The Issues of Sustainability

How does a group continue to be able to function after the outside funding and support leaves? In one of the articles I read for this section, Benkler talks of the "common wisdom" that comes from the collaborative effort of sharing resources. As I read the article, I reflected on a collective production experience I had when I was teaching ESL at the English Language Center. The first class that I taught at the center was the advanced (Level 5) reading course. I was able to teach it probably two or three times and as I did, I created a number of materials that I used to help my students as they read the novels I had chosen for the class. I loved the books and I loved creating the materials for the books and was pleased when I used them in my classes. I went on and taught various other courses in other levels and so I passed along the materials I created (many in their digital formats) to a friend of mine who began teaching Level 5 reading. I watched her throughout the semesters she taught and enjoyed seeing her use my materials and was pleased that she found them valuable as I had. What pleased me even more though, was about three years later, I was teaching as a full time instructor for the last semester and I had the opportunity to teach Level 5 Reading one more time. I immediately went back to my friend and asked to borrow back the materials I had given her to use. As I went back through the materials and found the ways she had modified them, I was even more pleased with being able to use them because they were even better than what I had given her. Through our collaborative efforts, we created some powerful materials that assisted a number of students who went through our courses, but it was because of the collaborative efforts.

Sustainability, then, needs to occur within a community of practice when we are working together for the common good and we are creating materials that will assist those that we work with while at the same time being able to create these "happy accidents" when we help others beyond our circle. By participating in this community of practice, we are able to continue the collaboration for the common good because we all see the benefits that come from the collaboration. This not only supports us as faculty, but also benefits the community as a whole. It really does us good all the way around when we're able to help someone else. Creating this vision of collaboration among peers and among colleagues and then among students is what will help motivate the producers to continue producing. It is a way that can help the projects continue long after the money and extras are gone.

Creative Commons Licenses

There are four basic licenses. The first general one is CC by-, or attribution. In this license, the individual grants other users the ability to use the work and modify and build upon it and even make money off it as long as they give you credit for it.

The second is the attribution share alike license. This one is that someone can use your work and modify and tweak if they want, but they have to give you credit and also license all of their works with the exact same license that you used.

The third type is the Attribution, no derivatives license. In this particular one, individuals may distribute and share your work, but they cannot change it in any way.

Fourth, the attribution non commercial license allows others to use and modify your work, but they cannot make money off it, and they must attribute the work to you.

The next one is attribution, noncommercial, share alike. This one says that others must attribute you in the remix or derivative work, but they must not make money off it and they must license it in the same way you licensed your work.

The last one is the attribution noncommercial no derivatives. In this license, the user can send your exact work out to others or link it to you, but they may not make money and they may not make changes to your work.

In the list of these licenses, they move from least restrictive to most restrictive.

MIT OCW and CMU OLI Courses

I really am amazed at the endeavor of MIT to make all of their courses available through the OCW. It truly had to have been a huge task to provide all of the resources. Before we discussed them in class, I had looked at the Introduction to Linguistics class because this is one I have taught a number of times here at BYU, so I was interested to see similarities and differences to our courses. Probably the first thing that surprised me was that they used the same text that I used, so then I was even more interested. As I looked through the material, I kept thinking to myself about how I would have adapted the materials to meet the needs of my learners. When we learned about the SLAM analysis, then I could see how a different format for the materials would have made it so much easier for me to adapt. But just knowing now that they are available gives me a place I can look for ideas to at least spark an idea that I can adapt.

The second course, Social Theory and Analysis, had many course readings for each course session. If I were teaching a similar class, this would provide such a great list of readings to start with, so as an instructor, I would, once again, really appreciate the materials.

I also looked at the Linguistic Study of Bilingualism. Each of these three courses have similar formats with a great deal of reading from a number of different articles and books, which can either be bought or accessed through PDF formats - not so open.

In the German I class, I liked the way that they provided samples of student assignments (for the major assignments) so that in class students, for example, could see what was expected of them. In this course they also used audiotapes which the learners would have to gain access to.

The Introduction to Anglo-American Folk Music course had a number of links to other sources on the Internet for the students to access examples beyond the materials created/produced by the instructor.

Overall, these courses are a great resource for soemone teaching a similar course, or a mashup course. They are only partially open in that they are not very changeable, but they are a great resource as a start.

In the Statistics class from CMU OLI, I found that an instructor could get the "instructor access code" and then teach the course as is. A student from an academic institution could get an access code so they can take the course for credit as it is presented here.

The Biology course was impressive as I was able to see their animations and visuals to help me understand the workings of the cells. These are definitely more dynamic than the PDFs provided by MIT. This can help make the content more accessible to the learners as they progress through the course. I was also very impressed with the "smart' tutors that completed formative assessments throughout the course, making it more interactive.

At the beginning of the Economics class, I was impressed with the disclaimers about some issues that students may encounter through the course - such as browser issues, or making sure they have the latest Java enabled. Also the time zone made a difference for submitting assignments. These courses really are meant to be read and completed online while the courses through MIT OCW seemed to be more of a print it out to read it version. The colors and diagrams helped to make the assignments more readable and comprehensible.

In the French class, I was impressed with the mouse-over that included translations of the French words into English for those of us (okay, me) who doesn't speak French. This one was video based, which is a beautiful thing, but would be rather expensive to create and share.

I also reviewed the Empirical Research Methods course, a course I will probably want to refer back to to remember methodologies to help me in my own research.

These courses provided by MIT OCW seemed to me to be provided to a different audience than the courses at CMU OLI. Those at CMU were more directed at students rather than instructors as at MIT. Maybe I'm wrong in this though.

Motivations of Open Education

Tomaševski (Removing Obstacles) explained the notion that “poverty is a human rights violation” because if an individual does not have even a basic education, they will not be able to function and contribute to the society as a whole. The example that was given of South Korea where they invested a great deal in the basic education program yielded great benefits for the society because they had a whole generation of women with at least basic skills which they were then able to allocate resources to the development of materials rather than putting all of their money into the building of schools with no additional money for resources.. President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that “when you save a girl, you save generations” because she will teach her children, who will turn around and teach their children (http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,6865-1,00.html).

Not only has President Hinckley focused on educating young women, but he explained the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) as a “bright ray of hope” for impoverished individuals who are able to receive an education through the help of the PEF. Many of these individuals have served as faithful missionaries and at the conclusion of their time in serving, they return back to the same circumstances they left and have very little hope of moving forward in their educations or lives, but with the hope of an education are able to progress. Gisborne, the assistant to the Sherriff of Nottingham in the BBC America Robin Hood series, said in a very selfish way, “If you want to help the poor, help yourself first.” In opposition to this selfish view, President Hinckley said, “we need to care for one another more diligently. We need to make a little more effort to assist those who are down at the bottom of the ladder. We need to give encouragement and a lifting hand to men and women of faith and integrity and ability, who can climb that ladder with a little help.” He stated that the majority of the funds from the PEF have been donated by average individuals who are not men and women of great means. They are reaching down with the little that they have to assist others.

As Tomaševski (Free and Compulsory Education) discussed the right to an education that is free of charge to the students themselves vs. education that is free of cost. There is always a cost attached to education. But individuals should receive a basic education in order to participate in the society. As they are able to participate, then they are able to create more tax revenue which is used to fund education.

As a summary of what I see as the primary motivation of open education is the need to help those who need a little boost to get them started on the path to success. This includes giving an opportunity to both children and adults. There is a cost, but it is an investment in human resources that will benefit them, their families, and society as a whole.

Historical Context of Open Learning (Quest 1)

I feel giddy to know that individuals, institutions of higher learning, and corporations are making a move toward opening up access to knowledge to everyone. I have seen the lives of people who have no real hope for improving their lives and no hope for breaking the cycle of poverty they are in. Having an equal opportunity for education and learning creates an environment where individuals are no longer divided into classes based on their opportunity for gaining riches and education (3 Nephi 6:12).

The Open Education Resources movement really began about ten years ago with the Open Source movement where software distributors began distributing open code for others to share and in turn modify and share. Seeing the success of the Open Source, OER began with the idea of sharing content, tools, and implementation resources. The Hewlett Foundation has been a major funder for many of the OER projects, funding MIT's OCW, Rice University's Connexions project, Utah State University's Center for Open and Sustainable Learning, Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative, and many others.

These projects have required a commitment and investment of time and energy as well as a commitment to educating the world and sharing knowledge with every individual who has a desire to learn.

Some of the difficulties that accompany open education are the sustainability with funding. Another of the largest difficulties is copyright. Because of the difficulty of locating copyright holders and the compatibility of copyright licenses. The licenses have evolved through time through the creative commons license.

The field of open education has a bright future with a great deal of work that needs to be done. This field will open up the world of knowledge to the world. This is just a small summary of a few thoughts gathered while reading for this week. I look forward to gaining a deeper understanding in each of these areas.

Open Learning

As I begin a new semester, I am excited for the opportunity to learn about Open Learning. This will be the grand site that I will use to contribute my learning.