There is no doubt in my mind that Open Education is one of the most promising movements within the field of education. Sharing, collaborating and mentoring are part of the teaching profession. Dean Shareski on his video Sharing: The Moral Imperative, reminds us that sharing is the foundation of education, just like we do in class with our students and colleagues. The playground is just got "a little bigger". Since the beginning of the OLTD program one of my major concerns has been that most of the research in regards to institutionalized or open online learning concentrates on post-secondary education. I find it a bit frustrating as the needs of my students are very different from adult learners. The more I think about this it becomes more evident to me that while the world keeps moving faster and faster the K-12 sector moves at a much slower pace. The interesting part is that it is within the K-12 sector that we have the opportunity to generate greater change. We should be preparing the digital citizens of tomorrow, right??? George Siemens' spoke about the goals of education during a Tedx Talk on March of 2010: "Education is not to serve the corporate spectrum …when we think about education we need systems that permit optimal capacity for connections … Teaching is a far better value to society than is often given credit for; the development of next generation, the development of mindsets and attitudes, the changing of individual lives… that is the intent, the goal and the focus of education." It seems that the BC Education Plan is not aligned to Siemens' ideas when the Ministry of Education identifies the most important challenge of the BC Education Public system: "The economies of industrialized countries are also in the midst of dramatic change. More than ever, the economic imperative is to ensure young people entering the workforce have the lifelong skills and competencies that employers are increasingly looking for: creative thinking, problem solving, initiative, curiosity, and the ability to lead and work well in groups." Although the plan acknowledges the role of information technology in today's world it is listed as the last bullet point when the documents talks moving from Principles to Practice. The document recognizes communication and digital literacy as one of the relevant competencies that BC students should master. Is this enough? I don’t believe so. Wikipedia defines Hidden Curriculum as something that is learned without being the explicit intent of the lesson. Isn't that what teachers need to do to teach many important things? When I teach my students to conjugate regular verbs in Spanish I am also teaching them to identify patterns. Lately, some aspects of my hidden curriculum connects with digital literacy and citizenship, open educational resources and using the internet for more than posting selfies or Google. In any society teachers hold an incredible power to shape the future of a community, a nation and the world. It is our responsibility to master the digital literacy skills that our students need to learn, to connect with other professionals to develop professionally and try to catch up with a world that moves faster every day. Those of us who already jump on the wagon, have a responsibility to help our colleagues develop their skills by sharing what we know to the best of our ability, mentoring and opening our "virtual filling cabinet" to anyone who wants to learn. I am sure we will have resistance but we will also find those who decide to jump in with you with open minds. Reviewing this week's materials on the value and responsibility of sharing made me reflect about why I have never consider sharing any of my work "with the world". Why do I find the thought so overwhelming? I do share what I know or have with others but generally with people I know and feel somewhat comfortable. The idea of putting myself "out there" means that big part of who I am is open for the good, the band and the ugly. Isn't that what people I learn from do regularly? Over the past few weeks I have become more aware of all the things I have learned thanks to the generosity of strangers who decided to share their ideas, mistakes and work online. For example, about 7 years ago I decided to enter the world of dog sports. I actively compete and over the years I have become a fairly decent dog handler and instructor. I have attended a few seminars and read some books but a great percentage of what I know comes from free online resources. Pro and amateur trainers sharing their ideas, struggles and methods online. A while ago a friend who is a long time competitor was talking about how much higher the standards of performance have become, I asked her why and her response was that never before people had access to so much knowledge about the matter. It is easier now to learn that ever before! Sharing is valued by many cultures around the world and like many other kids, I was encouraged to share from a very young age and I learned that by doing so the world is better. Growing up in Mexico city, sharing was not optional but rather a reality of life. My family of 7 lived in a very small house so we all had to share pretty much everything including our unique skills, ideas and knowledge. I was the youngest so by the time I was 10 my siblings and I were responsible for getting ready to go to school without my parent's help. We were all good at something; my oldest sister Iliana, will cook breakfast while my brother Domingo polished everyone shoes, my sister Lucero was in charge of setting the table and I would iron everyone's uniforms. We worked to perfection! When it came to school work we all contributed to each other's learning and improve each other's homework. We are all adults now and live far away but we still benefit from each other's unique abilities. The thing about sharing is that it requires a certain level of comfort with ourselves and those we share with. The process of becoming comfortable with "sharing with the world" demands some reflection, the wiliness to take risks and above all the understanding that what may be ordinary to us is extraordinary to others. While I watched Dean Sharesk's video Sharing: The Moral Imperative it make me think about all those things that seem ordinary to me but when I share them they are extraordinary to others. On the video he shares Dan Meyer's story who during his third year of teaching took 40 hours designing a lesson and creating the materials and decided to share it. His work was well received by thousands! The thing is that everyone has something to offer, it may not be anything amazing to us to it may to others. During the past few weeks I have taken little steps towards being more comfortable sharing my thoughts, my findings and develop a greater awareness about the power of Open Education. I am thinking more and more about the importance of creating professional networks to share not only content and ideas but concerns and mistakes. Also we need to make sure that we help our students to understand the power of sharing and the importance of being an active player, a creator rather than a consumer. Read / Watch More:
Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously. " G. K. Chesterton Retrieved from: Bukola, Ope, "Why Open Education Matters" Ask any teacher, lack of time and resources are one of our most frequent complains and source of frustration and let's face it, we all know this is not about to change anytime soon. A few days ago I attended a forum where one of the presenters gave a great piece of advice: we must do better with what we have. We must utilize our time, money and efforts more efficiently and still make improvements. We are constantly trying to balance instructional time, assessment, lesson preparation, meetings with students, colleagues, parents and administration and somehow find time to develop better courses, individualize learning and develop professionally. The benefits associated with the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement are many. The more obvious one is that OER can provide teachers with the opportunity to make better use our time and funds to improve and personalize courses, develop professionally and incorporate technology in our classrooms. There is no need to "re-invent the wheel" sites like OER Commons, MERLOT, Archive.org, Wiki Educator, and so many others can provide any teacher with amazing materials to develop richer courses with a variety of options to offer personalized learning opportunities. We also have the opportunity to connect with other professionals and collaborate on developing better learning experiences and grow as educators. But the use and impact of OERs goes far beyond classroom resources, OERs are an opportunity to level the playground in education by giving access to up to date quality resources to anyone with an internet connection. How many classrooms across Canada continue to use outdated textbooks? How many teachers continue using the same resources they used 20 years ago? If you can see this in Canada imagine what happens in less fortunate countries. Our students are different and their needs have change but It is not a secret that even within the public school system some schools have access to more and better resources than others and although resources are not everything in education, they are an advantage that can help students learn more, learn better and love learning. A video by "Intheacademia" describes OERs as "the biggest textbook library in the world" an opportunity open to anyone who wishes to learn at any stage of their life, at their own pace and schedule. The OERs movement is not only a way to improve the institutionalized education system, it is also a way to improve the quality of life of many around the world. Being educated is more than a way to make a living or to receive a diploma or degree, being educated is a way to open your eyes and seeing the world on a different light. Every time I think about lifelong learning I think of my dad. On paper, my father is not an educated man since he never had the opportunity to finish his elementary education but he is one of the most educated man I know. He has endless curiosity and read every book available to him. I can only imagine the possibilities if he had access to all this OERs! Professor Sugata Mitra shows the endless possibilities that the world wide web brings to anyone who can access the internet. His "Hole in the Wall" project demonstrates that very little can lead to powerful transformations. Educating ourselves, our colleagues and our students on the OER movement and how to turn our resources into OERs is a fundamental aspect of the 21st century literacy. The process is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. Algoquin College in Ontario for example offers a fantastic tutorial to introduce anyone to the basics of OERs. This can be used as a Pro-D activity or a unit of study for high school students. Sharing what we know is as valuable as sharing what we have. Think about any significant change in society and you will always find young people intelligently and purposefully questioning the rules. It is always inspiring. Watching Rip: A Remix Manifesto reminded me of the importance of helping students develop the leadership, communication and critical thinking skills required to become citizens who are actively engaged on the decision making and change generating process. In education we spend much of our time and effort teaching students the importance of following the rules but I am thinking now that we should put the same kind of effort on helping students to learn how to question the rules and become agents of social transformation. Many questions came to mind while watching this documentary. Where does people like Brett Gaylor and Gregg Michael Gillis (Girl Talk) come from? How can we help students become active global citizens that contribute to creative solutions? How the current education system prepares them to question and oppose to the appropriation of culture? How can we expect them to transform the world if we don’t try to teach them to think outside the box? Recently I watched a TED Talk by Dan Pink called The Puzzle of Motivation. Pink discusses the effectiveness of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the context of the business world, although it is not very hard to make a connection to education. Pink explains that "autonomy, mastery and purpose… are the building blocks of an entirely new operating system for our businesses…Management is great. Traditional notions of management are great if you want compliance. But if you want engagement, self-direction works better." Dan Pink also provides several examples of successful business models like Google where most of their best product development ideas come from the 20% of the time given to its employees to work on whatever project they choose. What is happening in the school system? It looks like we didn't get the memo! We put a lot of time and effort making sure that students are working on "what they need to work on". We are striving for compliance rather than engagement. The needs of students today have change significantly with the development of information technology, OER, open access, etc; they need very little help from adults to learn the basics of almost anything. Most of our students interact with their community, peers and the world in a way we didn't imagine. They can learn to play instruments, a second language, photography, math, geography, etc without a minute of traditional instructional time. I am not saying there is no value on what we teach today or that compliance is not necessary. The point that I am trying to make is that the skills we prioritize 30 years ago are not necessary on the top 10 today. Don’t schools supposed to prepare us for the "real world"? Well, the real world keeps changing and we must try to adapt. If we want the young people of today to become agents of change then the educators of today MUST become agents of change in our profession. The work of Brett Gaylor and Gregg Michael Gillis are fueled by autonomy, mastery and purpose. Let's offer our learners engaging experiences to become lifelong learners, let's give them a bit of autonomy, by designing projects that require creative solutions. Our job is facilitate mastery and walk by their side while they find their purpose. Let's help them become creators rather than only consumers. Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Marie Curie This weeks materials were an excellent overview on Open Educational Resources (OER). I found many questions and had the opportunity to see things that are part of my everyday life from a different point of view. In a world driven by profit it is interesting to think about concepts like open educational resources, democratization of digital technologies, free-access software, creative commons licenses, MOOCs, etcetera. We don't need to look too far to see how some public services like education and health care are dangerously flirting with privatization in order to become at least self sufficient if not profitable. How can we now be talking about open access? Lawrence Lessig TED talk "Laws that choke creativity" remind us that some concepts that were unthinkable once are now simply the way we live. Can we make this happen? What is the future of big text book publishing business? What are the new business models that will make these resources sustainable and profitable? Are we paying for these open access products in a different way? What about the quality of the resources? Not that long ago in order to have access to a productivity suite like Microsoft Office we had to purchase a fairly expensive license, now we have highly efficient software for free! Google apps are really giving MS Office a run for their money. Who in their right mind will purchase an encyclopedia, a recipe book, etc? Almost all of the information we need is available online mostly for free ... because it is free, right?? Or, isn't it? How are these great corporations generating profit? Is it "open access" a two way street? I use your product you use my information? Last week I watched a documentary called "Terms and Conditions May Apply". I must confess the documentary seemed a bit alarming for my taste but remind me the importance of questioning this great free products the same way I will question a stranger knocking on my door to give me money "just because". Among other things the documentary attempts to raise awareness about how our personal information, consumer preferences and personal connections are becoming almost as valuable as our money. I still remember the horrifying feeling when after comparing some products online I found tailored advertisements magically appearing on my Facebook page. How are we paying for all the open resources we enjoy? What is our responsibility as teachers when we ask our students to access open educational resources? But most importantly how can help my students to become savvy users of the great materials, resources and products available? Magic Cookies Source: AboutCookies.org "The word 'cookie' comes from 'magic cookie,' a term in programming languages for a piece of information shared between co-operating pieces of software. The choice of the word cookie appears to come from the American tradition of giving and sharing edible cookies." "What is the purpose of cookies? Cookies make the interaction between users and web sites faster and easier. Without cookies, it would be very difficult for a web site to allow a visitor to fill up a shopping cart or to remember the user's preferences or registration details for a future visit. Web sites use cookies mainly because they save time and make the browsing experience more efficient and enjoyable. Web sites often use cookies for the purposes of collecting demographic information about their users. Cookies enable web sites to monitor their users' web surfing habits and profile them for marketing purposes (for example, to find out which products or services they are interested in and send them targeted advertisements)." |
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