This topic (as all other topics on the ONL course I must say!) has so many aspects that I cannot even think about all of them. We were confused most of the time during the two weeks when discussing about openness and sharing.
Let us start by connection between openness and education. Being open is about sharing, being generous and so it should be education. Why are we working in education if we are selfish? Indeed, openness is the only means of doing education (I recommend you to watch David Wiley’s TED Talk.). Education is a relationship of sharing! Then, there is no education without at least some degree of openness.
What is my own experience about open learning and education? I like platforms such as EdX, Udemy or Coursera, where you can learn at your own pace. I would love to have my own course in such platforms. In addition, I enrolled myself in a couple of courses in EdX and Udemy. That is all, until the ONL202 course literally blew my mind!
But it is not only about courses. One should think also about books. I am teaching now in Sweden, and for only one basic course (Organic Chemistry) the students must buy two books (one for the theoretical content, and one for the laboratory). This roughly cost 1400 SEK (ca. 140 euros). I do not think this is possible for every single student in all countries for only one course! Then, we are certainly limiting the access to education by avoiding to use open content. We are broadening the social and economic gap more and more every day. By using open resources, we are not reaching the equilibrium, but at least we are trying.
Making knowledge available can definitely bridge the gaps between different social environments, cultures, countries and economical background.
Is this assumption correct? Perhaps not everyone has unrestricted access to internet, then the open courses reach exactly the same people, but using a different approach.
I can see many advantages of open courses, such as universal access to education, possibilities to connect to pears besides the distance, taking courses everywhere from your comfortable couch and picking the best material among all the available courses. Gamification in learning is highly engaging, meaning that while we are having fun by watching videos, by taking quizzes, and by solving puzzles, we are also learning. Getting fun is an amazing driving force for learning. And the engagement is undoubtedly increased.
Moreover, an open and online-based course does not mean that it is not following pedagogical methods. On the contrary, courses in Coursera are built based on pedagogical models (Daphne Koller TED Talk). In addition, the network around a course is also fueling the learning. You, as a student in an open course, can interact with other students, ask questions, help other students with something you understood; and then you are learning by doing, teaching and exchanging thoughts. I think is a win-win situation! (Salman Khan TED Talk).
But what about the content of open courses? How to curate the content? This is a clear challenge! But it is not the only one. One must be aware of plagiarism, copyright issues, and commercial potential use. All in top of being an expert in any particular topic! We go back again to Creative Commons, and the need to find and properly use openly licensed resources (Creative Commons Guide) I think that technology is helping a lot in this regard, but still we need to change the paradigm of teaching and learning, of education, to become less selfish and more open.
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