Amanda ONL blog

In this blog post I would like to focus on my own Personal Learning Networks – what they look like and how they could be taken further. A network could be described as a group, of varying size, and the group members all have different characters. In real life I often tend to take the role of a team-player in groups, trying to make sure that everyone is feeling acknowledged and valuable. But when it comes to online networks, I am one of the Hattifnattarna. Hattifnattar (Hattivatti) are creatures in the tales of the Moomin trolls (by Tove Jansson), and occurs almost exclusively in groups. They are small, white ghost-like creatures that can neither speak nor hear but have very good sensibility. Hattifnattarna are constantly traveling in their boats, staring wide-eyed at the distance, hoping that their goals will manifest themselves, so that the journey finally ends, something that unfortunately never happens. During the journey they never talk to each other; it is at all questionable...

In this theme we have explored the concept of openness. Open education is about the conviction that everyone should have access to high-quality educational experiences and resources. It’s about sharing, producing and building knowledge together ( https://opensource.com ). Weller (2014) continues that openness comes from an altruistic viewpoint and a belief that education is of public good. Openness has become a natural part of everyday life and a lot of the open movements have come from universities, enabling sharing of knowledge (Weller, 2014). Despite those altruistic ideas, today the majority of open learners are already experienced learners, most of them with university degrees (Weller, 2014). Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning, to become autonomous, strategic, self-regulated and reflective learners (Fraser & Deane 1997), which favors those with experience. Furthermore, openness is only a reality for those with access ...