The spread of COVID-19 across world during the year 2020 has unforgettable impacts on every field of life. Similarly, it has changed the education sector as well. The educational institutes in different countries of the world had to switch from face-to-face learning towards online system of education. Although COVID-19 became a source of danger for humanity but it provided opportunities to think outside the box for various solutions to the challenges faced by traditional education sector.

In Pakistan, the Institute of Education and Research (IER), hosted an online 8th International Conference on Research in Education (ICORE 2020) at University of the Punjab, Lahore on December 21-23, 2020. The theme of the conference was COVID 19: TEACHING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. The national as well as international scholars highlighted multiple teaching and learning opportunities as a result of COVID-19.

Prof. Dr. Jianxin Zhang (China) highlighted COVID-19 Impact in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with respect to APQN Survey. “(1) The impact of Individual Psychological and Behavioral Responses under the pandemic is wide and enormous; (2) HEIs’ responses and actions to the pandemic are active and supported. First, HEIs’ crisis interventions are in full action; and (3) HEIs’ actions in the post-pandemic era are sustainable development”. She provided 3 suggestions for higher education sector in post pandemic era: “1) higher education must adapt to the new changes of “online teaching” and “blended teaching” in the post pandemic era as soon as possible; (2) to make future plan to improve educational governance capacity in the post crisis era, and make modern system of educational governance to cope with the public social crisis; and (3)Higher education must further strengthen “education community of shared future for mankind.”

Prof. Dr. Donna Pendergast (Australia) shared Learning@home Work Integrated Learning (WiL) Initiative to enhance learning at home by identifying 6 key learnings: ” use of technology; working collaboratively; demonstrating the achievement of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers; the nature of professional experience; process and product; feedback and reflection.”

Professor Marilyn Leask (UK) focused on innovations in teaching and learning during COVID-19 and preparing for the next epidemic/pandemic with four key points: “(1) Innovations and lessons for teaching and learning from Covid-19 . (2) How to be better prepared for the next crisis (3) Potential long term benefits from the innovations in teaching and learning from COVID (4) Challenges educators and ministries of education to consider how the lessons learned using different technologies to support continuity of learning during COVID-19 may be used to benefit the millions of older children and adults who have missed out on schooling themselves.”

Prof. Dr. Suzanne Eckes (USA) discussed legal issues that have arisen in the age of COVID-19. According to her, the U.S. Supreme Court found that school officials are to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities by making available an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that is reasonably calculated to enable each child “to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances”. She also highlighted legal and policy issues related to e-learning that have arisen during the pandemic including privacy concerns, special education, homeschooling, child abuse and other legal considerations.

Prof. Dr. Thomas G. Ryan (Canada) shared experience of shifting from face-to-face learning towards distance learning during the year 2020. With the rapid transition and uncertainty, learning continued to evolve in the proceeding days and months as digital technology supported and sustained us in this pandemic. The educators and students found themselves becoming more digitally literate, fluent and proficient in 2020 in spite of the loss of face-to-face classes.

Prof. Dr. Timothy E. Jester (USA) expressed that Covid-19 has provided an opportunity for educators to rethink teaching and learning. He drew from his experiences with the pandemic and research on teaching to present a facilitative pedagogical framework that can be used to support transformative learning for preservice and in service educators. In transformative education, the educator aims to establish conditions that spark meaningful disorienting dilemmas or work with disruptions that unfold in students’ lives, such as a pandemic, and support the unfolding of transformative learning. Key features of the model include listening, reflecting, and enacting grounded in curiosity, openness, and mindfulness.

Prof. Dr. Fatma Bikmaz (Turkey) highlighted that COVID-19 has affected people regardless of their nationality, level of education, gender or socioeconomic status. How countries respond to this and what was their handling strategies to come up with educational problems beside the other crucial and closely related fields? The latest report of UNICEF (2020) revealed that 2.2 billion children and young people aged 25 years or less lack internet access at home. Through tv channels and Education Information Network (EIN) took responsibility for teaching throughout Turkey, beside other learning management systems. Tablets were distributed to students in need. A telephone hotline was launched to offer advice and support to parents and their children. The views and perceptions of the role and responsibilities of governments, teacher educators, principals, parents, teachers, students and others will have changed and this changing mindset will be critical for the future of the education. Reduced class size, shortened and flexible school time, hybrid system for delivery of curriculum, more digitalized infrastructure, hygienic learning environments and more seem to be our new educational normal after pandemic.

Prof. Dr. Rebecca K. Fox (USA) discussed opportunities from the challenges of COVID-19 in online and remote instruction. In the new ways we have come to facilitate learning, in our new abilities to navigate the online space, in our added knowledge about utilizing online tools and approaches, and in the ways we have come to see our students’ learning through new lenses.

Prof. Dr. Bill Atweh (Philippines) told that mere move from face-to-face interactions to online is not sufficient to constitute, what are some people calling, a paradigm shift in education. However, it gives us the opportunity to re-examine the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment that are relevant to a technology rich environment. He identified characteristic of flexible learning environments such as scaffolding, feedback, and interactions that are essential factors that research has demonstrated to increase students’ learning and enjoyment.

Dr. Alastair Creelman (Sweden) described success factors and lessons learned from the pandemic crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 caused a sudden and unplanned shift to online education in almost every country in the world. There is need to differentiate between emergency remote teaching and well-designed online education. After crisis, we need to redesign our courses to the required standards of quality online education. (1) Online and distance learning requires careful planning and new skills. (2) Courses must be reviewed and redesigned to fully integrate digital elements. (3) New forms of assessment and examination are needed in the digital space. (4) Greater flexibility of how students access their courses with greater integration between online and on-site as well as more blended learning solutions. (5) Online conferences will continue to thrive, largely replacing expensive and unsustainable international on-site conferences. (6) Virtual mobility programmes will become the most widespread internationalisation strategy. He also recommended Five Stage Model by Gilly Salmon. This model is explained in my blog Application of 5 Stage Model in Blended Learning.

https://wordpress.com/view/shahidislam.home.blog

Some of the useful conference links are:

ttps://fb.watch/2xlTplPe3T/ https://fb.watch/2xlVzBfo8-/ https://play.lnu.se/media/t/0_5k7ybrr7

The next year conference is scheduled in November 2021.

Goodbye 2020 & Welcome 2021.

There are two paths in our life. One that we select for us and the other that is selected by our Creator for us. I think, the path selected by our Creator for us is more important in our life.

Eight months back, I could not imagine about my ONL journey. Monday, November 19, 2018 is unforgettable day of my life when I met Sir Alastair Creelman in Pakistan at University of the Punjab during a One Day Workshop on “Silent Learners in e-Learning Environment”. The topic was attractive for me, the presentation style of Sir Alastair Creelman and the information provided by him opened new doors of learning for me.

The time spent with him in Lahore city of Pakistan was also the beginning of friendship with him. His charismatic personality, his love for humanity and sincerity made me one of his fans.

Sir Alastair guided me about Open Networked Learning (ONL) course offered by four educational institutions of Sweden (Linnaeus University, Karlstad University, Lund University and Karolinska Institutet). I joined ONL 191 course in February 2019 as a Open Learner in group 12. I was the only student from Pakistan. Most of the students were from Europe, some from Africa and other parts of the World.

The ONL course was designed on open, collaborative and networked learning focused on problem-based learning (PBL) by utilizing online learning environment. The key learning principles behind PBL is to view learning as a constructive, collaborative, self-directed and contextual process. The FISh (Focus, Investigate, Share) model used in the course was a unique source for individual and group inquiry. The purpose of ONL course was to develop a community of practice that can enhance understanding of what personal learning networks and environments can mean and how these can be built. Freely available social media tools were used in the course that does not require extensive technical skills for the learners.

The ONL course team support and the cooperation with learners was much helpful in the learning process. The course organizers, Lars, Maria, Lotta, Alastair & Jorg, group facilitator Miriam and the co-facilitator Esther dedicated efforts and the coordination was also admirable. Scenario based discussions, shared reflection and learning through doing were the key principles of the course. Learning blogs, webinars, tweetchats, PBL groups, PBL group facilitator and co-facilitator and the FISh model for individual, pair and group inquiry were the salient features of the ONL course.

The two types of learners, institutional as well as open learners from the international ONL community provided diversity and blend of different minds with global innovations and talent.

The initial two weeks of the course were about “Getting Started” with ONL introduction, activities for the learners, joining ONL community space, familiarity with google drive, twitter, learning about reflection blogs and “Connecting” with the other ONL participants and the group members. The readings and other resources including short films about various topics and tutorials for knowing about technology were much useful learning experiences for me.

The five topics including Online Participation & Digital Literacies, Open Learning – Sharing and Openness, Learning in Communities – Networked Collaborative Learning, Design for Online and Blended Learning, and Lessons Learnt – Future Practice had detailed online group discussions involving group activities. The learning outcomes were in the form of reflective blogs, interaction and feedback by the group and other ONL community. The course was also very useful for exploring new learning tools, implementing for mutual learning and sharing. All webinars, tweetchat sessions and group meetings even the final webinar and all activities & learning from ONL 191 are unforgettable for me. The ONL course has provided me a new direction to continue and explore the World of Digital Education (WDE).

For successful online and blended learning, the learners need to be supported with a structured development process called scaffold. Its way of creating people oriented pedagogy for learning journey. The 5 stage model of Professor Gilly Salmon provides a framework for a learning scaffold. It helps for learning and working together. It also helps to blend face to face and digital environment. It increases student skill for working together. It is called a flat of steps.

The stage ONE of the model is about Access and Motivation. One key to stage One is ensuring that your participants have easy access to the platform, processes and systems. Motivating students by being welcoming and encouraging also play a vital role in their learning process.

The stage TWO of the model is regarding Team Building. It helps to establish personal identity and then working in groups. It is all about creating a micro-community through active and interactive learning and teaching. Students can work together productively and constructively, if you create the right opportunities and build the scaffold from the ground up.

The stage THREE is about Information Exchange. It gives direction to plan your learning design around the learning outcomes, your pedagogical objectives and the interactions between the groups. Cooperation begins to occur and each student can support the goals of others.

The stage FOUR is focused on Knowledge Construction. Its goal is to have much more collaborative interactions and much more team orientated. Its purpose is to have group activities with more complex contributions. Students can be contributors not just consumers of knowledge. Activities around critical thinking, judging, evaluating can be introduced. Creativity and discovery can also be increased. An inventive work and practical thinking, using, applying and practicing can be introduced at this stage.

The stage FIVE is about Review. At this stage, students are comfortable in collaborating and cooperating with each other. There should be some activities to make students more responsible for their own learning and that of the group. They can also look backwards through the first four stages. It is the time for meta-cognition which is called learning about learning. For becoming independent active learner, the activities at this stage should include Reflection, Evaluation and Critiquing of the learning experience, not just the final exams.

The benefit of using 5 stage model is to know about students learning and participation at each step. Active learning and student satisfaction are the key goals of this model. Its a grounded model and each step has its own importance. If you miss out any of the 5 steps, the students are likely to slip down the stairs. Less time should be consumed by the teacher and more time should be allocated for student activities and feedback.

There are 15 components of 5 stage model. These components are also important to discuss. 1. Access of the platform 2. E- Moderator for Learners Support 3. Learning Process 4. Technology Environment Awareness 5. Human Intervention 6. Team Forming, Familiar with Online Learning Goals and Learning Outcomes 7. Design Learning Activities for Learners 8. Help Learners to be Familiar with Technological Environment 9. Designing Good Learning Activities by E-Moderator & getting Feedback from Learners 10. Designing more Complex Activities for Constructing New Knowledge 11. Key Role of Every Participant in the given Environment 12. Role of E-Moderator as Feedback Taker 13. Role of E- Moderator to Move People Back and Forth 14. Formative or Summative Assessment 15. Getting Benefit from Technology Environment for Better Learning and Development of the Learner.

Although, there are some challenges for 5 Stage Model due to new conceptual models. The main focus of 5 Stage model is on Group Learning. It is not focused on Individual Learning. The model needs further guidance to enable judgements about the readiness of participants to progress through the stages of the model. There is also need of Learning Technologists to share accessibility practices and focus on the process of accessibility. In spite of some criticism, the 5 Stage model is very useful to apply for the development of learners through Online and Blended Learning.

Learning process starts from individuals but it needs networks and collaborations to enable learners for getting new ideas, new ways of doing and new methods of solving a problem. Hence, collaborative learning process needs some ways for connectivity, tools for spreading knowledge and technologies to move forward your own thinking. These technologies are the source of empowering learners and facilitating them to explore new horizons.

ONL 191 course for Open Networked Learning became a source of motivation for me to explore various technologies for collaborative learning. Zoom (https://zoom.us) is a very useful tool for meetings, workshops, video webinars and to expand traditional classrooms in the cloud.

Padlet (https://padlet.com) provides a unique way to present the content by using a classroom environment along with the feedback by the participants and the concluding material based on the collaborative learning.

Google Drive (https://drive.google.com) is another tool for collaborative learning. It provides space for sharing learning material among the participant learners and the facilitators.

MOOC (Massive open online course) is another way of collaborative learning with the use of technologies. An example for MOOC is https:barbaraoakley.com

The collaborative learning is the result of personal learning networks. These networks are made from networked learning, connectivism and connected learning. This journey starts from online learning community and ends at online learning network. Personal learning network is a social learning space. Strong and weak ties create bonding and bridging social capital, enabling a range of learning opportunities. It enables self-initiated, self-determined informal learning. It allows learning not limited by geographic or temporal boundaries and which may extend across multiple platforms and contexts. It has low barriers to entry using largely free and easily accessible social software across multiple devices.

The educational experience is based on community of inquiry model. This model is based on 3 Ps.

Social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence provide the blend of knowledge, which encourages collaboration, exchanges information, applies new ideas and enables focused based discussions.

The technology has introduced new modes of learning and teaching by improving the traditional ways of educational systems. Two methods are important to discuss (1) Virtual Learning Environment (2) Open Learning Environment

Virtual Learning Environment is also known as MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment), CMS (Course Management System) or LMS (Learning Management System). By using this system, educators can create effective online learning sites. It is centralized and secured learning environment. https://moodle.org, https://www.blackboard.com,

The second type is Open Learning Environment which is free open access environment. It is also called MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Examples are: http://mooc.org, https://www.edx.org, https://www.flickr.com, https://www.youtube.com, https://twitter.com

Both modes of learning have pros and cons. It is also better to use blended approach by getting maximum benefit from both ways of learning.

Openness in education is needed with the help of technology for four R activities including Reuse, Redistribute, Revise and Remix. Openness is all about sharing and be generous with others. Openness is the only means of doing education. If there is no sharing, there is no education.

“He who receives ideas from me, receives instructions himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine receives light without darkening me.” Thomas Jefferson. Teaching is sharing knowledge without loosing part of yourself. Technology opens many doors of learning for us. Be open more with the help of new technology.

Giving feedback, share material, get more discussions, arguments, debates, conversations and collaborations for better learning and sharing knowledge. Giving time is also important along with giving resources. More open we are, the better education will be.

MOOC is the digital road for information availability at everywhere. MOOC is open mode of education based on participatory, distributed, lifelong networked learning. Although it is a distributed knowledge based way of learning but it develops independence among learners, provides options for work in own space and gives opportunity for authentic networks. Network creation provides the basis for life long learning. The online course is just beginning of this process.

Here is question for the legal use of digital content for learning and re-using. Creative commons licenses help for both purposes. Copyrights are the protected online materials which require permission from the owner before sharing or re-using that content. Creative commons provide license that are free to use. With the help of these licenses, we can protect our online content with copyrights and streamline the way to permit others to share or re-use our online material. Creative commons license elements include: BY (must acknowledge when you re-publish someone content), NC (non-commercial) , ND (no derivatives), SA (share alike). Some license types provide most freedom while others provide less freedom. BY and SA help free cultural works. Details are available at: https://www.creativecommons.org.nz

Some useful links are: http://popplet.com, https://padlet.com, https://scorm.com, https://www.learndash.com, https://www.menti.com, https://canvas.instructure.com, https://www.itslearning.com, http://www.oecd.org,

The nature of the human beings is to find new modes of learning to find the hidden truth of nature. The young people are more enthusiastic to know the unknown. Digital literacy is the tool to safeguard the knowledge inherited from generations to generations. It is also the way to digitize the manual things and also the best way to regenerate new knowledge. Digital technology is easy to use by young people. The idea of digital native and immigrants help us to understand the concept easily. Learning digital technology is just like learning a language. If you learn it in early age then it will become easily the part and parcel of your personality. Otherwise you will not feel comfortable to learn technology in the old age.

The concept of visitor and resident provides a new look for the same idea. The visitor mode is the use of technology for some part of our life. However the resident mode involves the series of engagements both online as well as offline. The resident mode connects our individual life with the professional or the institutional life. Following terms are important: personal identity, physical spaces, quality control, credibility, convenience and authority. The digital literacy helps students to facilitate more as compared to traditional ways of learning. Online searching provides quicker and better results as compared to searching libraries physically on a topic. Online ways of expressing and sharing knowledge are of multiple types including twitter, blog post. Its easiest way to interact with large audience. There is need to shift the focus from limited learners of a specific institution towards wide range of learners across world by building a professional network online. The focus of digital literacy is to move students from traditional ways of learning to develop a voice online.

The digital world has speedily replaced the manual systems. The concept of
MEME is an idea that spread from person to person. It is the combination of an
idea, tools and communication. After remixing any stuff, we can send it to many
persons simultaneously by using technology. Digital literacy is a condition,
not a threshold. Every time it impacts differently with the help of new tools.
Digital literacy framework can be divided into three levels: Basic,
intermediate and advanced. There are several types of digital literacies. The
way to develop digital literacy is to focus on the interest of the people and
try to develop intrinsic motivation among people to develop their digital
skills. The role of digital literacy is to bridge between personal interests of
the individuals and important issues. There is need to develop specific
principles for digital literacies. Eights essential elements of digital
literacies can be divided into four skillsets: cultural, creative,
constructive, communicative and four mindsets confident, cognitive, civic and
critical, . Remix is the heart of all of the elements. Digital literacies are
the source of CHANGE. It is the life long project to remix various elements of
digital literacies to address the individual needs and common issues.

Following are the useful links for the selection of related pictures available for everyone.

https://unsplash.com,  https://pixabay.com, https://pexels.com.

Open licensing with the help of Creative Commons (CC) can be used to encourage sharing of online material to avoid copyright issues by visiting https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton