Open Education

                                                                 Open Education

An open and networked learning environment is defined by its relation to the culture, and the physical settings. An open minded learner doesn't restrict himself to a closed physical space such as the classroom (the traditional way of learning). One can access online information from everywhere. An open learner is a constructivist  who tailor his learning according to his needs using several electronic resources online from various participatory cultures. The culture of a networked learning environment is determined by the social and emotional aspects that influence the open learning environment. the interaction between the digital learner with people who share the material in the networked learning environment. Another aspect of the culture of the learning environment is that digital learners acquire information and share knowledge to strengthen the learning community. However, lurkers and consumer culture do not contribute to the openness of the learning environment.

 Nowadays, traditonal classrooms are student centered. There as usually computer stations in each classroom. Teachers ask their students to do their research information or participate in projects on line. They might work on problem based learning with other students in other schools. Therefore students share their ideas with their colleagues in a transparent learning environment. 

On the other hand,Open access in schools remains restricted according to the classroom and the school guidelines. Through website filtering, certain schools do not allow students to use neither face book nor You tube. Schools guidelines prohibits the use of certain technology tools in the classroom such as cell phones. Donna Teuber explained in her article Open Access for Personalizing-learning, that giving too much freedom to use internet might cause some difficulties, however, it is advantageous to students' learning to have open access rather than not be allowed to be connected at all.

 Speaking of the accessibility of the internet in the class room, one should wonder forecast the role of technology in an open classroom. Since schools establish rules that restrict the use of internet to avoid any future problems in the schools culture, it is foreseeable that learning should migrate from open access learning in a closed physical space (traditional classrooms) to all open learning environment without restrictions on the location. One can acquire knowledge in any place as long as he has open access to internet. However, the article The Future of Education by Tomas Frey, advice his readers to look at the past and see how our ancients created systems in the past that prevented them  from  forward. Frey said : " While it’s easy for us today to look at Roman numerals and say that it was a pretty stupid numbering system, it was just one of many inferior numbering systems in ancient times. But the feature that made Roman numerals so bad was the fact that each number lacked specific numeric positioning and was in fact an equation, and this extra layer of complexity prevented people from doing higher math - ".  Frey stated that prediction culture about education sees teaching and learning will not be restricted on a one to one basis. One of the aspects of the future education is the transformation from teaching to learning. The focus will be on learning the material online anywhere and anytime. This analogy coincide with Wenger's concept of community practices or Cop's where in a community there should be no expert, all are equal. 

                

              As a generation Xer, I find my self obliged to adapt to the technology changes that happened since I had my first personal computer an intel 286 that runs in Dos 5 1/4 floppies, Similarly, nowadays, I either buy or rent E-books. It is a relief, I dont have to carry few books with me where ever I go. All my E-books are in one or two electronic devices. I see the migration from paperbook to digital book is taking its way at a rapid pace. Digital stores such as Amazon are thriving while the remaining physical book stores have to be creative to survive in this economy. With respect of textbooks, as it is seen in the chart below that college textbooks prices are increasing, their demand will decline as education migrate to open access learning education . In an article published in the Atlantis : The Death of Textbooks? , the author Bill Buxton explains how technology is reshaping the publishing of textbook material. He stated the disadvantages of published textbooks. Teachers use digital software that are adaptive to student learning such as the Collections software in English subject and Alek software in math subject. The author is not yet convinced that technology will take over text books because he doesn't find hard evidence for doing so while my prespective is that teachers don't rely too much on the published textbook. Technology is in the process of transforming the way students use published textbooks.

 

 

Sharing Information

                                               

                                   The Dynamic of Sharing Information in Education

Is there a structure for sharing information among educators and leaders? Teachers use online information to clarify concepts to their students. They share their teaching practices online to better their pedagogy of teaching. Educators provide their communities with necessary information about their students’ learning. One could say that the dynamic of how teachers and leaders share their work depends on the criteria on hand.

In the framework of teacher and student sharing information, and as a prospective math teacher, I wonder how a math teacher shares with his students the learning knowledge that pertain to the standards required in the  curriculum using the a suitable  technology tools and software applications that serve the needs of each student. In a self regulated classroom, math teacher should understand the needs of his students and tap to their way of thinking as well as knowing their interest before sharing information with his learners. In a differentiated instruction classroom, the teacher should provides various examples of learning that match their field of interest to make sense of what they are learning. 

      In his video "Sharing The Moral imperative". Mr. Dean Shareski raised an important question about making sharing information meaningful and valuable to his students and how shared information help his students. His idea of sharing is divergent with respect to my first framework student and teacher sharing information. Students express communicate their interests in the classroom, then it is shared online to benefit others. On the other hand, he mentioned that teachers spend great effort vetting information to share that knowledge in their differentiated classroom. This type of shared information is convergent from an open space to a finite space which is the classroom.  According to Tina Barseghian “ Three trends that define the future of teaching and learning " which are collaboration, tech-powered, blended. The author view sharing information as a collaboration where students help each other to balance their skills. Barseghian added that students not only use the technology but create technology as well such as video games and Digital youth Network to reach other. They become tech-powered.Finally, she states that technology is blended with the traditional teaching which give a new of sharing information with students. I agree with the author, as we introduce more technology to the classroom, the communication becomes much easier between the teacher and his students who become more immersed in the subject area especially the STEM subject. The authors of the scholarly article in the journal of sci education technology titled Affordances and Limitations of Immersive Participatory Augmented Reality Simulations for Teaching and Learning showed the role of augmented reality technology as medium of teaching. It is a new technology that put students as active members of a team  working on their project. The flow chart below shows the relationship between technology, teacher and his students. It also shows how knowledge is shared among the mentioned parties involved in education  

My second framework of sharing information is between teachers and communities. Even though sharing in this type of framework is both online and face to face. I see that a person to person sharing information is beneficial to both parties. In fact, the schools are part of our communities. Lately, Akron Public schools named elementary schools as community learning centers. Therefore, teachers play an important role in their community. Teachers open communication channels with their students’ guardians, community leaders such as politicians. Teachers organize activities in their communities. STEM students display their Problem Based Learning projects in science museum, the malls or other community functions. On the other hand, Teachers usually send e-mails to the parents of their students to inform them about their kids’ progress or to let the parents know of any misbehavior that could arise on the part of their kids.

On the other hand,Wenger states in his article:“Evolution of Wenger's Concept of Community Practice ” that communities of practice (CoPs) are other environment of learning where workers are all equal sharing information among each other to better their work. Wegner demands that teachers in their communities should step out of the expert role and be equal to learners in the community. Wegner believes that collaboration at same plane level field will enhance learning and who have less experience will not be intimidated by the expert. Therefore, everybody benefit from learning. 

As a teacher, I will cultivate the community engagement by developing a high level of trust with community participants. I prefer meeting face to face with community leaders in the monthly town hall meetings to discuss any concerns to better our community. I will encourage collaboration among members of the community to enhance a better living environment for our kids. The parents, community leaders and teachers should all be aware of their role in the upbringing of the future generation.

A teacher is not restricted to communicate with parents and community leaders in person, he can widen his horizon of sharing information through the web. His response to articles on line that tackles community issues could be either formal or informal. It depends on the media used to publish the article. For example, if responding to an article published in a digital new-paper or a scholarly article, I would write a formal prose. However, responding to comments on face book or chatting online doesn’t have to be necessary formal. It will depends on the person sharing information or the audience in hand. According to Ann Wayman, in his blog titled "Should Web Writing Be Formal or Informal?". He showed his skepticism about what to be considered formal. He believes that the writing that used to be considered formal, is now informal. I agree with Ann Wayman. I agree with the blogger because our contemporary literature includes books that use the slang or the dialect to tell a story. 

“Transparency has a unique potential to empower and inspire a team that it has largely transformed how we run Buffer.” – Joel Gascoign

Aside from making a choice writing in public formally or informally, one has to show openness in sharing information that could benefit others learning. Restricting information doesn’t help the empowerment of the community. A transparent culture can build trust between teachers, students, parents and community members. Laws that restrict information from the public need to be abolished. As a society, the transparency toward multiculturalism need to be clear to our citizens. Our representatives need to clarify how important to accept one another in spite of cultural differences. Every citizen needs to speak his mind. We need to share honest information to involve and inform others. 

A brief Introduction of your classmate

     My name is Adil Orfi. I am pursuing a lifelong professional learning career in Education. My educational background is diverse. After my high school graduation, I focused on Electrical Engineering field with concentration on control system. I got my BSEE from Cleveland State University. I worked with various companies simulating, testing and designing electrical systems. My interest of learning other languages led me to pursue classes in modern languages in Akron University ( French and Spanish).

      My interest are sciences, education and learning about various cultures through their languages. I like to be active as well. It started with playing soccer in the streets of my neighborhood during my childhood in Casablanca, Morocco, During my youth, I managed to run four marathons in Cleveland and Columbus. I like the challenge of running a distance. It taught me perseverance, patience and determination. As I progress in age, I limit my self to hiking and biking. However, I am looking forward to run my fifth marathon in the near future.

     My prefered social medial tools that I currently use are Facebook, Twitter and You tube. When I travel overseas, I tend to use Whatsapp to stay in touch with the family members and friends. Due to a limited memory in my Android, I keep the social media application downloaded to my phone to the minimum.The authors of the scholarly article Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning.mention Their perspective of social media in higher education is the use of a bundle of technology tools that become an integral part of the learner's education and open the channel of communication between learners and teachers as wells as students and experts in the field. The social media in educational field could be Twitter, Wiki, Flicker, Youtube...etc

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751611000467.  

On the other hand the author of the video Web 2.0 revolution TED talk, Clay Shirky stated that journalim is transitioned from an institution to cooperative framework. Society is informed through social media rather than the printing press traditional way of receiving information. 

I agree with both authors that there's a shift of equilibrium from self centered source to a global source. It changes the dynamic of the society. In addition social media, is an integral part of personal learning through sharing information.

      I use social media to get the daily news as well as supplemental information to clarify concepts that are not clear to me in my academics. I get technical news feed in electrical engineering through the Institute of Electrical Engineering in my Facebook timeline.www.ieee.org . I participate in few meetup social groups such as Spanish and French  meetups. I often use either messenger or Skype to communicate with family members overseas. I  sometimes share my interests on my Facebook page.   I usually read the opinion and reflections of others. I seldom comment or write on issues that circulate on the net. Hopefully, this first blog will encourage me to do so.

      My initial thoughts on the use of social media technology in the classroom, is positive. It is a medium that revive learning. Social media present learning in various ways. Social media allow the learner to be active rather that just listening to the teacher. In addition social media uses several type of learning styles such as auditory and visual learning.