In 1993 Roger Lewis in “The Progress Of Open Learning”, Education + Training, Vol. 35
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00400919310041107
outlined a definition of open learning as a way of helping individuals to take responsibility for their own learning. Learners may, for example, choose:
• what they learn (content);
• how they learn (methods; media; routes);
• where they learn (place);
• when they learn (time);
• how quickly they learn (pace);
• who to turn to for help;
• whether, when and where to have their learning assessed
In the connected, participatory, constructivist, collaborative and mobile learning world of social media, to what extent does this definition still have merit today?
• what they learn – content back in the day usually
took the form of pre-packaged well designed open learning materials, now of courses potential learners face an expansive abundance of open educational resources or in Rheingold’s (2013: 15)terms the need to “master the use of our attention amid a myriad of choices designed to attract us”
• how they learn – methods, media, routes – multiple methods, media and route ways now exist but can too much of these be a possible barrier to learning i.e. Neophyte learners being lost in hyperspace without the appropriate structures to guide their agency? It’s interesting that the current connected course has a time lined curriculum structure – in a truly open course should we start with a blank space and negotiate what we want to learn or would that be chaos and logistically impossible?
• where they learn (place) – endless mobility of course has its attractions – what’s not to like?
• when they learn (time); similarly this openness grants freedom to learn within ones own time frames but the trick is to manage this amongst other work, social, family responsibilities
• how quickly they learn (pace); different learners learn at a different pace but should courses be time constrained especially with regard to meeting assessment deadlines?
• who to turn to for help; connected courses suggest peer to peer support and the need to develop social capital i.e. Communication networks that allow learners to do things together but what should be the role of the teacher – well the good news is that the teacher still has to maintain ‘high visibility’https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/HEA_Edinburgh_MOOC_WEB_240314_1.pdf and high ongoing accessibility The report concludes that – contrary to some
media reports and research – ‘the teacher persists’ in the MOOC, and finds that the MOOC teacher is often required to perform multiple roles: lecturer, designer, mentor, institutional marketer, etc. in a highly visible and therefore highly risky environment.
• whether, when and where to have their learning assessed – yes the great connectivist challenge! Assessment as ongoing formative feedback and conversation/dialogue or assessment as summative accounting/auditing/warranting….the debate continues…..
