Hello everyone, my name is Danir, I am 21 years old. I am currently finishing my first year of studying Business Commerce at the University of Victoria from my home country. I’m back with my family and friends for the summer but will head off to Victoria for my second year in the fall. But just a couple of years ago I was in doubt about my direction of study and therefore it turned out that for 2 years after graduating from high school, I did not study at the university. It was at that time that I encountered distributed learning for the first time.

When the coronavirus started, I was in Ontario, Hamilton. Then in March 2020, I returned to my homeland and finished eleventh grade online. At first, many were faced with a large number of problems, starting from poor internet and ending with a non-working environment at home. But every day, like all people, I began to get used to it and find advantages in such learning. Being at home, I could spend time with my family in person. I also had more time for the study, where I didn’t have to waste time getting ready for school. Teachers also sent us all the videos and notes from lectures, which was very convenient. If something new was discussed at a lecture, you could open it and quickly view information about it online without losing the thread of the story. The downside was that there was a 10-hour difference between Ontario and my home. Therefore, all my online lectures took place from evening to night.

On the other hand, for me, standard offline learning is a priority. For some reason, it happened that I understood better and concentrated on the lesson if I communicated with the teacher and classmates in person. But again, open learning suits me better, because I position myself more as an introvert and it’s calmer and more comfortable for me to study at home. Moreover, during my gap years, I took an online business course from Harvard, where I gained a new useful, and interesting open learning experience.

Currently, I actively use digital tools for learning: video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams for lectures, cloud services for storing and sharing materials, as well as Google Docs and Microsoft Office for creating documents and presentations. I supplement my training with courses on various platforms.

I understand digital literacy as a set of skills for using technology effectively. In an open and distributed learning environment, it is especially important: it includes the ability to search and evaluate information, use digital tools for communication and work, and understand the basics of security and privacy. Digital literacy helps me adapt to change and use resources effectively.

I will keep utilizing digital tools to learn effectively through online discussions and collaboration with my peers. I intend to share my knowledge and suggest new digital resources and methods to improve collaborative learning, thus contributing to a more interactive and supportive educational environment.