DIfferentTypesofOpen


 * Chapter 6 **

** Different Types of Open **

**Introduction**

At one time education was centered on the instructor, textbook, and students in a classroom. This image of education has since been outdated and perhaps archived on the same shelves of our Encyclopedias. Nowadays the image of education and learning revolves around the rapid production of the digital world and its technologies. Today’s dynamic world has provided the public an ever changing and evolving system for learning known as the open education movement. This movement has led the way for educators, researchers, business men and women, students, and the general public to be exposed to a plethora of information at their fingertips. In order for this evolution of information transfer to occur, the term “open” has been added to words such as education, learning, source, software, and content to mean free and accessible to anyone at anytime. The purpose of this chapter is to explain and discuss “openness” in a definitive and taxonomic sense. We will share key issues facing different types of open content and resources and provide possible solutions for the future as the world continues to adopt this movement of all things open.

**Background Information**

Open Education

Before the use of the World Wide Web, education was primarily obtained by attending a school or institution in which there would be an instructor present to deliver the knowledge, materials, and concepts and ideas to a group of people. The content you get from the instructor stops there and “what you see, is what you get”, more or less. Education from this era was presented in a linear way; learning being one-dimensional. However, with the growth of today’s digital generation the academic world has begun a transformation to become an open market of learners. The open education (OE) movement has changed the dynamics of learning based on shared intuitions from a wide range of academia. These shared intuitions about open education and learning fundamentally change the way authors, educators, and students interact worldwide. Primarily, knowledge should be free and open to use and reuse. Collaboration among professionals, researchers, students, and instructors should be easy. Credit should be given to those who contribute to education and research, and concepts and ideas are no longer linked in linear forms the way today’s textbooks represent, but through unusual and unexpected connections (Baraniuk, 2008). Learning in this sense will become multi-dimensional. The movement is an educational reform, utilizing open source software programs combined with the communication abilities of the Internet and the Web. This mixture of technology sets the ground work for the multitude of creations that are developed and available to anyone in the era of open education.

Open Learning

Open learning is a method of teaching that has developed along with the OE movement. This method of teaching allows the individual flexibility in how their learning will take place. The location, time, and place the learning occurs are completely dependant on the learner. Open learning is independent, self-motivating, and interest-guided.

The Open University (OU) is a distance learning and research organization founded in The United Kingdom in 1969 to make learning available for those interested in receiving a higher education. Its first students were enrolled in 1971. The OU provides the public access to course modules in a variety of subject areas such as Arts and Humanities, Business and Management, and Social Science, to name a few. Students are given the opportunity to receive open certificates, degrees, and diplomas in undergraduate, postgraduate, research and professional skills areas (“The open university,” 2011). Currently the university has more than 200,000 students in over 70 countries (Laurillard, 2008). The success seen through open learning systems proves to the academic world that it is possible to extend learning beyond the confines of a physical place to much larger scope available through the Web. In recent news, OU has just received accreditation from The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) for its engineering degrees. With this accreditation, among others that already support OU, students obtaining a Foundations Degree in Engineering through OU can seek job opportunities to become a qualified engineer (“The open university,” 2011).

The nature of open learning supports the use of various Web-based technologies. This provides a student-centered learning environment, opposed to the more traditional teacher-centered, where the individual determines the goals, selects the approaches to address the goals, and interprets and constructs meaning (Hannafin, & Hannafin, 2010). Additionally, using online support systems learners work collaboratively in problem solving and hypothesis formation, and generate student-relevant feedback. Richard Want, an OU student, has studied Fiction and Creative Writing through the OU. He notes, “Peer reviewing is much encouraged…It makes the course more complete.” He was surprised by the amount of interaction with others, and was able to swap experiences and provide mutual support through the online forum (“Why enrol with,” 2010).

Student feedback plays a role in open learning experiences to enhance the level of interaction between students; an emerging component in the growth of OE projects. New OE projects have set to make educational material design, delivery, and redesign more interactive. The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) atCarnegieMellonUniversity launched in 2002, provides an example of how the new OE projects are incorporating multiple elements into the learning experience. The OLI course-design process is unique in its combination of faculty content experts with cognitive scientists, learning scientists, human-computer interaction specialists, formative assessment specialists, and programmers (“Open learning initiative,” 2006). This combination allows for courses to be designed around the individual learner. When designing for online instruction, course developers compensate for the lack of human intervention and feedback by incorporating sophisticated tutoring systems and virtual laboratories. The interactive technologies provide immediate and tailored feedback based on the student responses.

Open Source and Open Source Software

Now that we are familiar with the open education movement and open learning experiences, the terms open source and open-source software (OSS) come in to play an important role in fostering the OE movement.

The term open source refers to the free access to written source code. The open source production ultimately means a system of cooperative activity initiated and undertaken by members of the general public. Open-Source Software is more widely used to describe the environment of these interactive communities on the Web.OSS has published source code available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify or redistribute the source code without paying fees or royalties. There are several open-source software products such as Linux, Apache, MediaWiki (the software the runs Wikipedia), Moodle (a course management system), Mozilla Firefox (a web browser), and OpenOffice.org.

OSS is the tool used for organizing and structuring available content. One such tool is the VUE (Visual Understanding Environment). The project is based out ofTuftsUniversity. VUE is a flexible tool used for managing and integrating digital resources in support of teaching, learning, and research. The concept mapping tool allows for digital content to be presented in a non-linear fashion. The figure below is a VUE map created by Except, an integrated sustainability company that uses VUE for making system maps and causal loop diagrams (TuftsUniversity, 2008).

**Figure 1.1 VUE map provided by Except (Gladek, 2011).** ** I have an image on my original doc but it did not show on here

Open Source and Open-Source Software systems allow individuals a place for collaboration, sharing, reusing, and remixing. Some of the common OSS programs available for download include, but are not limited to web browsing, podcasting, video converting, e-mail, word processing, and photo editing.

Open Content

The term “open content” refers to material that is licensed in a way that provides the users of the content rights to make more kinds of uses than those normally permitted under copyright laws (at no cost). The fewer copyright restrictions on the material, the more open the content is. The “4Rs Framework” is the primary permissions that open content usage rights are concerned with. The 4Rs are explained as follows:


 * 1) Reuse: the right to use the content in its unaltered form
 * 2) Revise: the right to adapt, adjust, modify or alter the content
 * 3) Remix: the right to combine the content with other content to create something new
 * 4) Redistribute: the right to share the content (original/remixed/revised) with others (Open Content, n.d.).

With open content come open educational resources (OER). **I did not get to finish this section on OER and plan to this week! My apologies.**


 * References **


 * Baraniuk, R.G. (2008). //Opening up education//.Cambridge,MA: The MIT Press. **


 * Gladek, E. (2011). The production life cycle of beef and dairy products. [VUE map], Retrieved June 5, 2011, from: [] **


 * Hannafin, M.J., & Hannafin, K.M. (Ed.). (2010). //Learning and instruction in the digital age.// New York,NY: Springer Science+Buisness Media, LLC. **


 * Laurillard, D. (2008). //Opening up education//.Cambridge,MA: The MIT Press. **


 * Open Content. (n.d.). Defining the open in open content. Retrieved June 5, 2011, from: [] **


 * //Open learning initiative//. (2006, July). Retrieved from [] **


 * The open university. (2011). Retrieved from [] **


 * TuftsUniversity. (2008). Visual understanding environment. Retrieved June 5, 2011, from: [] **


 * Why enrol with open university?. (2010, November 3). //The Telegraph//, Retrieved from [|http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/education/the-open- university/8107487/Why-enrol-with-The-Open-University.html] **

I don't know why but my reference page is not formated correctly on here. (It is on my doc!)

Rough Draft Outline: “Different Types of Open”

· A brief overview of the open education movement and the terms that go along with the movement of “all different types of open.” - open education - open access - open source - open content - open knowledge - open courseware - OER (open educational resource) - Open-source software (VUE) Are these good “different types of open” or are we missing some? I**I. Background Information** · Description of the above terms, with examples, and references to the open education movement. I was thinking this section will discuss the differences between all things open. Below are some references made to the different types of open. I have not found a reference for each at this time.
 * I. Introduction **

References:
== A. “Open Source: A New Paradigm for Language Learning” [] Example of open source: article explains how open source learning can create customizable, available courses for those learning a new language. == == B. “A Decade of Open CourseWare Movement”  [|www.hindu.com/...2011050957661900.htm] Example of open courseware, open-source software (VUE, GoogleDocs)   ==

C. “ Defining the "Open" in Open Content” [] Overview of the meaning of open content, the 4 R’s framework for usage rights
= D. “Guest Column : What You Can Learn From Open Access” = [] Example of open access to textbooks through Flat World Knowledge publishing.

E. Open Educational Resource (OER): [|grou.ps/oercenter] Example for California educators.

More to come…

In these next two sections we are wondering if the key issues that are facing society with all things open will be discussed in other chapters and we are uncertain where to take the chapter next... any suggestions?


 * III. Key Issues **
 * In this section we would discuss some of the areas of concern that teachers/instructional designers/students are facing with all things that are “open” like acceptance, funding, and quality control.

Here are some references we will use to discuss these issues:

A. Schmidt, J. & Geith, C. & Haklev, S. & Thierstein, J. (2009). Peer-To-Peer Recognition of Learning in Open Education. The international review of research in open and distance education. 10 (5). Retreived from: __[|__http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/641/1389__] __ “This paper makes the case for a peer-based method of assessment and recognition as a feasible option for accreditation purposes. Recognition by peers can have a similar function as formal accreditation, and pathways to turn peer recognition into formal credits are outlined. The authors conclude by presenting an open education assessment and accreditation scenario, which draws upon the attributes of open source software communities: trust, relevance, scalability, and transparency.”

B. DAVID J. ONDERCIN (2010) The Opportunity in Higher Education: how open education and peer-to-peer networks are essential for higher education, E-Learning and Digital Media, 7(4), 377-385. Retrived from: http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/elea.2010.7.4.37


 * IV. Solutions **
 * Discussion of the processes/techniques/tools/technologies that are used to address the before mentioned issues relating to the open education movement. Examples of what is currently being done to fix/improve them.

References: A. IDC, Open Source Software Market Accelerated by Economy and Increased Acceptance From Enterprise Buyers, retreived from: __[|__https://campus.fsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=null&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_6336437_1%26url%3D__] __ “Large software vendors like IBM, Sun, Dell, HP, and Oracle are making significant amounts of indirect revenue from their activities with and support of OSS. This has greatly aided mainstream adoption and acceptance of OSS.” More references yet to be determined…


 * V. Summary **