Keywords

Introduction

The history of distance education informs us that the initial practices comprised mail correspondence that involved sharing printed learning materials with learners and enabling them to study at their own pace. However, advances in information and communication technologies shaped the interaction among learners, instructors, and institutions and allowed new methods to be implemented to deliver instruction to learners who needed to study at a distance for various reasons. These advances enabled education practitioners to take advantage of a variety of synchronous and asynchronous technologies such as radio, educational television, videoconferencing, and audio and video recordings to employ in the distance education process. While all these technologies affected the practice of distance education, it was the Internet that transformed the methods we adopted to deliver instruction to learners who were away from the brick and mortar institutions. The Internet also brought new terms into our lives such as online learning, e-learning, and digital education. Today, the majority of distance education practices rely on computer and Internet technologies as institutions use learning management systems (LMS), synchronous and asynchronous communication software, and various Web 2.0 tools for delivering courses. All these advances in technology and the resulting transformation of distance education practices redefined the characteristics and competencies of the learners in open, distance, and digital education environments.

Being a successful distance learner requires having access to certain technologies and possessing various competencies. Computer and Internet access are among the major technology requirements as learners need to complete coursework using a computer and use the Internet to retrieve learning material, submit assignments, and communicate and collaborate with the instructor and peers. Computer ownership and broadband Internet access rates are fairly high in developed nations. For example, Anderson (2015) reported that 73% of the adults in the United States owned a desktop or laptop computer in 2015. In another study, Perrin (2021) reported that 77% of the adults in the United States had access to a broadband Internet connection at home. While computer and Internet adoption and access rates are promising in the developed world, a different picture is present among adults in underdeveloped and developing countries as well as adults from a low socioeconomic status in developed nations. Anderson (2015) emphasized that desktop or laptop computer ownership greatly decreases among Black and Hispanic adults, adults with less than $30 K yearly income, and adults with an educational degree at or below high school level. Perrin’s (2021) findings are in line with those of Anderson’s (2015) as the researcher reported that home broadband Internet access rates decrease among non-White adults with a high school degree or less and a yearly income of less than $30 K. Penetration rates of computers and broadband Internet are not at a satisfying level in underdeveloped and developing countries either. Recent statistics show that, in 2016, the percentage of households with a personal computer was 13% in India, 47% in China, 53% in Iran, 56% in Turkey, 28% in South Africa, 52% in Brazil, and 38% in Mexico, while developed countries had higher rates of computer ownership such as 86% in Australia, 91% in Germany, 98% in the Netherlands, 91% in the United Kingdom, 88% in Canada, and 82% in the United States (Baller, Dutta, & Lanvin, 2016). Moreover, as of January 2022, while Western and Northern countries have high Internet penetration rates that are above 90%, the rates drop below 75% in certain regions of Asia and Central America and 30% in Eastern and Central Africa (We Are Social et al., 2022). Considering that computer ownership and Internet access are a must to pursue open, distance, and digital education, learning opportunities afforded by the availability of these technologies vary greatly across the globe.

Competencies to be successful in new learning environments are equally important as having access to a computer and a broadband Internet connection. Recent research informs us that students’ technology ownership and technology experiences lead to greater perceived technology competencies (Yerdelen-Damar, Boz, & Aydın-Günbahar, 2017). Moreover, we have been informed that students’ frequency of using technology is positively related to the change in their technology competence over a period of time (Hosein, Ramanau, & Jones, 2010). Technology competencies allow learners to successfully engage in learning experiences and carry out responsibilities in open, distance, and digital education environments. Research indicates that digital skills are related to students’ engagement in learning with technologies, and students with higher digital skills engage in learning with technologies to a greater extent when compared to students with low digital skills (Bergdahl, Nouri, & Fors, 2020). Furthermore, students’ digital competence affects their digital informal learning behaviors as well (He & Zhu, 2017; Heidari, Mehrvarz, Marzooghi, & Stoyanov, 2021). In other words, learners’ technology ownership and experiences lead to improved technology competencies and technology competencies allow students to engage in learning experiences in formal and informal digital learning environments. Ownership of and access to technology emerge as an important prerequisite for developing technology competencies and engaging in learning in new learning environments. Furthermore, digital competencies are gateways to successful learning experiences in digital learning environments. In this chapter, issues related to learners’ socioeconomic background and demographics and competencies to be possessed in open, distance, and digital education environments are explored.

Adoption of Open, Distance, and Digital Education

Learning in the New Century

Today, open, distance, and digital education practices predominantly rely on information and communication technologies. Most institutions deliver courses via an LMS (e.g., Horvat, Dobrota, Krsmanovic, & Cudanov, 2015), instructors use synchronous and asynchronous tools for learning activities (e.g., DeSantis, 2022; Ironsi, 2021), and students make use of a variety of communication and collaboration tools to engage in the learning process and carry out their responsibilities (e.g., Sullivan, 2021). In order to engage in a successful learning experience, at minimum, a learner must have access to a personal or shared computer, a stable Internet connection, and office and productivity software that will enable her to complete and submit coursework. Admittedly, the quality of the learning experience is in direct proportion to the learner’s continuous access to the computer, the computer’s computing power, and the speed and quality of the Internet connection. It is not unlikely for the learning experience to be disrupted due to the failure of any of these technologies. Especially, the presence of online synchronous meetings in the learning process increases the significance of the computing power and broadband Internet connection due to the need to process and transmit a significant amount of data per second. Aside from the costs associated with access to education, all these resources require significant expenses on learners’ end, and as a result, the adoption of open, distance, and digital education is directly related to the adoption and use of information and communication technologies.

Technology Access, Socioeconomic Status, and Demographics

Ownership of and access to technology have been frequently discussed in relation to individuals’ socioeconomic status. This proposition is supported by a number of research studies conducted to explore individuals’ access to technology in relation to their demographics. A recent Pew Research Center study revealed that only 59% of adults with less than $30 K yearly household income in the United States owned a desktop or laptop computer while this number was 92% for adults with $100 K or more yearly household income (Vogels, 2021). Vogels (2021) further revealed that 29% of the adults with less than $30 K yearly household income relied on smartphones to connect to the Internet while only 6% of adults with $100 K or more yearly household income reported that they only had a smartphone but no broadband Internet connection. These findings are similar to those reported for the households of younger learners as well. According to a recent study, 35% of the school-age children who live in households with a yearly income of less than $30 K do not have a high-speed Internet connection at home while only 6% of children who live in households with a yearly income of $75 K or more reported that they do not have access to a high-speed Internet connection at home (Anderson & Perrin, 2018). Moreover, students also differed by income level in terms of the device they used to complete homework with a greater percentage of students from low-income households being smartphone-dependent to finish their homework compared to average- and high-income households, a phenomenon referred to as the “homework gap.” While statistics clearly show that there is a difference in the percentage of learners from varying income levels in access to computers and the Internet, there is research suggesting that the quality of the ownership and access differs among low- and high-income individuals who have access to the Internet. Gonzales (2016) argued that low-income individuals frequently experience “dependable instability” which is the “normalization of frequent disruptions in Internet access” (p. 243). While certain portions of low-income individuals have access to technology, the quality of their experiences may not be equal to those of high-income individuals. Furthermore, Gonzales (2016) argued that today the problem is not the initial access to technology, but maintaining that access as “technology maintenance” requires a significant expense that low-income individuals may not be able to afford, and as a result, they may experience disruptions in access to technology due to their low economic power (e.g., having to use second-hand devices that require frequent maintenance). While technology access disruptions emerge as a significant issue, another negative effect of the financial burdens of technology maintenance may be low-income adopters’ un-adoption of technology (Powell, Bryne, & Dailey, 2010).

While income level is one of the important factors determining individuals’ ownership of and access to technology, education level has been found to be related to technology ownership and access as well. It has been reported that the percentage of computer ownership increases with education, and it is around 29% among adults with the education of less than high school compared to 90% with a college degree or more, a trend that is also present in mobile technology ownership such as tablet and e-reader (Anderson, 2015). Access to home broadband Internet varies substantially by education as well. According to Perrin (2021), while only 59% of the United States adults with a high school degree or less had home broadband Internet, 94% of adults with a college degree or more reported that they had broadband Internet at home. These statistics are in line with what has been reported in past research as Mossberger, Tolbert, and Gilbert (2006) found that individuals who lived in residential areas with lower educational attainment were statistically less likely to own a computer at home than the residents in zip codes with higher educational attainment. Moreover, a Tsetsi and Rains (2017) study found that the education level of multimodal users, users with a smartphone and an additional device that can connect to the Internet, was significantly higher than the education levels of users without access to the Internet and users who were smartphone-dependent. While open, distance, and digital education environments can provide an educational opportunity to individuals who are less educated, taking this opportunity still seems challenging for these learners due to the constraints relating to technology access.

Technology ownership, access, and use have been reported to vary among adults from different races and ethnicities. Recent statistics show that White adults have higher computer ownership compared to non-White adults while Hispanic adults have higher computer ownership than Black adults in the United States (Anderson, 2015). A similar trend is present in terms of home broadband Internet access as well. While White adults have the highest rate of broadband access at 80%, Black adults have higher home broadband Internet access than Hispanic adults (Perrin, 2021). Moreover, smartphone dependency among non-White adults is also an issue. According to Zickuhr and Smith (2012), Black and Hispanic adults access the Internet using their cell phones significantly more than White adults, and Perrin (2021) reported that one in six Black adults and one in four Hispanic adults are smartphone-dependent to access the Internet. These statistics have been supported by past research as Tsetsi and Rains (2017) reported that White users were significantly less likely to be smartphone-dependent in accessing the Internet than minority users. However, it is worth noting that it is not possible for learners to easily complete most coursework on a smartphone (Rowsell, Morrell, & Alvermann, 2017). Technology access in households was investigated among school-age children as well. Warschauer and Matuchniak (2010) reported that the mean ratio of home user to computer was highest for Hispanic families with nearly four family members per computer which was followed by African-American, Asian, and White families that had a home user to computer mean ratio of nearly one. Moreover, while computer and Internet access among minority learners is lower than that of nonminority learners, minority learners’ technology-using behaviors might be different as well. Kuo (2018) stated that African-American university students used basic software more frequently than advanced software, a phenomenon that should be investigated further.

Disparities in technology access among learners from different demographics constrain disadvantaged learners to search for opportunities to use technology in public locations. However, ease of technology access may be different between learners who can access them at home and those who seek access in public locations (Beaunoyer, Dupéré, & Guitton, 2020). Among these locations, libraries, coffee shops, and community centers are the most commonly visited locations to obtain computer or Internet access. Socioeconomic status and race are among the common variables that differ between learners who access technology at home and those who access technology in public locations. Mossberger, Kaplan, and Gilbert (2008) stated that regular access to and use of technology is less frequent in low-income communities and individuals in low-income communities try to compensate for the lack of home or work technology access by visiting alternate locations. Anderson and Perrin (2018) reported that while 12% of teens in the United States at least sometimes have to use public Internet connection to complete homework, this problem is more common among Black teens and teens living in households with less than $30 K yearly income. Additionally, Banerjee (2020) reported that first-generation, low-income, and non-White college students checked out computers from school and used computers and the Internet in public locations significantly more than other students. While access to computers and the Internet is an issue to be resolved, Rubinstein-Avila and Sartori (2016) emphasized the importance of access to software as well. Computer software and tools allow learners to engage in learning activities and are usually required for completing coursework. While some basic software and tools can be accessed freely or via an institutional license, some institutions may not allocate a budget for learners to access other advanced software and tools. Moreover, while public locations such as libraries and community centers can provide learners computer and Internet access, learners may not be able to have access to a broad collection of software and tools due to the budget limitations of these locations. Therefore, the availability of software and tools remains one of the technology access issues in open, distance, and digital education, especially for learners who make use of resources in public locations.

Implications for Open, Distance, and Digital Education Environments

Learners’ access to resources in the learning process must be an important consideration for education practitioners. Learners must be equipped with a number of technologies that can function properly and continuously in order to benefit from the opportunities and convenience provided by new learning environments. However, research to date shows that there are disparities among learners from different demographics in terms of their ownership of and access to technology such as computers and the Internet. Moreover, while learners may have initial access to technology, they may struggle to maintain their access throughout the learning process due to financial constraints. These conditions imply that education practitioners should be prepared and develop strategies to accommodate learners with limited resources in open, distance, and digital education environments. Major considerations and strategies to be adopted are presented in this section. Additionally, these considerations and strategies are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1 Major technology considerations and mitigation strategies
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Initial Access to Technology

The number of learners who indicate that they do not own or have access to some basic technology is significant. A significant portion of learners across the globe experience issues owning a personal computer and having access to an Internet connection that may prevent them from exploring new learning opportunities. In order to make the use of open, distance, and digital education more widespread, learners from low socioeconomic status and minority groups should be provided with opportunities to improve their technology repertoire. While these types of interventions may require support at the state or government level, there are examples of such large-scale projects undertaken (Trucano, 2013). The purpose of these large-scale projects is usually to equip learners with the required technology and improve technology skills in order for learners to have access to and make use of new learning opportunities. While providing laptop or tablet computers to learners is a relatively feasible project, furnishing every part of the residential areas with broadband Internet infrastructure may not be possible for every country. Satellite Internet, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, may be a solution for the Internet access issues in especially rural areas. However, its adoption rate is still very much behind broadband Internet as recent statistics show a 6% adoption rate in overall Internet use in the United States (Statista, 2021).

Technology Maintenance

Similar to the initial access to technology, technology maintenance is also an issue for learners from low socioeconomic status and minority groups. While learners may report having access to technology prior to the beginning of a learning experience, maintaining this access throughout the learning experience may not be possible for every learner. Education practitioners should be aware of learners’ possible intermittent access to technology due to failing hardware or Internet outages as these issues may limit learners’ ability to be a part of the learning experience and keep up with tasks and responsibilities. There are several strategies that institutions and education practitioners can adopt in order to alleviate the impact of such issues on learners in open, distance, and digital education environments. First, it is a good practice for institutions to keep a record of the equipment owned by learners and identify learners who own technology that may cause issues during the learning process. Keeping such records will have the institution prepared for issues that may arise during the course of a learning experience and inform education practitioners accordingly. Second, institutions should have a collection of technology that can be checked out to learners in cases where learners experience issues due to a failed technology. These technologies such as computers can be provided to a learner for a limited time until the learner’s technology issue is resolved. Finally, education practitioners such as instructors should be aware of learners’ technology shortcomings and have them involved in learning tasks accordingly. For example, learners may have a limited data Internet subscription that may prevent them from downloading large files and watching videos in a high resolution. If a learner can use only a limited amount of data, it would not be possible for her to assume learning tasks that would entail downloading large files or watching high-resolution videos that will consume a significant amount of data.

Access Location

In line with technology maintenance and affected by similar factors, some learners may be forced to use the technology available in public locations such as libraries, coffee shops, and community centers. While these locations may provide learners with opportunities to engage in open, distance, and digital education experiences, learners may be severely limited in their ability to benefit from the learning experience. There are several points to consider for learners who participate in learning experiences from public locations. First, learners may be constrained to assume a more passive and quieter role during the learning experience, especially online synchronous meetings, in public locations due to the fact that these locations are shared by a group of individuals. In such cases, it is difficult for learners to express their opinions orally or engage in group activities that would require them to speak. While libraries have private study rooms, the number of these rooms is usually not sufficient to accommodate every learner. For the reasons mentioned above, education practitioners should be aware of learners’ conditions and make appropriate adjustments to the learning activities to accommodate learners accessing technology in public locations. Second, access to technology in public locations also brings the struggle of being limited to basic software and hardware. For example, while libraries provide computer access, computers may lack advanced software that would be required for audiovisual design and development, and learners usually do not have the option of installing software on these devices without an administrator’s permission. Requiring learners to engage in the design and development work with advanced software will put learners who access technology in these locations at a disadvantage. Education practitioners should make sure that learning activities and assignments required of learners can be completed using basic hardware and software that are available to all learners.

Mobile Device Dependency

The mobile device or smartphone dependency in open, distance, and digital education environments is a real phenomenon as a considerably large portion of learners try to complete learning tasks via tablet computers or smartphones. Recruiting a nationally representative sample of online learners, Magda and Aslanian (2018) found that 20% of learners complete all of their course-related activities on a mobile device while 47% of them complete at least some of their course-related activities using a mobile device. While mobile devices are extremely useful in having access to information on the go or as learning or performance takes place, they provide a limited experience due to their small screen size and relatively low computing power. Therefore, a mobile device’s performance may be significantly inadequate compared to a personal computer’s performance in a number of learning activities such as attending online synchronous meetings, retrieving learning content, and completing assignments. There are certain strategies that can be adopted by institutions and education practitioners to mitigate the effect of mobile device dependency on learners’ performance. First, similar to the provision of technology to learners who struggle with technology maintenance, institutions may provide computers to learners with mobile device dependency that they can use for the duration of the learning experience. Second, mobile devices are inherently limited in their capabilities to display certain types of content due to their small screens and the types of applications they can run. In order for learners to view learning content on mobile devices conveniently, institutions and education practitioners should make sure that learning content is optimized to be mobile-friendly. Finally, mobile device dependency usually brings the issue of limited data Internet subscriptions together. Learners who are dependent on a mobile device to engage in learning activities may refrain from participating in learning experiences that may consume a significant amount of data such as attending online synchronous meetings. In the case of online synchronous meetings, it is a good practice for education practitioners to record these meetings in case learners miss a meeting due to insufficient data available. Furthermore, certain synchronous meeting tools only allow learners to view the recorded videos and prevent them from downloading the video files on learners’ devices unless the owner of the session gives permission to learners for the video file to be downloaded. Allowing learners to download the video files is especially important as learners with mobile device dependency who also lack an unlimited data subscription prefer to download the recorded sessions on their devices using public networks and watch later to save data. The use of the downloaded content must comply with the institution’s copyright policies, but it will not be discussed here as it is beyond the scope of this chapter.

Lack of Supporting Tools

Access to supporting tools such as computer software is critical for learners to carry out learning responsibilities and complete coursework in open, distance, and digital education. However, due to the economic burden of owning a license of some advanced software, learners with a low income may be at a disadvantage. The burden especially exacerbates in low GDP countries due to the weak currencies against USD and Euro, currencies with which most software are sold. There are several strategies that can be used to prevent learners from falling behind in their coursework due to the unavailability of advanced software. First, where possible, institutions should provide learners with free or at least discounted licenses for software that are most commonly used in courses. Having access to software through the institution will allow an equal learning opportunity for learners from different demographic backgrounds. Second, if it is not possible for the institution to provide a license, education practitioners should make sure that learning tasks that are assigned to learners can be completed using free or open-source software and to provide a list of the software to learners. There are a number of free and open-source software that can be used as alternatives to advanced paid-for software. However, as education practitioners encourage learners to use free or open-source software, they should also confirm that they are available for different platforms such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Finally, in cases where an institutional license or open-source software is not available, learners may be encouraged to use free trials of paid-for software. However, trial periods usually range between 7 days and 2 months, and it is the education practitioner’s responsibility to make sure that the trial period of a given software is sufficient to complete the learning task.

Competencies of the New Century

Competency is defined as knowledge, skills, or attitudes that enable individuals to accomplish certain activities to the expected standards (Richey, Fields, & Foxon, 2001). Competencies needed to be a successful citizen in various spheres of life have been debated by scholars for a very long time. The transformation of our lives and the reliance on information and communication technologies in the twenty-first century have impacted the competencies that we need to possess as well. Similar to every aspect of society, educational settings also have always required a set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes to succeed. However, it is more difficult now to define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that should be possessed by learners due to the blurring lines between educational settings and other spheres of society and significant advances in technology. Technology stands out as the most influential phenomenon in shaping what learners of the new century should be able to do when it comes to learning. New learning environments require learners to possess technology competencies and engage in technology-enhanced learning to a significant extent in order to successfully complete learning offerings. The knowledge, skills, and attitudes expected of learners in open, distance, and digital education environments depend on the learning activities that learners take part throughout their learning experience. While the variety and quantity of the activities a learner is expected to involve for a successful learning experience depend on the specific learning context, they can be classified under four main categories:

  1. 1.

    Information activities: Activities that enable learners to search, retrieve, and evaluate information in digital environments.

  2. 2.

    Communication and collaboration activities: Activities that require learners to communicate and collaborate with instructors and peers regarding their coursework.

  3. 3.

    Design and development activities: Activities that require learners to create original works as part of their enrollment in learning offerings.

  4. 4.

    Administrative activities: Activities that enable learners to manage their learning experience such as developing procedures to follow the course schedule and submit assignments.

The aforementioned activities that learners take part in the learning process require learners to develop certain competencies to obtain the intended learning outcomes. There are a number of frameworks created to date that outline competencies to be possessed by individuals in the twenty-first century. While these frameworks were not specifically developed to address the competencies of learners in open, distance, and digital education environments, they include knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are applicable to these learning environments as well. One of the most prominent competency frameworks is developed by the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission. The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens, also known as DigComp, is currently in its third version, and it offers a tool to assess and improve individuals’ digital competence (Carretero, Vuorikari, & Punie, 2017). The framework includes 21 competences in five competence areas along with eight proficiency levels for each competence described as learning outcomes based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The framework is developed to facilitate individuals’ development of digital competence in their education and occupation which is illustrated by the inclusion of learning and employment scenarios. The competence areas and competences are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Digital Competence Framework for Citizens: competence areas and competences (Carretero et al., 2017; p. 11)
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DigComp delineates the competences in five domains with an emphasis on information search, retrieval, and evaluation, interaction and collaboration through digital technologies, content creation, practice of safe technology use, and problem solving using digital technologies. In addition to DigComp developed by JRC, the European Commission developed another set of competences for lifelong learners. Key Competences for Lifelong Learning are general recommendations for citizens and key stakeholders to develop and update competences that enable individuals to succeed in various aspects of life including education, employment, and social relations (European Commission, 2019). While the framework has a broad application to a learner’s life and is more comprehensive than DigComp, it includes critical competences such as digital and personal, social and learning to learn competences. Each key competence includes a description statement as well as details as to what it entails in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The key competences and a brief description of each competence are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (European Commission, 2019)
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Key Competences for Lifelong Learning address a broad range of competences citizens need in educational, professional, and social settings throughout their lives. The framework emphasizes the competences in communication in the native and other languages, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, digital technologies, interpersonal relations and learning strategies, civic and social life, entrepreneurship, and cultural awareness. While both the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens and Key Competences for Lifelong Learning were developed predominantly with adult citizens in mind, another set of competencies was developed to address the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students should possess in learning environments in the digital age. The student standards developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) address knowledge, skills, and attitudes for students to achieve excellence in learning (ISTE, 2019). The standards have a broad application area that ranges from K-12 to higher education settings and include critical skills that enable students to become successful learners in the new century in various learning environments including open, distance, and digital education. The standards emphasize skills such as using technology to manage learning goals, taking advantage of the opportunities the digital world provides, constructing knowledge via digital tools, using technology in the design process, using technological methods to understand and address problems, communicating clearly and creatively, and collaborating effectively with local and global partners. An analysis of the skills included in the framework reveals that the appropriate application of the standards covers the learning process and potential stakeholders entirely and offers a smooth learning experience for the learner. The domains of ISTE student standards and a brief description for each domain are provided in Table 4.

Table 4 ISTE Student Standards (ISTE, 2019)
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Competencies in Open, Distance, and Digital Education Environments

Competency frameworks developed by organizations to date inform us about the knowledge, skills, and attitudes today’s citizens should possess in order to achieve success in educational, professional, and social aspects of their lives. These frameworks also include critical competencies that institutions and education practitioners can make use of to ensure learner success in open, distance, and digital education. The novelty of the experiences that new learning environments offer and the learning activities that learners are expected to engage necessitate learners to possess certain competencies to fulfill the requirements of these learning environments. In this section, deriving from the frameworks developed and the learning activities a learner is expected to engage in open, distance, and digital education environments, a collection of competencies applicable to these settings is presented.

Information Literacy

Learners in open, distance, and digital education settings are expected to engage in a significant amount of information searching and retrieving tasks especially due to the autonomy that these learning environments inherently impose. Searching and retrieving information includes a number of skills to employ in the process. Learners should be able to conduct a search on the Internet using relevant keywords to identify information sources, obtain a copy of the learning content by downloading it on their device, and locate and access the learning content when needed. Information literacy is usually considered to consist of skills to access and obtain learning content; however, as mentioned in DigComp 2.1, it also entails the evaluation and management of information and learning content. Therefore, learners should be able to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of information retrieved from various sources via critical thinking and manage retrieved learning content by practicing content management skills such as controlling permissions, keeping different versions, and content organization.

Communication and Collaboration

Communication and collaboration are a must for all learning environments as learning experiences entail the exchange of ideas among instructors and learners and work to be completed by the joint efforts of multiple partners. Due to the importance of both communication and collaboration, relevant competencies are included especially in DigComp 2.1 and the ISTE student standards. Communication and collaboration are especially important in open, distance, and digital education due to the physical and psychological distance between learners and the instructor and among learners themselves. In addition to being effective communicators and collaborators in one-on-one and team settings, learners should be able to identify and use a variety of digital tools to interact with the instructor and their peers at a distant location, share content via email and cloud technologies, schedule and conduct online synchronous meetings, collaborate on projects using digital tools that allow simultaneous work among collaborators, use digital project management tools to manage tasks and follow deadlines, and resolve issues that may arise in the process. Similar competencies in the communication and collaboration domains are included in DigComp 2.1, Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, and ISTE Student Standards as well.

Design and Development

A learning experience requires learners to create original work for assessment purposes as well as to practice the performance in learning objectives. A growing number of students are using digital tools to design and develop content as a part of their enrollment in learning offerings. Open, distance, and digital education settings also entail a significant amount of design and development work using various digital tools and technology. While the complexity of the design and development activities varies among disciplines, learners in open, distance, and digital education settings should possess fundamental design and development competencies. At a minimum, a learner should be able to identify and use a variety of digital tools to design and develop original content and revise and remix existing content based on learning needs. Additionally, learners should be able to identify the copyright of existing digital content, evaluate its use for a specific purpose, and choose and apply a copyright license to their creations based on the sharing needs they identified. These competencies to use digital design and development tools and identify and apply appropriate copyright licenses allow learners to engage in effective and ethical design and development activities. The importance of design and development competencies is also evident in the inclusion of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes in DigComp 2.1 and the ISTE student standards.

Administration

A learning experience requires a certain amount of administrative work to be assumed by instructors and learners. While instructors can assume a significant number of administrative tasks and facilitate learners’ performance in face-to-face learning settings, learners are expected to take over more responsibilities and manage their learning processes in open, distance, and digital education environments. Administrative tasks allow learners to follow their projected learning experience and reach their learning goals. Learners should be able to set clear and attainable goals, identify personal learning needs, and use digital tools to create, update, and follow a learning schedule. Learners who successfully manage their learning process will show a better use of cognitive, motivational, and behavioral resources.

Concluding Remarks

Similar to many aspects of society, educational environments are also going through an everlasting transformation to meet the needs of citizens of the current age. While these transformations bring opportunities to society, unintended disparities also result among individuals from different backgrounds. Today, we are fortunate to have access to learning opportunities provided by renowned scholars in the field of our interest while sitting at a desk in our homes, but the reality is that a significant number of learners do not have the required resources to engage in these learning experiences. A closer look into these disparities shows us that socioeconomic status and minority status are the determining factors of individuals’ access to education. Individuals of low income, minorities, and underdeveloped or developing countries struggle with access to new learning environments due to the difficulties associated with technology ownership and access. This situation indirectly tells us that high-income and highly educated learners have access to more learning opportunities while those who need them the most struggle to create learning opportunities for themselves. The lack of access to new learning environments also results in the deficiency of competencies needed to succeed in open, distance, and digital education. This chapter explored the characteristics of learners in open, distance, and digital education with respect to their technology ownership and access and discussed competencies that should be possessed by learners in these settings deriving input from a number of competency frameworks that were developed to date.