"Distance education has a unique opportunity to deliver on the promise of the universal right to education. " ~Caswell et. al, (P9) There has been a lot of talk lately in politics about free college for all. The article Open Educational Resources: Enabling universal education by Tom Caswell, Shelley Henson, Marion Jensen, and David Wiley from The Center for Open and Sustainable Learning at Utah State University discusses one way that distance education technologies are paving the way to universal education provided by institutions via Creative Commons license. Their paper explores the issue and a specific tool, OpenCourseWare, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Having long been a supporter of universal education, I found this article extremely interesting. The article was written in 2008 and so much has happened in this area in the almost 10 years since. There are multiple free and open-source educational organizations available online now and not just through higher education institutions. The few that come quickly to mind are Khan Academy, Open Education Resources Commons, edX, Moodle.net, etc. There are many more (and countless more options behind paywalls). There are also many out there that are subject specific like Free Code Camp where you can learn and practice coding basics in a community based environment. There are even public school versions of online education now where students in kindergarten through twelfth grades can complete the requirements toward graduating with a high school diploma completely online. Florida was one of the first states to offer this through the Florida Virtual School. In my opinion this is the future. Knowledge cannot be contained anymore and is being disseminated by prosumers and is freely available to those who seek it (WikiPedia is the perfect example of this). All it takes a is an organization such as the ones mentioned above, or a community of willing individuals, to create, organize and disseminate it. How long before job creators and searchers begin looking at specific skill sets rather than at education credentials such as college degrees? Technology and coding is a great example of this. If an applicant can prove through a portfolio of work, previous work experience or a structured interview activity that they are well suited to meet the needs of the position, does the degree matter as much? The open source education movement is certainly supported by the ease with which people can access the information via mobile computing technologies that tap into the power and reach of the internet (desk top computers, lap tops, smartphones, tablets, etc.). In this world of freely available knowledge and information it becomes even more important for users to be able to evaluate the source of the materials that they engage in. Where do you see the future of education going? Do you believe that free education for all is possible? Or do the recent battles over the future of net neutrality bode ominously for this? Caswell, T., Henson, S., Jensen, M., & Wiley, D. (2008). Open educational resources: Enabling universal education. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(1), 1-11
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About this blogA simple exploration of Web 2.0 and social media and their applications to education; an attempt to learn how prosumers are shaping the internet and how educators can capitalize on it. ArchivesAbout MeNature grrl; loves dogs, books, traveling, clouds, technology, thrifting, break beats and good beer. |