The Promise of Open Educational Resources

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The Promise of Open Educational Resources APEC
Education Meeting Xian, China January 16,
2008 Marshall S. Smith and Phoenix M. Wang
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
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Our Global Challenges

• Rapid social and economic change
• Great human-made problems
• Global warming
• Extensive poverty
• Terrorism
• Nuclear proliferation

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Meeting Challenges Requires Social and
Educational Transformation

• Build on common values to strengthen resolve to
  improve the world while cherishing diversity and
  its innovative power
• Enable access for all to knowledge and
  opportunities for learning
• Prepare all with old and new skills to address
  problems

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Changing World Requires Old New Basics
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A Powerful Tool for Systemic Reform and
Transformation

• High quality educational content and tools
• Free on the Web anytime
• Usable and re-usable
• Adaptable for all cultures and languages

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Accelerating Global Movement
Higher Education
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• 90 universities around the world published OCWs
• 4,000 courses, 400 translated into 10 languages

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K12
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Journals, Books, Videos, Data, Games
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Usage Expanding
Number of Visits Per Month (000)
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• Open is Powerful for Learning Because

Institutions can now reach people that they
dont have the capacity to serve Individuals
have control over the content -- adapting and
perfecting Continuous improvement through user
and expert feedback and modification Act of
modifying is an instructive learning process
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Amartya Sen Views knowledge, education, and
health as necessary to ensure freedom.

• Winston Churchill
• If you have knowledge, let others light their
  candle with it.
• Thomas Jefferson
• He who receives an idea from me, receives
  instruction itself without lessening mine as he
  who lights his taper at mine, receives light
  without darkening me.

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Movement Will Continue

• Changing habits of the new generation

• Challenges that require different skills than
  often taught in schools

• Openly sharing digital content becoming cultural
  norms

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Some of The Obstacles

• Intellectual Property
• Localization and Translation
• Interoperability
• Accessibility
• Sustainability

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• Institutions and Individuals have taken the lead
  so far
• Governments starting to define their roles

How might openness enable government to initiate
systemic change? Four examples.
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Dramatically Increase Access to K-12 and Higher
Education

• Reach remote areas without qualified teachers
  with full blown, complete courses (multi-media,
  lecture, cognitive tutor.)
• Reach people out of school or lifelong learners
• Using proctored assessments to give credit for
  open learning.

Photo by mathew ramsey via Flickr
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Open Collaboration Enables Governments to Build
Leading Universities

• Use Open Courseware builds a global library of
  teaching materials from leading universities
  worldwide
• Open archiving (publishing, data bases and data
  analysis) to support research books, journals,
  video.
• Shared courses located on virtual worlds.
• Open web-based laboratories create lab
  experiences for those without labs

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Openness Leads to Fast Feedback Loops That Engage
Rapid Cycles of Improvement of Teaching Materials
Open Textbooks
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Accelerated Learning Challenges Conventional
Wisdom
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Beyond Systemic Reform Transform Learning
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Properties of 21st Century Learning Environment

• Motivating
• Positive reinforcement for success and progress
• Allows learner to control pace, time, and level
  of engagement
• Problem Oriented
• Allows for experimentation, failures and practice
• Allows learner to test different hypotheses
• Engages in real or simulated situations
• Driven by compelling problem
• Allow learners to try on different identities and
  change perspectives
• Allows for personalization through feedback
• Capable of tracking an individuals performance
  and personalizing experience

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Problem-Based Learning Environments Virtual and
Open
Poverty Food Force
Science Education Immune Attack
Harvard Law Extension Schools Virtual Class in
Second Life
Politics PeaceMaker
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Opening The World to Knowledge and Education
http//www.Hewlett.org http//www.OERCommons.org

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