Week 3 - Imagining the Future of OER

Re: Week 3 - Imagining the Future of OER

by Gina Bennett -
Number of replies: 2

What is my ideal future for OER? If I am looking around in 5 years' time, this is what I hope to see:

  • There has been a philosophical shift in academia, a paradigm shift that has rotated our attitudes 180 degrees regarding 'ownership' of educational resources. Publishing educational resources openly is the default & open-facing institutions such as Otago are the norm rather than the exception. If you have been paid with public monies to develop an educational resource, you will need a damn good reason to hoard copyright. Educational resources (especially those contributing to basic education, the kind of education you need to earn a living & contribute back to your society) will be seen as a common good & you & your institution will be rewarded in a variety of other ways for contributing them. I don't think this is just crazy-talk. How many of us can remember when it was perfectly acceptable to smoke wherever we wanted? Back then you needed a damn good reason to deny somebody the right to smoke. We really are able to make significant cultural changes when we all recognize that it's for the common good.
  • What opportunities do I see for learners & instructors? Maybe in 5 years or maybe in 10? Educationally, at least, there is no sharp distinction between the 'developing' & 'developed' world. Aren't we all developing in some ways? But I think the biggest change will be in what educators will be doing with their time. We will not be hoarding educational resources & if we are caught doing so, it will be shameful. We will be doing less teaching in secret; there will be less 'gnostic' instructional practice. As Mary & Roger have suggested, some classes will be conducted with more privacy than others, for a variety of reasons. But exercising the right to deny access to educational resources, through copyright, will not be one of them.
  • With so many more educational resources available to them, learners will have different needs & educators will have different roles. Inexperienced or dependent learners will be looking for educators to help them navigate the sea of resources and to assist with the soft skills of educational planning, motivation, time management, & just plain studying. We will do less writing, less classroom management & more of the actual teaching that we love to do. There will be many more independent, experienced learners who have achieved complex learning goals outside of traditional academia & will need educators to help them assess what they've learned & receive credit & credentialling for what they now know & are able to do.
What am I willing to do to make this happen? Whatever!
In reply to Gina Bennett

Re: Week 3 - Imagining the Future of OER

by Alice Macpherson -
</lurk>
Gina

I love your vision of what could be. I don't think this is just crazy-talk, either! This speaks to me more than worrying about what we can't do. Let us be creators and share our creations is the ways that we can imagine, feel good about, and survive with.

The item that Nellie posted is good as far as it goes, but does not speak to Canadian Law which is about Fair Dealing rather than Fair Use. I believe that it would be better to get away from the nationalistic viewpoint and open it up to a world wide(r) view. I continue to use the Creative Common concept and hope that it has some use for others as well until something better comes along.
Here's to random acts of copy kindness.
<lurk>
In reply to Alice Macpherson

Re: Week 3 - Imagining the Future of OER

by Gina Bennett -
"random acts of copy kindness"... I love it! approve