Open Course in Education Futures

I think one of the more interesting trends that I indentified wandering through research on Open source is its use as a business model. In my own experience I've seen a number of companies in the open source world slowly move to services based business over the last 5 years or so. The companies have gotten vastly more organized and they have affiliate companies that are allowed to sell 'services' associated with the software.

Earlier in the course, we announced a face-to-face meeting on edfutures in PEI. This past week, Stephen Downes, Alec Couros, Dave Cormier, and I met with a small group at UPEI to discuss futures in education (we've posted a few notes from the discussion). We spent time discussing open courses, some short comings of the model, frustrations with EdFutures, and so on.

This week, we're looking at how data can be used to support or debunk assertions or statements of future implications.

Let's do a practice run together.

Over the last few years, I've lamented that open source is being overtaken by proprietary software that is free-of-cost, but not free in terms of ownership by end users. As a result, Google, Ning, and Facebook have taken the buzz out of Wordpress, Drupal, and other open source software. I've stated as well (somewhat for the sake of antagonism, but partly to give voice to a personal fear) that "open source is dying".

Before I begin the real work of this blog post (to tease out creativity and critical thinking as the dual nature of innovative thought) I want to muse about this course on the EdFutures because recent critical posts don't seem reflective enough for me. I too have felt irritation at the pedagogy that is being employed, since it doesn't meet what I thought the course would be – but that in no way reduces, in fact my feeling like a fish out of water may enhance, the value of the course over the long term.

In our discussion of trends to date, we haven't paid much attention to particular methodologies and data sources. A quick skim through the discussion thread on trends reveals numerous interesting opinions on where education (and related fields) are heading. However, opinions alone aren't sufficient in considering the future of education.

I want to write a bit of a reflective note about the Open Course concept.

I came into this, not particularly skeptical, but uncertain of what to expect. "Course" and "curriculum" both carry connotations of paths to get you somewhere. Conventional wisdom as bound up in the outcomes that pervade the current education system dictates that you (as an expert) define what you want learners to know, then how you're going to teach them, then how you're going to be sure that they've learned what you've taught.

this is a truncated cross-post from my own blog, which, as a (cough, ahem) "mommyblog" generally has a different focus & audience from this course. however, in this case, i was seeing whether my "room of one's own" had space for a shift in the very type of branding i wanted to explore.

As we discuss future(s) I want to share this story from a doctoral student - as a way of sending out the human aspect as a reminder of the heart of what we do. These children need to be served by our scenarios - or at least this is the standard by which I have always judged education.

Blogging:

http://connectirmeli.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/edfutures-succeeding-in-tu...

OK, here's my Education Futures Map for Week 4:

http://web.me.com/amcauley/edfuturesmap.jpg