Open and Connected

Darlene Redmond

Open Access Week, 2013

Today’s Presentation

• DEFINE OPEN• DEFINE CONNECTED• DEFINE A LEARNING SOCIETY

Open LicenseOpen Registration

Open Access

Open Format

Open SoftwareOpen University

Massive Open Online…

Open Educational Resource

Open Content

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources

Learning materials freely shared with permissions to engage in the 4Rs …

• Reuse• Redistribute • Revise• Remix

cc-licenses-terms

Open Education -Type X

And the BIG one…

Image credit: Stefanie Panke

Two Types of MOOCs…Two Types of Education

xMOOCscMOOCs

DistributedNetwork (connections)Peer focused

PlatformLinearAcademic focused

Credit: Martin Weller

Trends in Learning

• Many learners will move into a variety of different, possibly unrelated fields over the course of their lifetime.

• Informal learning is a significant aspect of our learning experience.

• Learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime..

• Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains.

• The organization and the individual are both learning organisms.

• Many of the processes previously handled by learning theories (especially in cognitive information processing) can now be off-loaded to, or supported by, technology.

• Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where

Connectivist Learning

1. Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.

2. Learning is a process of connecting information sources.

3. Learning may reside in non-human appliances.

4. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known

5. Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

Connectivist Learning6. The ability to see connections (between

fields, ideas, and concepts) is a core skill.

7. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

8. Decision-making is itself a learning process. The right answer today, may be wrong tomorrow due to changes in the information climate.

Open Education – Type CReally open education is more than just free programs or resources.

Open education seeks to remove all unnecessary barriers to learning while aiming to provide students with a reasonable chance of success in an education and training system centered on their specific needs.

What does that look like?

• Responsiveness to learners and communities

• An open door policy• Prior learning assessment and recognition• Portfolio based assessment• Student support centers• Competency-based curriculum

"...community colleges are situated best among all institutions of higher education to open education to the

lifelong, autonomous learner."

Sean Michael MorrisA Manifesto for Community Colleges, Lifelong Learning, and Autodidacts

Open Education (without barriers)

Open Education (courses)

Open Educational Resources

Openly licensed educational materials have tremendous potential to contribute to improving the quality and effectiveness of education.

They can be used to improve the teaching and learning environment while reducing costs to the institution and to the student.

The Pros…• Reduced costs• Increased access• Scalability (160,000 students!)• Active learning (remix, revise, reuse) • Enhanced methodologies • Quick customization and improvement • Collaboration• Support for lifelong learning

The Cons

• No centralized control• Quality and maintenance issues• Impact on human interaction (teacher to

student, student to student)• Language barriers• Technology issues• Lack of a central authority

Towards a Learning Society…The future is connected and collaborative.

"Whereas in the past learning was competitive, coercive and paternalistic, the new ethic of learning is collaborative, global

and universal.

It is collaborative in that learners need to work with each other. It is global in the sense that every society has a contribution to

make and a responsibility to each other. And it is universal because every part of a society must invest in learning and

participate."

The Learning Society, Cisco Systems, 2010

Where do I find OERs?

Specialized OER search engines:

– Global Learning Objects Brokered Exchange (GLOBE) Alliance 

– Folksemantic– DiscoverEd– Creative Commons Search– Open Courseware Consortium

Where do I find OERs?

Locate a suitable OER repository:– OpenLearn– MedEd PORTAL(medical focus).– MIT OCW– China Open Resources for Education (CORE)– AgEcon (agricultural focus)

Where do I find OERs?

Use OER directory sites: – OpenLearn– OER Commons– Commonwealth of Learning– OER Africa

Where do I find MOOCs?

Sample listings– MOOC List– 625 Free MOOCs from Great Universities

A list of upcoming connectivist MOOCs– Connectivist MOOCs

A list of lists…– Moocs.co

Cảm ơn!

Thank You!

References OER Africa. Understanding OER. http://www.oerafrica.org/understandingoer

Creative Commons. How can I license my work? http://creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons. What is OER? http://wiki.creativecommons.org/What_is_OER

Cisco Systems. 2010.The Learning Society. http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/LearningSociety_WhitePaper.pdf

NY Times. 2012. The Year of the MOOC. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html?_r=0

Schilling, David. 2013. Knowledge Doubling Every 12 Months Soon to be Every 12 Hours. http://www.industrytap.com/knowledge-doubling-every-12-months-soon-to-be-every-12-hours/3950

Siemens, George. 2004. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age.  http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Weller, Martin. Understanding OERS in 10 Videos. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWZ0HETZsWsN2h70E3MFCUQD1kh59wTxt