I am Jingyi Yang, and I prefer people to call me Yoki. I’m from Beijing, China. This is my fourth year in Uvic and my 10th year in Canada. I am about to graduate at the end of this year. I’m a psychology major.
In today’s society, everyone can’t live without social media. In my daily life, over 90% of my friends use TikTok or Instagram, so because I understand the importance of social media and the importance of it in my daily life, I think this class will be very interesting, and I think it will give me a better understanding of open learning. I do see and hear many voices saying that social media should be suspended in school, but this course focuses more on how to combine social media with learning and make it a open online study tool, which really interests me. Another big idea is distribute learning. This is a smart idea, in my opinion, for colleges and universities. Like this course, students can do more flexible work, and in my own situation, I need to graduate soon but I still have a lot of courses to take. It is not real to take 6 courses all in person during the summer session; then I can do several online courses so that I can have more time to study instead of on the way to school.
I feel that digital literacy makes education much easier. Nowadays, most textbooks have an e-textbook, and we can make notes right after we highlight the sentence(s), which makes it much easier than taking sticky notes. A digital copy of the same textbook is usually cheaper than a paper copy. Also, I don’t like to buy a used version of a paper book just because I want to do my own highlights and I cannot know which ones are mine and which ones are from the previous owner. However, a digital copy can definitely solve my problem with that. A digital copy is usually sold for 6 months or 12 months of use, but a term is usually just 3 months so it is a good idea to reuse it.
Also, note-taking apps are really helpful in my life as well. I have to use a note-taking app during lecture time and after class when I am reading the textbook. The app is much easier and faster than taking notes by hand. I can easily underline a sentence in a very straight line by staying for 3 seconds at the end point of the line. Same when I am trying to highlight.
One of my digital learning experiences was when I was a high school student. I was trying to catch up on Spanish in my Spanish class, but I did not go due to illness. I downloaded several language-learning apps. My result is that I only kept the one that is most simple in design, and it is also the one with my favourite colour, the one that I most like in it’s look. Therefore, I think later in this course, when we start to develop our own networks, I will try to make them as beautiful as I can. I believe that a way to catch people’s eyes can make them want to learn here.
Hello Yoki!
I’m glad to hear that you are interest in the course. Engaging in distributed learning is a fantastic method for staying committed and sticking to a regular study schedule. It appears that utilizing digital tools such as note-taking apps significantly improves your efficiency and organization, ultimately streamlining the studying process for you. I am interested in hearing about your experiences in the following posts. Continue doing an excellent job!
Hello, Yoki ! I found the perspectives you shared in your blog this week very fascinating. I think your journey from Beijing to Canada and your experience of living abroad for a decade provides a rich cultural perspective that enhances your educational and social experiences. I couldn’t agree more with you that digital literacy makes education much more accessible. With the e-textbook, my notes are much more organized and easier for me to revisit. And also I think your use of language learning applications highlights the significance of instructional resources in terms of aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly user interfaces. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.