Towards Open & Connected Learning
Dr. Alec CourosEdMedia 2010
me
“People donʼt buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
(Simon Sinek)
journey(short version)
“given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow”
(Linusʼ Law, Raymond 1997)
“Open source software communities are one of the most
successful -- and least understood -- examples of high performance collaboration and
community building on the Internet today.”
(Kim, 2003)
“A key to transformation is for the teaching profession to establish innovation networks that capture the spirit and culture of hackers -
the passion, the can-do, collective sharing.”
(Hargreaves, 2003)
open / networked
• philosophical stance
• power & control
• access
• design attributes
- privacy/publics
- transparency
- accountability
open(ness)(short version)
open source software
open contentopen access publication
open accreditation
open education
open access coursesopen teaching
free software
open educational resources
open(ness)(short version)
connected(ness)(short version)
• pedagogical & pragmatic stance
• knowledge exchange, curating, wayfinding, crowdsourcing, collaboration, problem solving
• personal learning network/environment (PLN/PLE)
context
Knowledge
• what is k?
• how is k acquired?
• how do we know what we know?
• why do we know what we know?
• what do humans know?
• who controls k?
• how is k controlled?
Questions
Free/Open Content“describes any kind of creative work in a format that explicitly allows copying and
modifying of its information by anyone, not exclusively by a closed organization, firm, or
individual.” (Wikipedia)
Stats as of March 17/10 via Mashable
Media
connected reality
Stats as of Jan 22/10 via Royal Pingdom
media stats (2009)
• 90 trillion emails sent annually from 1.4 billion email users
• 234 million websites
• 1.73 billion Internet users
• 126 millions blogs
• 350 million Facebook users
• 4 billion images on Flickr
• 1 billion Youtube videos served daily.
Networks
• redefine communities, friends, citizenship, identity, presence, privacy, publics, geography.
• enable learning, communication, sharing, collaboration, community.
• networks form around shared interests & objects.
social networks
social tools
creativity w/ abundance
crowd sourcing content
crowd sourcing content
real time collaboration
open practice
“Web 2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to reflect and reimagine what they do as scholars.
Such tools might positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching, and service responsibilities - only if scholars choose to build serious academic lives online, presenting semi-public selves and
becoming invested in and connected to the work of their peers and students.” (Greenhow, Robella, & Hughes, 2009)
blogging
• Filter & develop ideas.
• Scholarly reflection.
• Dissemination of research.
• Calls for contribution & collaboration.
• Share practice.
• Location of academic profile.
• Access to academic thought.
• Record of discourse.
microblogging
• Connect & collaborate with academics from similar or complementary fields.
• Data-mining possibilities (reading vs. conversing)
• Serendipitous connections/conversations.
• Share & disseminate work/calls.
content sharing
• Reach of publication can dwarf traditional venues (Q: “why do we publish?”)
• To share what we do and create for the benefit of others.
• Potential to improve our initial work through CC/NC/ATT licenses.
• Gift economy (we also benefit by content that is shared.
open teaching
open courses - my view
• use of open & free tools wherever possible
• openly accessible experiences
• assessments related to participant practice
• participant-controlled/centred spaces
• range of expertise/participation
• immersive, experimental activities
• scaffolding and just-in-time support
• focus on alternative learning artefacts
• development of long-term learning community
non-credit students
Private Public
Closed Open
finding inspiration
@kathycassidy
Example #1 - Expert Visits
Example #2: Publishing in the Open
ps22chorus.blogspot.com
Example #3: Use of Public Content
@christianlong
Example #4: Educator as ...
Example #5: Portfolios
Example #6: Social Reading
Example #7: Global Mentoring
Example #8: Real-time Feedback
Example #9: Public Scholars
@zephoria
Example #10: Course Trailers
why?(short version)
•*this* is not going away.
•*this* can amplify what we do as traditional academics.
•*this* can reshape/reinvent/reinvigorate and greatly improve what we do.
web: couros.catwitter: courosagoogle: couros
Donʼt limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in
another time. ~Tagore
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