I watched Richard Baraniuk’s TED Talk on open source learning, noting that it was recorded six years ago. His concept of free, universally accessible, open-source educational content that could be created, adapted, shared, and published is intriguing and exciting, but I wonder what a follow-up talk from him might be today.
As Baraniuk was explaining his concept, I came up with a number of questions about copyrights and quality control. He addressed both areas, but I did not fully understand how quality still could be maintained, even through a peer review process. His example of a “textbook” being updated in 30 seconds rather than two years is exciting, but how could that take place with peer review of each update? If someone can explain that to me, please do. It would be a shame if such a well-intended vehicle for education went the way of Wikipedia.
After watching, I visited the Connextions site, which offers more than 17,000 learning objects (called “modules”) and more than 1000 collections in the form of textbooks, journal articles, etc. I searched the repository for several minutes without immediately finding something I could use, for example, this week in my AP English class. However, I opened a collection titled “English Home Language Grade 9”. While I didn’t find the title very clear or inspiring, the first lesson was on enjoying poetry. It featured the poem “Money Madness” by D. H. Lawrence and questions about stylistic and thematic elements, followed by questions that related text-to-world. It listed learning objectives and offered additional activities for supplementation. It’s conceivable that if a school reviewed the collection as a whole, it could be used as a no-cost textbook. (Note: The collection entitled “English First Additional Language”—presumably for ESL students—was not so encouraging. On the first lesson, the formatting was such that several words ran together, so I am guessing that ESL students might find it a little confusing.)
As an educator, I will continue to browse through Connextions and other open source learning sites, but I think we are still several years away from the implementations that Baraniuk described in his talk.
Stephanie, I am still wondering myself, about manipulating a text, how do we know it is manipulating with the correct or accurate information. I am a little confused about his technique being used with a history of knowledge. I do believe if information could be shared with open-source tools for free would be something schools would love. However, one implication I have noticed in our school is that since we have installed promethean boards in our classrooms as a great teaching enhancement tool, more of our students are now wearing glasses. I wonder if there is a direct correlation to technology being used as a primary tool where students are focused on the screen for long periods of time. Although, I do believe there is great value in the interact of information that can be provided to students. Thanks, Liz
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