Openness and sharing are two important factors for online education and the first question that always should be the addressed is the “why” question. Why shall we go online? Why shall we be open and share? With this a starting point there are several aspects to reflect upon. Since I don’t have an academic/teaching background I run into many new terms and concepts. Some of these new terms are Open Educational Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). I have tried to develop my understanding around these concepts, but it becomes extremely confusing and complex quite fast. What is the difference between OER and MOOC, are there any differences?
According to UNESCO, the term “Open Educational Resources” (OER) was first coined at UNESCO’s Forum (Year 2002) on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries. OER can been defined as teaching and learning resources in any medium, digital or otherwise, that permit no-cost access, use, reuse and repurposing by others with no or limited restrictions. Pat Bowden wrote at CLASS CENTRAL that MOOCs are courses delivered online and accessible to all for free.
When summarizing the characteristics for OER and MOOC, the main parts are, open, online, free or no-cost, and accessibility. In order to understand these topics better I read the book Open at the Margins. Now the confusion and complexity accelerate. The book applies a critical perspective on online education and the authors addresses many critical perspectives on different areas. At page 14 the meaning of the word “open/openness” is discussed. My conclusions are that open/openness can be interpreted differently depending of the context and what is being discussed.
Two important areas in online education are legal and ethical aspects. Also, legal and ethical aspects can be viewed from many different perspectives. Legal aspects are often discussed from a sharing perspective and copyright issues. Ethical aspects cover often who can apply to online education and exclusion. Legal and ethical aspects could be discussed for a long time and they are big questions.
One of the characteristics for OER and MOOC is free or no-cost. Pat Bowden wrote at CLASS CENTRAL that, “if you finish a MOOC with a passing grade, you may earn a certificate of completion. Sometimes, the certificate is free. But more often, you have to pay for it”. This description makes me wonder if we ever can be open since at the bottom-line it is all about money.
From my perspective there is a close link between research, education and society. The problem starts already at research level when it comes to openness and accessibility. In my research area, state-of-the-art publications are stored in databases. As a researcher you are expected to publish in journals and when your work is accepted you need to agree to sell out your copyright to the journal. Sometimes people need to pay to get access to the publication and a minimum requirement is access to databases. This is problem number one. Problem number two concern invitation as a reviewer for a journal. If you would like to gain merits in the academic world at a higher-level you will be invited as reviewer. You review for the journal who invited you and you do it for free. You do it on your spare time. Another aspect to reflect upon is that, often your work has external financing, but your work is locked in to some database.
From my perspective, there will always about money. The question is who is the winner and who is the loser?
/Alwood
