Openness In Education

Openness in education has lead to numerous ways people can gain access to education and educational resources. Education is, according to Wiley, Green, & Soares (2012) “first and foremost, an enterprise of sharing” (p.2). Openness is certainly required when doing research. Weller’s emphasis on the innumerable tools and programs that are available to use have all facilitated openness and as Wiley, Green, & Soares (2012) states the Internet “has empowered us to copy and share with an efficiency never before known or imagined” (p.3). The Internet brings to teaching a wealth of resources that would otherwise not be available or would take a lot of time to create. It always amazes me how many great ideas and resources are on the Internet, which can add content and engage lessons. Others inspire me and when I see great ideas it makes me want to improve my lessons. This would not be the case I didn’t have access to so many different resources and ideas.

Openness is seen as a desirable and effective mode of operation in the digital networked environment. Convenience and affordability are two ways openness can be accomplished. I often think of open learning such as MOOCs where people access only the programs they want to learn instead of programs with preselected outcomes. People can conveniently lean what they what to learn. I think this is such an effective way for professional development in education. What a great idea for everyone to learn what they want to learn on a PD day instead of the day being prescribed and irrelevant for some.

I am thankful for the openness in my school. Sharing resources and ideas happens all the time and I couldn’t image working in an environment where this doesn’t happen. Resources are remixed and recreated and I am grateful for being able to work in an open environment that is not open.

Weller, M. (2012). The openness-creativity cycle in education : A perspective. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.

Wiley, D., Green, C., & Soares, L. (2012). Dramatically Bringing down the Cost of Education with OER: How Open Education Resources Unlock the Door to Free Learning. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/02/open_education_resources.html

A Starting Point

In the last few days I have consumed many new concepts and ideas on and about educational technology. One particular idea/question that was put forward for discussion was “What is your vision for schools 10 years from now?” I have been pondering this somewhat simple question for the last several days. It is a little hard for me to envision what 10 years from now will look like in a school because of our rapidly changing society but what I do know for certain is that I will have to keep up with new trends if I want to have an impact in my classroom. The fast paced flow and easy access  to information provide both challenges and opportunities for teachers. We will have to come up with ways to keep learning meaningful and engaging for students. Our goal is changing and as educators we need to now facilitate students learning. We need to guide students in their ability to make connections and to sift through the endless stream of information so that they can find what is useful and meaningful for them. Students need to be engaged in their learning and to become excited about the world around them.  To be and feel connected to students is important.  Educational tools are just that – tools. They will come and go and be replaced by better, faster versions but in the end students will still need to know how to make learning connections and analysis information in order for them to become problem solvers. I see K – 12 schools 10 years from now becoming greatly involved in distributed learning using technology to help students stay connected to the real world.

As students move through the traditional K-12 path of education they will need to be prepared for distance education opportunities. Students have choices of how, what and where they want to learn as they graduate from grade 12 and they need to be prepared for these opportunities. Distance education has opened up a world of opportunities and possibilities for students but they need to be prepared to take advantage of these opportunities and that now has become the job of the educator.

“Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

“The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done”.     Jean Piaget