Yes, Joyce and Wayne. I agree we need a wide array of opportunities to properly serve a diverse and changing world. And there may, in the long run, be some fascinating synergies possible. University programs have long recognized the need for electives, and while we're expanding the notion of university, we might also be able to expand the boundaries of what we think of as elective study.
Richard Schwier
Posts made by Richard Schwier
Let me echo your thanks to Paul for these notes and also to Wayne, Jim and others who created an energetic and important environment for this discussion. I was privileged to be at the meeting, and I was impressed by the commitment and passion of people at the table and attending virtually.
Given the supermarket and other similar threads of conversation here, I think we are seeing a very real tension that naturally accompanies OER ideas like this. How tied to traditional institutions and traditional notions of funding, developing, delivering, and assessing courses should we be?
This initiative seems to be taking the position that the OERu will be careful about what is included as legitimate and how courses will be assessed and lead to certification--funding partners and partner universities will serve up what they can and contribute to a larger, collective, shared vision. This is a fairly institutional view of things.
That's not bad, and I'm not demeaning it, but I think some tension comes from acknowledging that there are other views of OER and how it might be turned into meaningful experiences for learners. The proposed approach won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I consider it a useful and important contribution to the landscape. And it will address what a lot of people are looking for.
I'm also interested in seeing some development in other directions--less institutional, less prescribed, less controlled, and yes, more chaotic. I suspect there is some appetite for those kinds of initiatives too. But what I'm interested in is probably more appropriately thought of as a food bank than a supermarket.
Given the supermarket and other similar threads of conversation here, I think we are seeing a very real tension that naturally accompanies OER ideas like this. How tied to traditional institutions and traditional notions of funding, developing, delivering, and assessing courses should we be?
This initiative seems to be taking the position that the OERu will be careful about what is included as legitimate and how courses will be assessed and lead to certification--funding partners and partner universities will serve up what they can and contribute to a larger, collective, shared vision. This is a fairly institutional view of things.
That's not bad, and I'm not demeaning it, but I think some tension comes from acknowledging that there are other views of OER and how it might be turned into meaningful experiences for learners. The proposed approach won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I consider it a useful and important contribution to the landscape. And it will address what a lot of people are looking for.
I'm also interested in seeing some development in other directions--less institutional, less prescribed, less controlled, and yes, more chaotic. I suspect there is some appetite for those kinds of initiatives too. But what I'm interested in is probably more appropriately thought of as a food bank than a supermarket.
I hope you'll take a couple of minutes (3:30 to be exact) to let me say "So long, and thanks for all the fish" in this video. It has been a great three weeks, and with your advice and support, we have moved the thinking along a great deal.
Now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work on this. We need three kinds of things as we move ahead:
Advice (please -- keep in touch and tell us what you think)
Stuff (links, archival material, photos, videos, interviews, virtual tours, old newspaper clippings, etc.)
Help (we need people who are willing to take on support roles as we move the project forward)
All of this will be managed, for the time being, on a wiki that the Learning Technologies Centre at University of Manitoba set up: http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/histedtech/ Thanks George!
Sylvia has already added some content on the main page, and created 2 more pages:
1. Acquisitions - A place to add your links to artefacts, stories, interviews, biographies, timelines, etc. I've mined a few tidbits from our SCoPE discussion.
2. Volunteers - A place to add and sign up for jobs To create an account just click on "create account" at the top right of the main page. Thanks, Sylvia!
A wiki that summarizes our discussion from the past three weeks.
http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/wiki/view.php?id=1210 Thanks once again, Sylvia!
So, on behalf of the current "Museum Team" and with thanks to all of you for joining in and contributing so generously this month, I'll close the session with a quote from Ellen Goodman.
"There’s a trick to the “graceful exit.” It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over — and let it go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out."
(Edited by Sylvia Currie - original submission Tuesday, 21 October 2008, 10:19 AM)
(Edited by Sylvia Currie - original submission Sunday, 17 May 2009, 02:23 PM. Fixed links from lidc.sfu.ca to bccampus.ca)
Thanks, Jeffrey. You're on! If you ever want to run some ideas by me, please get in touch!
Rick
Rick
Thanks, Jo Ann, for the kind words and also for joining in during the session. If anything comes to mind that you think might make a good addition to the "museum", be sure to jump right in.
Great meeting you!
Rick
Great meeting you!
Rick