Comments on: Cute Kitten Syndrome: Open Educational Resources http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111 networked and social learning Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:10:05 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Here we are…there we are going « Connectivism http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-4794 Here we are…there we are going « Connectivism Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:27:16 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-4794 [...] a Marx. Russell (or more broadly, philosophy) needs a Wittgenstein. OERs currently suffer from cute kitten syndrome - it seems almost unethical to have a negative stance. Scott Leslie has captured a few existing [...] [...] a Marx. Russell (or more broadly, philosophy) needs a Wittgenstein. OERs currently suffer from cute kitten syndrome – it seems almost unethical to have a negative stance. Scott Leslie has captured a few existing [...]

]]> By: Tom Carey http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-611 Tom Carey Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:06:01 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-611 Re the difference between Open Content and Open Educational Resources: we might want to think about OER as Open Content + some representation of the pedagogical content knowledge or design rationale behind the content. That way, learners or instructors seeking to use or adapt the OER has some starting point for deciding how likely it is to work in their context. If anyone is interested in pursuing this notion of the contextual nature of designs for learning, I would recommend Mike Loverude's reflections on his attempts to apply MIT OCW in the context of a quite different university: Loverude, Michael, Measuring the effectiveness of research-based curriculum at a university serving a diverse student population Physics Education Research Conference - AIP Conference Proceedings 9/9/2004, 2003 Volume:720 pp. 7-10. Tom Re the difference between Open Content and Open Educational Resources: we might want to think about OER as Open Content + some representation of the pedagogical content knowledge or design rationale behind the content. That way, learners or instructors seeking to use or adapt the OER has some starting point for deciding how likely it is to work in their context. If anyone is interested in pursuing this notion of the contextual nature of designs for learning, I would recommend Mike Loverude’s reflections on his attempts to apply MIT OCW in the context of a quite different university:

Loverude, Michael, Measuring the effectiveness of research-based curriculum at a university serving a diverse student population Physics Education Research Conference – AIP Conference Proceedings 9/9/2004, 2003 Volume:720 pp. 7-10.

Tom

]]> By: admin http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-599 admin Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:34:17 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-599 Thx for the comments Scott...I'll try to make it out to the conference - it's shaping up to be an important event! George Thx for the comments Scott…I’ll try to make it out to the conference – it’s shaping up to be an important event!

George

]]> By: Scott Leslie http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-598 Scott Leslie Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:27:25 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-598 Hey George, not sure I agree with this post, but also pretty sure I don't particularly want to get into it in your blog comments, as I feel like we are fundamentally "on the same team" and likely won't do the discussion the justice it deserves. Instead, why not join us (and a whole host of others working on these issues) at the Open Ed conference in Vancouver this August (http://openedconference.org/) and see if we maybe can't find some ways to turn these critiques into new ways of doing open education instead? Hope we'll see you there, cheers, Scott Hey George, not sure I agree with this post, but also pretty sure I don’t particularly want to get into it in your blog comments, as I feel like we are fundamentally “on the same team” and likely won’t do the discussion the justice it deserves. Instead, why not join us (and a whole host of others working on these issues) at the Open Ed conference in Vancouver this August (http://openedconference.org/) and see if we maybe can’t find some ways to turn these critiques into new ways of doing open education instead? Hope we’ll see you there, cheers, Scott

]]> By: OER as a Cute Kitten « Open Education News http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-559 OER as a Cute Kitten « Open Education News Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:54:51 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-559 [...] 15, 2009 · No Comments George Siemans has a blog post on “Cute Kitten Syndrome” as it applies to OER. Siemans argues that OER can sometimes [...] [...] 15, 2009 · No Comments George Siemans has a blog post on “Cute Kitten Syndrome” as it applies to OER. Siemans argues that OER can sometimes [...]

]]> By: Stian Haklev http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-554 Stian Haklev Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:47 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-554 Important questions worth asking. I think there are multiple purposes that can be served... one thing that Mike Caulfield pointed out with MIT OCW is the "transparency" aspect - open your windows and let us see in. I think this only works if the cost to producing OER is very low, which could work with the use of students (as the dScribes project), or with integrating it into the publishing workflow - and of course, there's always copyright issues to external materials, etc. In a recent presentation, I talked about intentional and accidental OER. Intentional is stuff that was produced for the purpose of teaching (even though it might be remixed etc), whereas accidental OER is all the stuff out there that we can contextualize... whether it's television ads from the 1950's, that can be wonderful visual aids in a class about women studies, etc. My research is actually about the Chinese OpenCourseWare project, which is a huge state-funded project to produce Chinese OCW, currently involving 650 universities. I gave an initial presentation about this project here: http://www.slideshare.net/houshuang/global-concept-local-practices-state-of-the-research-on-ocw-in-chinese-1010243?type=powerpoint . This summer, I am in China to do interview policy makers and institutions/professors about their involvement with this project, and one of the key questions is exactly: Why are you doing this? What is the purpose (from the initial lit review it turns out that their purpose might be quite different from what we assume). And yes, there are two large-scale projects to translate OCW into Chinese, one based in Taiwan (MyOOPS), and one in China (CORE). Important questions worth asking. I think there are multiple purposes that can be served… one thing that Mike Caulfield pointed out with MIT OCW is the “transparency” aspect – open your windows and let us see in. I think this only works if the cost to producing OER is very low, which could work with the use of students (as the dScribes project), or with integrating it into the publishing workflow – and of course, there’s always copyright issues to external materials, etc.

In a recent presentation, I talked about intentional and accidental OER. Intentional is stuff that was produced for the purpose of teaching (even though it might be remixed etc), whereas accidental OER is all the stuff out there that we can contextualize… whether it’s television ads from the 1950’s, that can be wonderful visual aids in a class about women studies, etc.

My research is actually about the Chinese OpenCourseWare project, which is a huge state-funded project to produce Chinese OCW, currently involving 650 universities. I gave an initial presentation about this project here: http://www.slideshare.net/houshuang/global-concept-local-practices-state-of-the-research-on-ocw-in-chinese-1010243?type=powerpoint . This summer, I am in China to do interview policy makers and institutions/professors about their involvement with this project, and one of the key questions is exactly: Why are you doing this? What is the purpose (from the initial lit review it turns out that their purpose might be quite different from what we assume).

And yes, there are two large-scale projects to translate OCW into Chinese, one based in Taiwan (MyOOPS), and one in China (CORE).

]]> By: Laura http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-362 Laura Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:59:02 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-362 I work on The Open University's OER project, OpenLearn. The essence for us is not just in making the educational resource freely available, but that it is made available under a Creative Commons license that enables reuse/remix. In that way the openness should help avoid the reinvention of the wheel that Tony talks about as happening inside the campus walls of many institutions. We have also been interested in how informal learners can support each other and become the teacher by using the technologies the site provides. Publication and sharing of learning journals, setting up learning clubs, using knowledge mapping software and video conferencing facilities to capture and communicate knowledge differently are all examples of how the learner is empowered to make the best sense of open educational resources, when they don't have the support of a classroom setting. We have seen some people remix - translations for example - but there are cultural and technical hurdles to jump before the use and publication of OER becomes commonplace. Too many to go into here but our research is openly published for anyone who is interested in the detail: <a href="http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/workspace.cfm?wpid=6478" rel="nofollow">http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/workspace.cfm?wpid=6478</a> I work on The Open University’s OER project, OpenLearn. The essence for us is not just in making the educational resource freely available, but that it is made available under a Creative Commons license that enables reuse/remix. In that way the openness should help avoid the reinvention of the wheel that Tony talks about as happening inside the campus walls of many institutions. We have also been interested in how informal learners can support each other and become the teacher by using the technologies the site provides. Publication and sharing of learning journals, setting up learning clubs, using knowledge mapping software and video conferencing facilities to capture and communicate knowledge differently are all examples of how the learner is empowered to make the best sense of open educational resources, when they don’t have the support of a classroom setting. We have seen some people remix – translations for example – but there are cultural and technical hurdles to jump before the use and publication of OER becomes commonplace. Too many to go into here but our research is openly published for anyone who is interested in the detail: http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/workspace.cfm?wpid=6478

]]> By: Zahid H. Khan http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-361 Zahid H. Khan Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:44:18 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-361 I am strongly in favour of OER. Knowledge has to be publicized and shared by all. Had the old civilizations like Egypt, India, China and Greece would have kept knowledge in a closed box, we would not have seen the growth of science the way we see it today. This may be achieved through education resources available to every one. Developing countries, where most of the poor live, can not afford to buy expensive books they need. The fastest growing economies of the world, viz. India and China have to benefit from OER which will, in turn, help the developed world. I am strongly in favour of OER. Knowledge has to be publicized and shared by all. Had the old civilizations like Egypt, India, China and Greece would have kept knowledge in a closed box, we would not have seen the growth of science the way we see it today. This may be achieved through education resources available to every one. Developing countries, where most of the poor live, can not afford to buy expensive books they need. The fastest growing economies of the world, viz. India and China have to benefit from OER which will, in turn, help the developed world.

]]> By: Chris Lott http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-360 Chris Lott Tue, 06 May 2008 15:28:28 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-360 For me, the motivations for developing and promoting open content that dwarf all others are ethical and creative. Ethical for all the usual reasons, creative because I find it impossible to really dedicate my efforts to creating hidden work and because the more creations we put out there the richer the environment is for others to do more and go further. Shared content is becoming the oxygen of innovative education. However, beyond the crudest and most obvious levels, creating "culturally appropriate" materials is a dead-end. Let the materials be filled with the culture they come from; let the blooming flowers retain their natural colors. The key is, as you ask, "how do we encourage people in developing countries to create their own OERs and export them to our countries?" For me, the motivations for developing and promoting open content that dwarf all others are ethical and creative. Ethical for all the usual reasons, creative because I find it impossible to really dedicate my efforts to creating hidden work and because the more creations we put out there the richer the environment is for others to do more and go further. Shared content is becoming the oxygen of innovative education.
However, beyond the crudest and most obvious levels, creating “culturally appropriate” materials is a dead-end. Let the materials be filled with the culture they come from; let the blooming flowers retain their natural colors. The key is, as you ask, “how do we encourage people in developing countries to create their own OERs and export them to our countries?”

]]> By: Tony Toole http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=111&cpage=1#comment-359 Tony Toole Sun, 04 May 2008 08:42:11 +0000 http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/?p=111#comment-359 I'm with Lanny on this one. My view of OERs is that they can be derived from any source and contextualised for educational purposes. At present, a lot of people are spending a lot of time and a lot of (public) money designing and developing educational content for online delivery. It's done in a conventional institutional context with the baggage of ownership, commercial value, IPR etc. Very often it is serially re-inventing wheels. Similarly, large scale digital repositories (such as JORUM here in the UK) are seeking to store learning resources, seemingly for a regional or national benefit (and competitive advantage?) rather than as part of a global movement. I think all this misses the point about what educational resources are, where they come from, how they are used and who uses them. The greater part of learning is informal (ie. outside the educational system) and the pedagogy generally adopted by the learner, who is also the teacher, is based on the time honoured principles of discovery learning. The effective learner will single-mindedly exploit any resource available to achieve their goal. Web searching for global educational resources is available to us now. There will be resources out there developed by institutions, but there will also be stuff from industry (the new instruction manual for BMWs latest car, the maintenance manual for the new gas boiler etc), stuff from government, public bodies, special interest groups etc. All of this can be harvested using search techniques and the developing search technologies. To my mind, open educational resources means the totality of information, knowledge, advice and guidance available on the Web, from whatever source, that can be used to facilitate effective learning. I’m with Lanny on this one. My view of OERs is that they can be derived from any source and contextualised for educational purposes.
At present, a lot of people are spending a lot of time and a lot of (public) money designing and developing educational content for online delivery. It’s done in a conventional institutional context with the baggage of ownership, commercial value, IPR etc. Very often it is serially re-inventing wheels.
Similarly, large scale digital repositories (such as JORUM here in the UK) are seeking to store learning resources, seemingly for a regional or national benefit (and competitive advantage?) rather than as part of a global movement.
I think all this misses the point about what educational resources are, where they come from, how they are used and who uses them.
The greater part of learning is informal (ie. outside the educational system) and the pedagogy generally adopted by the learner, who is also the teacher, is based on the time honoured principles of discovery learning. The effective learner will single-mindedly exploit any resource available to achieve their goal.
Web searching for global educational resources is available to us now. There will be resources out there developed by institutions, but there will also be stuff from industry (the new instruction manual for BMWs latest car, the maintenance manual for the new gas boiler etc), stuff from government, public bodies, special interest groups etc.
All of this can be harvested using search techniques and the developing search technologies.
To my mind, open educational resources means the totality of information, knowledge, advice and guidance available on the Web, from whatever source, that can be used to facilitate effective learning.

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