Thornburg (2009) succinctly
stated, “The constantly changing landscape of educational technology can be
thought of as a series of transitions from older tools to newer ones” (p.
1). These newer tools help us to complete
the same tasks which we performed with the older tools, but in a more effective
or efficient way, or may allow us to do things that we could not do
before. The newer tools should be used in
the environment of teaching and learning to augment or enhance human
performance.
One such technology which is
shaping the educational landscape is the open source technology. The idea of open source allows users free
access to design and redistribution of software by making the source code available
for manipulation as long as these co-developers and co-designers credit the
original author of the source code. Pan
and Bonk (2007) defined open source as, “Any computer software program whose
source code is free to its licensed users for use, modification, and
redistribution” (p. 2). CoSN K-12 open
technologies is an initiative sponsored by corporations such as IBM, Cisco, and
Pearson Education with the goal of making K-12 curriculum available to teachers
and learners worldwide. Wiley (2010)
described the concept of this technology in education as openness and sharing
and proposed that the three were synonymous. Wiley (2010) suggested open source as a
technology would allow us to share our knowledge and expertise as is evident
from sights such as Curriki.org which provides a forum for educators to network
and share curriculum and lesson plans openly and free of charge. Open source is paving the way in education. Open source courseware such as the MIT
initiative which offers free classes for various disciplines in efforts to “unlock
knowledge and empower minds” (MIT, 2002-2012), and Khan Academy whose website boasts
that, “You can learn practically anything for free” (Khan Academy, 2012) allow
students, teachers, and parents to access meaningful learning 24/7, free of
charge. Open source course management
systems, such as Moodle, and other open source applications have indelibly
influenced face to face, hybrid, and distance learning to enable collaboration,
social networking, social bookmarking, and the co-creation of knowledge. The idea of open source technology opens us up
to potentially replacing the published textbook by resources that are the
product of the effort of multiple authors who have edited, improved, and
changed material that is now available to the masses free of charge around the
world in a much shorter time period than it took to write, edit, review, and
publish the printed text. The benefits
of the open source initiative and its technologies are endless for the learning
community worldwide.
Security is a concern in this
community of openness which allows anyone to contribute. There is a fear that hackers may access
information or that users could unknowingly download a virus to their
computers. Constant modifications could
render the software unreliable and even useless to the learning community, since
there is no paid technical support, if there are too many problems, developers
may abandon the project leaving users stranded.
Fortunately creative commons licenses, peer reviews, and initiatives
such as the open source initiative (OSI) support security, reliability, and
validity of open source applications.
Please view the
videos and links below for more information on the idea of sharing knowledge through open
source technology.
References
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge ,
MA : Cambridge
University
MIT. (2002-2012). MITOPENCOURSEWARE. Retrieved
from http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
Pan, G., & Bonk, C. J. (November, 2007). The
emergence of open-source software in North America .
International Review of Research in Open
and Distance Learning, 8(3), 1-18.
Video:
Baraniuk, R. (August, 2006).
TED: Richard Baraniuk on open-source learning. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_baraniuk_on_open_source_learning.html
Wiley, D. (March, 2010).
TEDxNYED: David Wiley. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb0syrgsH6M
Websites
CoSN K-12 Open Technologies: http://www.k12opentech.org/
Moodle: http://moodle.org/
Hi Vida,
ReplyDeleteThe open source software business allows educators and learners to accomplish tasks and develop skills that once were privileged to the affluent of the society. Copyright laws and protective ordinances kept lower socioeconomic classes at sea away from the knowledge bay.
But technology is a “no-man’s land” treasure that “if anyone is willing to seek will find.” For every “piece” of technology or knowledge there are parallels and with added quality. Space exploration was once considered a State affair, now it is becoming a business for the financial wizards. But education is not essentially strapped to cost. The World Wide Web and social (academic) networking has forced changes in the system. I believe you have made some important point for copyright holders to allow open source for protected knowledge and skills. But social networking, software designers, parallel symbols, language forms and new techniques have forced original creators (who ironically got their ideas from other sources) to recognize that the “market” is more powerful than copyright laws and ordinances. One important example you have given is “co creation of knowledge…of the effort of multiple authors who have edited and improved and changed material that is now available to the masses.”
Essentially, and the bottom line is every technology has a threshold of “going public.” This is a critical moment for “original designers/authors” to decide to survive or wither and die; to be remembered in a dignified way or be forgotten. Open source educational material is determined by the market (instructors and students). The dynamics of educational technology has taken on an exponential form of geometrical progression.” This is manifested with the World Wide Web and social networking, and even at Walden in the Technical Resource Area.” I am hoping that this will allow instructors to recognize that students can “own their knowledge.” Many times traditional instructor mark us down if we did not stick to their personal belief which only surfaced after we write our fact of knowledge.” And, this is not plagiarizing, as we know and apply the rules and protocols. I remember one of my early instructors actually dictating that I should follow a line of argument from one of her books that she had over fifteen years on her book shelve. I refused and you know the rest. You have made a great post. Is there any software within the open source products that is being used in your institution?
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DeleteVida,
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting topic. It think it has (and will continue) to provide so much more in terms of resources for education. Students can seek out the information they want to know, instead of relying on their teacher for every piece of information. It allows teachers to take a step back into the role of a guide, rather than a role of disseminating knowledge. Great post!
Hi Vida,
ReplyDeleteOpen Source for K-12 sounds like a great idea. It isn't much different from textbooks used in public schools --- parents don't have to pay for those. Open Source would make a huge dent in higher education profits for book publishers I would think, so it seems they would not be as readily accepting of that information being made available to the general public at no charge. I like the idea that it would open up educational for all regardless of affluence, though, and it is something I'm going to keep a watch out for, just to see how it goes.
Great blog post as usual.
AJ
Hi Vida,
ReplyDeleteI agree Open Source for K-12 would be a great resource. This would be a way to get parents involved in educational technology with their children. It would also open many doors for teachers bringing technology into the classroom that do not have the resources that other schools may offer.
Great post!