Read that title again: Reuse, Revise, Retain, Remix and Redistribute. These are the 5 R’s that go along with Open Education. Thinking about those 5 words in an educational context is exciting = Sharing. Having free resources to change or alter to fit your context and then share them again when you are finished, I like how that sounds.
Of course, I have questions. The first questions that come to mind for me are:
- What are the implications of Open Education?
- How do you know the quality and accuracy of the resources?
This video helps point you in the right direction to have a better understanding of Open Education and where to go to get some of the questions answered.
From these videos, videos shared in class and our discussion with Alan Lavine last week here is what I have come to understand:
- Open Education prevents outdated information specifically in textbooks.
- Open Education saves A LOT of money on textbooks making it more accessible to more people worldwide.
- Quality education for everyone.
- We have been doing it for a long time without knowing- taking clips from movies and putting song lyrics to them.
- Develops creativity.
- Connecting people to people through the internet.
- Making student assignments more meaningful by sharing them, getting feedback and allowing others to build on them.
A question that keeps repeating itself for me is the fact that it is making education more accessible to people worldwide however, if technology is not accessible to everyone worldwide how do we reach everyone?
I believe very strongly in Teamwork. It’s important in my everyday life, family, sports and teaching. We shouldn’t be a lone island nor should we have to reinvent the wheel. Open Education, OER and Open Pedagogy seem to fit well into the idea of teamwork. For the love of the game or for the love of teaching, teamwork makes it happen.
My understanding is in progress but I can start small. I will continue to share my resources with my colleagues and start thinking outside the box about student assignments and how they can be shared keeping privacy in mind.
Here are some accounts that I have found on Twitter that will be helpful for an Open Education learning journey: