Until this week's readings, I have to admit I was fairly ignorant to the OER (open educational resources) movement. I was aware of MIT courseware, but many of the other resources and publications are new to me. OER materials, which include textbooks among other resources, are freely available for educational use and require attribution only (Carr, 2013). Several private foundations have been involved in the creation of OpenStax textbooks in number of core college subjects, which are rigorously reviewed and available free digitally and at a substantially reduced print cost from traditional textbooks.
Existing MOOCs have used a number of different strategies when it comes to reading material to get content to students. Some have content entirely contained within the course, others use OER textbooks, or traditional textbooks. Often MOOCs too are only available within a certain timeframe within the course site. In that respect, Carr argues that many MOOCs are not truly "open" since the content is not accessible any time, to anyone, for free.
If MOOCs were truly about accessibility of education, it seems they would embrace the OER resources available to ensure that all students were able to participate in the learning process fully. Call me a cynic, and I am the first to admit I am not particularity well versed in college textbook finances, but it seems highly suspect for an instructor to recommend a book in which they were the author, to a MOOC course of 100,000 students. While they may be an expert in the field, there seems to be substantial profit motive driving that decision. While I don't disagree with using textbooks, or with instructors profiting from the work creating a textbook, some of the true nature of MOOCs seem to be at odds with their altruistic image.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteAs I read the articles, I wondered how OER could benefit higher education. Are those expensive textbooks really necessary or could OER texts and resources suffice for learning.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteLet me try this one more time as my posting went nowhere. Like you I was not fully aware of the history and extent of OERs. They do seem to be truly "open" when compared to MOOCs related to content and how one can utilize it. I guess the more appropriate item that relates to open in MOOCs is enrollment. It was interesting that a professor suggested their text as reading materials, albeit optional. Nice posting.
Good recap of the readings and focus of the module. When it comes to higher education, online learning, and MOOCs I think that the word open needs its own conceptualized definition separate from any other use of the word. I am like you and was very unfamiliar with OER’s and that was a valuable take away from this module.
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