Blog Post #9

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I have had a lot of experience with distance learning throughout my K-12 years. COVID started when I was in 7th grade, and the last quarter of that year was done entirely with distance learning. Classes were held over zoom, and all my assignments had to be submitted online. It was an odd experience and quite the adjustment at the time. During 8th grade, I was introduced to hybrid classes. Half of my classmates were on Zoom, while the rest of us were sitting in the classroom in person. Those two years were not my favorite. I personally wasn’t a fan of distance learning like that; I could never focus over zoom. In high school, I was introduced to FLVS and SCVS, two different online school options. I was able to take classes online and still go in person. This ended up being a huge help for me, allowing me to take a period or two off in the morning while still taking all my necessary classes. Virtual classes like this weren’t the easiest way for me to learn, I had no motivation to actually do the work, but the convenience of them outweighed the difficulties. Distance learning has a lot of pros and cons, but it is not my personal favorite form of learning. 

    Open Educational Resources (OER) are great tools for teachers, students, and more. OER are resources in the public domain that can be used for learning, teaching, and research. In a blog by Craig Butterworth, he discusses how beneficial OERs are for both students and teachers alike. He talks about how teachers can use and adapt them for lessons, and students can get materials they need quickly and efficiently, without having to pay a bunch of money. He also mentions how more funding needs to go towards OERs and getting a wider variety of resources accessible to all. 

The evolution of OER: Creating learning experiences with impact - VCCS

     I learned a lot from assignment 4 and I really enjoyed it. I usually opt to use google slides over power point, so I had very little skills when I started the assignment. It was really fun learning the new skills though, and I feel very accomplished. The most challenging part was figuring out how to do the recording for each individual slide. I had never done that before and was having trouble recording and doing the transitions. When I figured it out though, I was so excited. Now that I have more skills with power point, I think next time I can take some time to make my slides look better. A design that matches the theme, more transitions, a variety of fonts, etc. 

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