Hello, welcome to Learning with Technology! I am EverythingSoup, which is a lot like something I make for my family at the end of the week. The soup has a little of this and a little of that, using things that aren’t necessarily often cooked together, but combines to make a dish that works.
Professionally, I am a secondary school Math (and, technically, Science) teacher. Having moved to “The Island” from the Lower Mainland a couple of summers ago, I find myself working in part-time contracts, and thought that the time I have spent not working could be put to good use in upgrading my teaching skills. I hope that I will learn a great deal in EDCI 339: Distributed and Open Learning.
My interest in alternative environments for learning comes primarily from personal experience in supporting my children in a variety of Distributed Learning programs, now known in BC as Online Learning. I am also interested in Open Education, which has made learning a wide variety of information and skills accessible to most people, increasing opportunity for all and improving equity in education. At the same time, the prevalance of the digital spaces and communities which make learning more accessible also influences the type of learning that is emphasized, impacts learners’ abilities to make strong social connections, and complicates the world that learners must manage.
What is Distributed Education?
Distributed Education, a type of school program where resources are accessible from online, sent through the mail, or picked up from a central location, allows students to learn from home, in the community, outdoors, or while travelling, while teachers support through email, learning management systems (LMS’s), and/or online or in-person meetings. The geographic flexibility of this way of learning means that programs can be accessed even if they are based far from their students, allowing families to more easily select programs that best suit their own needs. Because students are not confined to classrooms, they have a great deal of freedom to learn, not only in anywhere in their own communities, but in the ways which work best for them. Students with high movement needs, who are homebound, have sensory differences, or become anxious in school buildings benefit from the flexible nature of Distributed Education schools.
These programs also allow students to learn asynchronously, at times that suit them, increasing the flexibility of pacing for learners. Those who learn faster can move on to other tasks or dive more deeply into areas of interest without creating complexity in classroom management or instructional planning for a teacher. Likewise, those who struggle with a skill or topic have the opportunity to revisit content, spend more time working on something, or get one-on-one time with a teacher without falling behind or feeling out-of-sync with a class.
The asynchronous nature of Distributed Education programs also allows students to work at any time of day. As a result, teenagers who naturally sleep later can work on learning tasks in the afternoon or evening. Volunteer (or paid!) work can be scheduled during hours that traditionally would have students in a classroom. Sport or performing arts training can take place without conflicting with learning time. Those who struggle with health issues can attend to learning anywhere, at any time.
Although learning can happen individually, technology also allows groups to meet remotely for projects, discussion, or synchronous learning. Collaborative work with learners who are geographically far away is made possible through video calls and web based apps like Google Docs. This means that learning can be fully online, and some Distributed Learning programs are designed to be so. Others include (optionally, in the case of hybrid programs) face-to-face time in regular meetings with teachers, synchronous learning, or occassional field trips and activities.
Open Education
Many Distributed Education programs make use of Open Education resources to enrich learner experiences. These are textbooks, slides, videos, and other resources that grant users the license to freely use, adapt, and share at no cost. Without a teacher and peers present, and without a great deal of time and money for a program to create many engaging ways to learn, a Distributed Education student’s learning environment might be reduced to textbooks and worksheets but for the myriad of free educational videos, games, and courses available. These resources can be embedded into structured courses, allowing teachers to engage students with variety and strengthen understanding by providing multiple perspectives. Learning becomes more equitable when students are also given a choice in the resources with which to engage, allowing students to explore topics of interest, control pacing and depth, and work with the types of resources that help them learn best.
Open Education resources are used not only in Distributed Education programs, but also in traditional K-12 settings, in post-secondary arenas, to further business and professional training, and by curious individuals. From structured programs such as Khan Academy and MOOCs (massive open online courses), to single topic productions like Crash Course, to open textbooks, these free materials can be used by anyone with access to the Internet. No longer do people necessarily need to pay for classes or find a teacher when a YouTube video might enable them to learn what they need.
More About Modes of Learning
Modes of learning describe how learners engage with content and learning activities. These include face-to-face, online (synchronous and asynchronous), blended, and hybrid modes (Hotchin, 2025). Whether education is Distributed or Traditional, formal or informal, people may learn in an assortment of ways.
Face-to-Face
Most of us are familiar with face-to-face learning, where teachers and students come together in the same space, at the same time, to interact and engage in learning activities. This happens synchronously, meaning teaching and learning happen at the same time, and anyone in a learning group will participate simultaneously. While traditional classrooms and courses are entirely face-to-face except, perhaps, for homework, some distributed learning programs also have a face-to-face component.
I, myself, completed almost all of my formal learning face-to-face. The benefits of this mode of learning for me lay in psychological motivation. I enjoyed the relationships I built with teachers and other students, and the immediate feedback I got during in-class activity was important to my learning. However, I also found that the pacing was often unsuitable to my learning needs, which I frequently found frustrating enough to cause me to disengage from instruction.
The balance between the need for a live teacher and the focus on content and skill perhaps explains the decrease in opportunity for face-to-face interaction in Distributed Learning programs as students grow older. Younger children learn much more in relationship with others, especially their teachers. As students grow, they are better able to engage with text and video, and they are better able to connect with teachers and other learners in a virtual world.
Online
Online learning describes any learning that can be done by accessing resources on the Internet. Also known as virtual or e-learning, this mode appeals to those who cannot travel to class. It allows working people to attend classes without needing to spend time traveling; resources can be accessed from around the world and translated into other languages; those who are ill do not need to miss class to protect others from infection. For example, EDCI 339 is an online course. As well, shorter-form resources may be embedded into formal courses or accessed on their own. Some online resources are Open Education and, thus, free. Others are accessed through payment to institutions or companies.
I have experienced a lot of more control over my learning in online modalities. In asynchronous modes, such as online articles and videos, or programs such as Duolingo, I am usually highly engaged. In part, this is because I have chosen to participate in this learning to execute a particular task or because I have an interest. I can easily obtain relevant resources to learn more about a topic, find specific information, or gain deeper understanding. I also like that I can speed up videos and return to moments as needed. Educational games provide rewards and immediate feedback, and sometimes they even have a community of people learning alongside.
In synchronous online modes, I experience less engagement than either asynchronous online or face-to-face learning. The large amount of talking that live sessions usually include makes me restless and distractable. These are better for me when they involve more collaborative problem solving and discussion, rather than listening and/or following steps.
Blended or Hybrid
Some Distributed Learning programs or other courses involve a mixture of face-to-face and online aspects. For example, Apex in Coquitlam, BC is a Blended Learning program in which students attend one morning a week for art, music, PE, and ADST activities, and the remainder of the learning happens outside the school building. Coquitlam Open Learning 10 – 12, on the other hand, offers optional times for students to attend for support from teachers in their flexibly paced online coursework, making it a Hybrid program rather than Blended.
As an adult, I can imagine that a Blended or Hybrid learning mode would work best for me. Portions of the course that could be self-paced would be online, while face-to-face portions could include discussions, debates, coversation, or creative problem solving. As a child, too, I would have benefited from the flexibility of online modes of learning, allowing me to learn in ways similar to individual projects for a large part of the time, while still having time with other children to participate in activities whose effectiveness was less dependent upon a group having similar interests and abilities.
Learning in a Digital World
In today’s world, being digitally literate is essential to one’s ability to access learning and navigate the workplace. Basic skills include working with word processors, spreadsheets, and email. Most people today are also able to effectively use search engines, online meeting technology, and web-based software for collaborative work.
Many people who need to advance their skills for work, want to connect with others from afar, or wish to learn using Distributed and Open Learning resources will seek to learn how to perform tasks using technology. For example, Distributed Learning programs often require learners to navigate online Learning Management Systems (LMS’s) to access resources, submit work, and communicate with teachers and other students. These LMS’s can be complex and unintuitive. To make matters more difficult, different schools may use different LMS’s, necessitating a learner to learn new technology when changing schools. In addition, they may require the learner to access Open Learning resources such as open textbooks and videos, or ask the learner to search for information on the Internet. The more comfortable a learner is with technology platforms, the easier it will be for them to learn to use a new one.
While the ability to access information is clearly crucial to being able to use it, teachers may not realize that being able to critically evaluate online information and sources is another skill which must be taught. With so much self-published content, we must be able to differentiate between reliable and unreliable authorities using clues in the the content itself and from the surrounding website. Artificial Intelligence (AI), recently experiencing a burst of growth in general use, makes this distinction even more difficult by offering material that seems convincingly written and photos and videos that appear realistic at first glance, but may be full of errors. Accurate comprehension of the content we encounter is directly related to how well we learn any topic or subject area.
Another part of digital literacy concerns what people contribute to the community through self-published work, sharing of information, and conversation. Because online information is not always scrutinized by a trusted body and it is frequently shared as snippets, clips, or quotes, we must be aware of how our messages are supported and received when communicating without facial expression or body language, outside of established relationships, and outside of the immediate context we are experiencing when we make commentary. Social media posts can be viewed not only by those one has specifically selected, and online comments may exist in cyberspace long after the author has deleted them. Being digitally literate means that a person is able not only to employ technology, but also to have a strong understanding of what they are consuming and producing in the context of the digital world.
Whether we realize it or not, everything we put onto the Internet becomes part of a digital identity. When people evaluate potential hires, make decisions about business relationships, or decide whether to allow someone to cross a country’s border, they may look at patterns in that person’s online photos, comments, posts, and profiles. Managing one’s digital identity is as important as ensuring their real-world behaviour represents their values and aligns with their goals.
To manage my own personal and professional digital identity, I am mindful that anything I say or do online is in a public space. I am authentic, but as positive and respectful as I would be offline. I also stay away from sarcasm and posting content while emotional. This allows me to show who I am, to have an online presence, while minimizing behaviours that could be misconstrued if taken out of context.
Some Final Thoughts on Distributed and Online Learning in the K-12 System
While Distributed Learning and Online Education has increased the flexibility and accessibility of education, I wonder if regular participation in these learning communities would lead to a decrease in local community engagement and thereby affect students’ mental health and well-being. If a student’s primary communities are online, might they be connected to other people, but more shallowly than is healthy? The need for careful curation of behaviour when working in a digital world must impact how people, particularly young people, learn and collaborate. When a teacher only sees what is carefully presented by a student, when that student feels regulated enough to turn on their device and deliberately connect, how well can they know one another? How well can the teacher support the student? When a student’s friends are all in other cities and can worry when an absence is extended or unusual, but can’t easily walk over to find out if their friend is okay, what does that mean for the depth of relationship that can form?
Distributed and Online Learning have many benefits, including flexibility, increased equity, and more personalized learning. I believe we also need to pay attention to the non-educational needs that have traditionally been met by schools, in order to grow whole and healthy children.
References
Hotchin, J. (2025, January 5). Edci 339 (A01) module 1 – University of Victoria – EdTech. University of Victoria – EdTech. https://connectedlearningpathways.ca/category/edci-339-a01-module-1/
Apex – apex. School District No. 43 (Coquitlam). (n.d.). https://www.sd43.bc.ca/School/Apex/Pages/default.aspx#/=
Programs of choice. School District No. 43 (Coquitlam). (n.d.-b). https://www.sd43.bc.ca/Programs/Pages/default.aspx#/=
Open education. SPARC. (2024, October 18). https://sparcopen.org/open-education/
Hello Everythingsoup,
Nice to meet you. Thanks for sharing thoughts on open learning and digital world. I think your background really supports your ideas on open learning because you have the experience of teaching and know what the students need. You provides a strong overview of online learning and its benefits, particularly in terms of accessibility, flexibility, and control over one’s learning experience. It effectively highlights the advantages of asynchronous learning, such as the ability to engage with content at one’s own pace, revisit materials, and access diverse resources. The personal reflection on engagement with online modalities adds depth to the discussion by illustrating how motivation and interest enhance the learning experience. However, do you think open learning or online learning is more suitable for K-12 students or post secondary students?
Percy W