More than a course: experience the ONL223 community and approach

Source: ONL website


Aalto University has participated for several years in the Open Networked Learning course sending in teachers and staff members as attendees as well as facilitators and co-facilitators. The course is arranged by four Swedish Universities, including Lund University and Karlstad University, and it has contributors and participants from around the globe. The last implementation in Autumn 2022 counted with participants from Finland, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Singapore and South Africa, to name a few, which makes ONL is a valuable opportunity for networking and for learning from Higher Education specialists from other institutions and countries.

The course’s well-curated suggested literature is one of its highlights, being a thought-provoking kickstart to fruitful discussions. By participating in the course, you will also have first-hand experience of what is it like to be a learner in an open, online, networked course, using different learning tools and gaining insight on your students’ learning journey, what hinders and what fosters engagement and “a-ha!” moments.

During the course, you will have a chance to learn and experience themes like:

• Problem-Based Learning;
• Collaborative Learning;
• Online Learning Design;
• Open Learning;

Here is what participants from Aalto have to say about ONL:

I think it’s beneficial, as long as the group works. The exchange of ideas and the new insights are otherwise definitely a plus. The lecturers and lectures are interesting. 😊

Programme manager at Aalto University

Participating in ONL helped to shape my pedagogical thinking, especially regarding open vs closed education. It also helped me to understand better how to design courses for online and blended learning. Because of the way ONL is designed, it is possible to learn new things with each iteration. For those reasons, I have continued to participate in ONL yearly.

Lecturer at Aalto University

Read more and find the form to sign up here (login required)

Text and more information: Veruscka Xavier Filgueira