COVID-19: Digital Literacy and Heutagogy Learning Approach in the ODL Environment

Abstract

COVID-19 has forced us to reshape learning styles and approaches in education geared towards 21st century learning and teaching techniques. The whole world is facing a new global crisis that threatens the advancement of education, which includes pedagogy, assessments, teaching materials, and technologies. All schools and higher learning institutions are required to implement Open Distance Learning (ODL) due to no physical contact during Pandemic Covid-19. Studies have revealed that the most significant barrier to students' digital learning is their lack of digital literacy, as well as their inability to adjust to a new environment as an independent learner when teaching is done remotely via digital platforms or ODL. Not only students, but also educators and parents, are urged by the current scenario to be more creative, cooperative, and adaptable in their approaches. According to research, the use of information is expanding, requiring students to be digitally literate in order to manage information for their academic and personal purposes, independently. As a result, this paper offered a conceptual framework for 21st-century learning that incorporates digital literacy and an independent learning approach known as heutagogy, with the intention that this framework can be extended across educational institutions and provide new opportunities and strategies for teaching and learning in the digital age.