Open Source and Open Courseware (OCW), what is the difference?
Open Source
“Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process” (Opensource, n.d). It is “intended to be freely shared and can be improved upon and redistributed to others” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.141). With open source developers can modify or customize the content to create error free versions. Open source does not necessarily means it is entirely free. The tool itself might be cost free but the operating system or “implementing the application with in an organization” may incur costs (Simonson et al, 2012, p.141). In order for a tool to be considered open source, it must meet the following criteria:
1. Free redistribution
2. Source code must be included with the program
3. The license must allow “modifications and derived works” (Opensource, n.d).
4. “The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only” thus preserving the “integrity of the author’s source code. The license may specify that the modified version “to carry a different name or version number from the original software” (Opensource, n.d)
5. There should be “No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups” (Opensource, n.d)
6. There can be no restrictions on the field it may be used in.
7. All parties have the same right in terms of the license.
8. The license must not restrict other software.
9. The license must be technology neutral
(Opensource, n.d)
Open Courseware
Open Courseware (OCW), on the other hand, is “is a free and open digital publication of high quality college and university‐level educational materials” (OCW, n.d). This can include, the syllabi, media programs, lecture notes and associated content. MIT provides its OCW under the Creative Commons public license and its work is “protected by copyright and/or other applicable law. Any use of the work other than as authorized under this license is prohibited” (MIT, n.d). MIT does grant permission to “reproduce the work” and “make such modifications technically necessary to exercise the rights in other media and formats (e.g. ‘format-shifting’)” (MIT, n.d). There are some portions such pictures that are restricted due to “ license agreements between MIT and other parties” and can be identified by following symbol and phrase: ‡ Restricted Use (MIT, n.d). The amount of information an institution offers in its OCW can vary. Some institutions may not provide answers to quizzes or sample papers, while other may provide the course in its entirety. Additionally the courses are not a substitute for an MIT education. Why do institutions make their courses OCW? This could be so that it can “showcase the quality of its teaching and use Open Courseware to attract prospective students” (Baldi, Herizer, Stanzick, 2002 p.1378).
An MIT or Yale Education? Really?
Many people dream of an education from Ivy League and other top colleges; however, this isn’t always possible. With open courseware, this dream can now become a possibility since universities like Yale, and MIT are offering some of their courses as Open Courseware. Before you start calling friends and family and telling them that you are enrolling at a top university, try to understand what this means. Open Courseware is not a formal education, since any assignments you complete will not be graded by a professor and so there are no credits or certification awarded for the course.
Evaluating a course
Source: Yale University
Course: “Introduction to the Theory of Literature”
The course I have chosen to evaluate is available at the Yale University website and is called “Introduction to the Theory of Literature”. The evaluation is from an instructional designer’s point of view on its merits as a distance education course. In any distance learning experience the instructional designer should ensure that the course meets the needs of the learners; “those needs, “what all distant learners want, and deserve” include:
- Content that they feel is relevant to their needs
- Clear directions for what they should do at every stage of the course
- As much control of the pace of learning as possible
- A means of drawing attention to individual concerns
- A way of testing their progress and getting feedback from their instructors
- Materials that are useful, active and interesting
(Simonson et al, 2012, p.76)
Is the content relevant to the needs of the learners?
As someone who was a student of literature herself, I thoroughly understand what answers students are looking for in a course such as this. The course aims to answer “what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?” (Yale, n.d). This is important background knowledge for any student of literature; however, these topics are rather broad and need to be broken down into sub topics. This is done; the course is broken down into 25 sub topics and each topic is presented as a lecture. Each lecture has a short overview which can be seen as a general goal of the topic. Goals are formed when the instructional designer decides “what is appropriate for a group of students and for the individuals within a group (Simonson et al, 2012, p.158). Yale University is an Ivy League school and so the students that are admitted have a high GPA and exceptional SAT scores (Parchment, n.d). Now students who may be engaging in informal distance learning may not be of that level. Due to this it may not meet the needs of all its learners. There may be some students who may struggle with these concepts, or may not have read some of the texts mentioned in the lecture and so they might need additional resources to help them. These are not available and so the content and goals do not meet the needs of all learners.
Does it provide clear directions for what learners should do at every stage of the course?
The way an instructor can ensure that students are aware of what they should do is through a syllabus. “The syllabus is the single most – important document an instructor can prepare” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.199). This document provides the students with explanations about the “structure of the course, expectations, and assignments and the assessment process” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.199). The syllabus for the course is very short and covers only the basics such as the text being used and the weight of each of the graded assignments.
Do the learners have control over the pace of learning?
The lecture was produced for a face to face class and was not adapted or changed for an online format. The quality of the video is very good as the images and sounds are clear. The lectures are provided in video format which can be paused and played at will. The lectures are broken down into smaller segments for easier control. The lectures are all teacher centered with no students involvement. Distance education is more students centered and often utilizes ways to interact with students (Simonson, 2012).
Is there a means of drawing attention to individual concerns?
Since the course does not award credit, there is no way of communicating with the instructors to clarify on topics or concepts with in the course. There is no way of interacting with other learners or learning from them. In distance education “three forms of interactions are widely recognized by the field; student – content, student instructor, and student- student” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.176).
Is there way of testing learner progress and getting feedback from instructors?
The course provides assignments but does not have any way of submitting it or receiving feedback; “Types of feedback also provide students with the knowledge they need to improve their performance” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.202). The student has no idea whether they have achieved any of the objectives or mastered the concepts. There are no “learning guides” to help students through the assignment process nor any examples provided for clarity or benchmarking purposes (Simonson et al, 2012, p.202).
Are the materials useful, active and interesting?
Although the lecture is available in video format, transcript and audio format, which can suggest that it may cater to the different learning styles, it may not engage students. Millennials are used to personalizing everything, including education (Dede, 2005). This provides no opportunity to do that. It is assumed that ‘one size fits all”. Additionally Millennials enjoy learning through multimedia and “collectively seeking information” instead of “individually locating and absorbing information from a single best source” (Dede, 2005, p.10). This type of watching a lecture, taking notes and completing an assignment may not be appealing to many distance learners as it mirrors traditional education.
It should be noted that many of MITs and Yales “educational material is courseware for existing classroom courses and not for a specially developed e-learning environment” (Baldi, Herizer, Stanzick, 2002 p.1377). These are materials that are used in current classes and merely provide a window into the type of learning that occurs within that particular institution. While the information is very useful, it can still be considered informal learning or learning for pleasure. Students cannot take the knowledge from these courses and apply them to real life situations. For example, a student who accesses the under graduate and graduate courses from any institution that offers OCWs, cannot claim to be an architect as they have not had their progress monitored nor have they been assesses to see if they have mastered the concepts of the course. On the hand OCWs provide the opportunity for people, who otherwise may not have access to education, to learn. The concept of OCWs fosters the idea that learning is a lifelong process.
References
Morrison et al (2011). Designing effective instruction (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
OCW Consortium - What is OpenCourseWare?. (n.d.). OCW Consortium. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.ocwconsortium.org/aboutus/whatisocw
Open Yale Courses | Introduction to Theory of Literature. (n.d.). Open Yale Courses. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson
The Open Source Definition | Open Source Initiative. (n.d.). Mission | Open Source Initiative. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd
Yale University Admissions Statistics and Chances | Parchment - College admissions predictions.. (n.d.). Parchment - Transcript Ordering and College Admissions Chances | Parchment Inc.. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.parchment.com/c/college/college-1737-Yale-University.html
MIT (n.d) OpenCourseWare | LicenseThailand Cyber University. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://lms.thaicyberu.go.th/officialtcu/main/ocwweb/Global/license.htm
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