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E-learning or distance education allows individuals that are challenged geographically, financially or otherwise to become students at a grade school, undergraduate, graduate or professional development level. The benefits of distance education programs are countless. It unifies rural residents with big city campuses and facilitates the learning and growth of a wider range of people. Distance education as an arm of the traditional public university is not a new concept. However, the programs have been dramatically updated from VHS tapes and correspondence packages into virtual work groups, online examinations and chat forums. Private institutions have also used online learning as the main system of program delivery and many offer fully online programs. The internet acts as a conduit to transfer the courses from professor to student after tuition is paid of course. Although the cost of attending satellite is considerably cheaper than attending in person i.e. no accommodation fees or transportation fees there is still a cost. What if there was no cost?
An emerging trend is to offer free content or open courseware. These open courses offer those that would like to learn a subject area as a hobby, interest or to supplement or improve their professional duties and responsibilities an opportunity to learn. Apple and YouTube have brought this trend to the forefront with their products; iTunes University and YouTube EDU.
iTunes University was initially a collaborative pilot project with six U.S. based institutions. In May of 2007, Apple made iTunes available within the iTunes Store. This opened the public content to millions of users that could freely download lectures, course notes, assignments etc. The store also allowed password protected sections for student of a particular course allowing them to download course updates and much of the same type of material. It was a great success and now boasts content from more than 250 schools from K-12 material to Ivy League.
With the help of YouTube EDU prospective learners can browse the extensive library of videos from subjects ranging from Macroeconomics to Shakespearian Literature. The concept behind it was to aggregate the educational videos submitted by colleges and universities into one location for the benefit of viewers. It has since ballooned into an extremely popular destination and features videos from top universities including lectures, presentations and sporting events footage.
Open content course initiatives have also been pioneered by individual schools. The Stanford Open Source Lab and MIT’s Open Course Ware programs offer current and past courses online for free.
There are many unanswered questions in the open source model. The most prominent being that there is not yet a method to quantify a persons achievements in the completion all of the assigned readings, assignments and examinations taken through a free course.
The objective of free content is multidimensional. First, it is to deliver content in alternative ways with the hope of each student finding a mode of delivery that suits them. Traditional delivery is done face to face. Second, it is to establish a new feedback loop. The feedback loop of a traditional program is between registered student and employed faculty/administration. The new feedback loop includes feedback from students, informal learners, tutors, experts, organizations etc. By receiving feedback from multiple sources a community of interested parties emerges. Finally, it is the continuous evaluation and improvement of the course/program. With community feedback and technology, courses can be updated daily to reflect new material and events giving student and administrators a current prospective on the material and what works and doesn’t work in its delivery.
Tags: Distance Courses, Distance Education, iTunes University, Ivey League Schools, Lansbridge University, Online Education, Open Source, Positive Feedback Loop, YouTube EDU
James Raymond…
I agree with your point of view, but what will it take to make it happen?…
Open source models are emerging more and more. The cost effectiveness is the issue I believe you are referring to. For those posting free courseware to major traffic destinations such as iTunes University or YouTube EDU the objective is to generate interest in their material and create brand awareness. The objective is also to create a feedback loop where those that are not registered (Paid tuition) are reviewing the course material and making recommendations on how it can be improved. The revenue then becomes less of an issue because the course infrastructure is already developed it is only a matter of posting them online.
Open source code has become a truly wonderful thing. It’s allowed students and individuals the opportunity to acquire software that they may not have necessarily had the funds to purchase from a top brand.
I just wanted to say nice blog!
Good advice. We often advise our students to take a step back and understand what they are getting into. This article reinforces that concept with some practical advice.
I think it will take a commitment to the open source movement and an acceptance by students, faculty, staff and administrators that this model can add true value to the university and the community.
good advice, congratulations.
This is very interesting stuff. I’d like to read more about it as I am quite interested in the future of higher education.
We are glad the topic interests you. There are some great resources offered in this post and numerous others readily available.
thanks for sharing brother.
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because the sites are open source they can be adapted to the feedback they get over time. Just like anything else, people will always find a way to make something as efficient and beneficial as it can be.
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Ar Rony
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