Blog Post #2

In past courses, I have learned about open education under Canada’s early definition. Led by Paquette in the 1970s, open education was a “pedagogical…interrelation among three key elements: the physical layout of the classroom, the learning activities and the teacher interventions” ( Roberts& Blomgren& Ishmael& Graham, 2018, p.529).

Photo by sebastiaan stam on Unsplash

This meant that unlike today, it was about breaking down physical walls in the classroom, focusing on collaborative learning and student autonomy, and a teacher’s roles shifting to a guider rather than a leader. This collaborative learning idea was supported by earlier educational philosophers such as Dewy and Vygotsky who both valued what can be learned through socialization and learner-learner interaction. Later into the 80s and 90s with the innovations of the internet, open learning changed to be defined as “…support[ing] the production, use and reuse of high quality open educational resources (OER) through institutional policies, which promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path”(Roberts& Blomgren& Ishmael& Graham, 2018, p.528). In more simple terms open learning means to reuse, revise, remix, redistribute, and retain (the 5 Rs)  (Roberts& Blomgren& Ishmael& Graham, 2018, p.532) open education resources to allow teachers and students to learn and collaborate together, using a larger base of resources. The use of open educational resources can be used in an online and in-person setting but is more traditionally utilized in an online learning environment. There are now eight principles to open learning,

• Learner-centeredness;
• lifelong learning;
• flexibility in learning;
• removal of barriers to access;
• recognition of prior learning experiences and current competencies
• learner support;
• expectations of success;
• Cost-effectiveness. (Roberts& Blomgren& Ishmael& Graham, 2018, p.529)

The most recent definition of open learning is that it is learning that utilizes OER. UNESCO defines this: “OER [are] “any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them ” (Roberts& Blomgren& Ishmael& Graham, 2018, p.532).

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

“Open learning became a term to describe flexible learning or asynchronous learning” and later “[a]spects of… [it]…formed the basis for distance or online learning”(Roberts& Blomgren& Ishmael& Graham, 2018, p.529). As open learning and open education resources spread across Canada, distanced/distributed learning began to incorporate it into is online learning designs. These online schools were started to service “students in rural and remote communities” (Barbour & Labonte, 2018, p. 602). Each province and territory has its own Ministry of Education that facilitates online and distributed learning platforms (Barbour & Labonte, 2018, p. 601). Each province has had its own history with online learning and open learning’s role within it (Barbour & Labonte, 2018). With the growth of technology and acceptance of OER, Canda has “one of the highest per capita student enrolment in e-learning courses and programs of any jurisdiction in the world, and was one of the first countries to use the Internet to deliver distance learning courses to students” (Barbour & Labonte, 2018, p. 603). What is important to note is that  BC is one of the leaders in distanced learning, having began distanced learning in 1919 and starting virtual schools in 1993 (Barbour & Labonte, 2018, p. 602). 

Today, Canada is working to incorporate open education resources both in brick-and-mortar schools and online school environments, it is reaching its rural youth with online schools, and is learning how to establish student connection in this new and innovative learning environment. 

Here are some videos to further define open education, open educational resources, and online/distanced learning.

Citations:

Roberts, V. , Blomgren, C. Ishmael, K. & Graham, L. (2018) Open Educational Practices in K-12 Online and Blended Learning Environments. In R. Ferdig & K.Kennedy (Eds.), Handbook of research on K-12 online and blended learning (pp. 527–544). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press.

Barbour, M & Labonte, R. (2018) An Overview of eLearning Organizations and Practices in Canada. In R. Ferdig & K. Kennedy (Eds.), Handbook of research on K-12 online and blended learning (pp. 600-616). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press.