Openness in education

This Rhetoric of Openness by Dave White provides a rich discourse on Openness

Here is one of the videos on the periodic table.  Very interesting illustration of the elements in the table.

Jenny summarised Dave’s presentation here with her insights.

Openness in education or learning could be based on openness of course content (Open Course Ware), openness in practice (open scholarship, open research, open registration and participation by the public audience (MOOC – CCK, PLENK etc.)), open source software, open social media or community (FB, Twitter), and open contribution in networks or community (wikipedia).

Learning as a conversation would be the critical factor determining success in open learning and open scholarship.

Learning as authentic experience is what higher institutions are aiming to add value to the students.

I think openness in networks and organisation do share some common practice, as more institutions are employing social media as a means to promote the courses, to add value to the students’ learning through broadcasting, engagement and interaction, and to provide additional support to the students who are learning online or through distance education.

So what are the reasons for innovation? Innovation for the students.

Enjoy this:

Here are MIT’s future vision:

Creating open learning communities

Reaching key audiences

Sharing OCW everywhere

Empowering educators

Dick mentions: It’s one thing to come up with an idea, or formulate a vision, it’s quite another thing to have that vision come into fruition, through the mobilization of the entire community.

MIT Open Course Ware (OCW) was a bold vision, which has greatly benefitted many millions of students.  What a remarkable achievement! Congratulations to MIT and their staff for their contribution to education worldwide.

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