of the journey and when you take it away, intrinsic motivation doesn’t come back. While this is my first time hearing this statement, it resonated with me immediately. Oftentimes I find myself wondering why I am interested in learning something new, for example a new language, but never end up doing so. I can now assume that is because there is no reward to doing that. Sure, one can argue that the award is the ability to converse with a larger group of people, or a number of other things, however that is not something that explicitly proves my level competency. As such, I am not interested in learning.

Keeping this in mind, I was very intrigued by the diagram Jon Dron presented for fostering intrinsic motivation in the classroom setting.

(How Distance Changes Everything, diagram presented by Jon Dron and first seen in the presentation at 14:42)

As I am used to being extrinsically motivated in the classroom, I struggle with seeing how being intrinsically motivated in the areas of competence, autonomy, and relatedness will provide me with any more benefit than how I am already motivating myself. This, however, is likely a bias that I have developed over time for extrinsic motivation.  As such, especially after seeing Jon Dron’s diagram for fostering intrinsic motivation in the online environment, I am committing myself to giving this new perspective to learning an honest try.

(How Distance Changes Everything, diagram presented by Jon Dron and first seen in the presentation at 18:21)

While this shift of mindset will likely be difficult for me to comprehend at first, throughout EDCI 339 I am determined to motivate myself intrinsically so that I can develop a love for the learning journey. I enjoy stepping outside of my comfort zone and this is a perfect opportunity for me to begin doing so.