Keynote presentation for #OCUFA, January 20, 2012.

1. (Higher) Education Beyond the University:
The Promise of Open/Connected Learning
OCUFA 2012
January 20, 2012
Dr. Alec Couros

2. me

3. #ocufa

5. The Blur

6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3974469907/

11. eci831.ca

12. “Web 2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to reflect
and reimagine what they do as scholars. Such tools might
positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching,
and service responsibilities - only if scholars choose to
build serious academic lives online, presenting semi-
public selves and becoming invested in and connected
to the work of their peers and students.” (Greenhow,
Robelia, & Hughes, 2009)

14. Open Doctrine

15. journey
(quick version)

16. Knowledge

17. knowledge
• what is k?
• how is k acquired?
• how do we know what
we know?
• why do we know what
we know?
• what do humans know?
• who controls k?
• how is k controlled?

18. human thought/ideas
human language
source code
high-level language
(e.g. C++, Java, PERL)
low-level language
(assembly language)
code irretrievable
machine code
(binary)

19. @jonmott

20. From
NAGPS
(2011)
via
h4p://bit.ly/oIwVut

21. From
NAGPS
(2011)
via
h4p://bit.ly/oIwVut

22. From
NAGPS
(2011)
via
h4p://bit.ly/oIwVut

23. “The shift from Access Copyright marks the
culmination of years of technology change
within Canadian education that has resulted in
new ways for professors to disseminate
research and educational materials as well as
greater reliance by students on the Internet,
electronic materials, and portable computers.”

25. Collaboration

26. “A key to transformation is for the
teaching profession to establish
innovation networks that capture
the spirit and culture of hackers -
the passion, the can-do, collective
sharing.”
~ Hargreaves, 2003

29. STOP: Twitter Demo

30. Openness

31. “Open Education is the simple and powerful
idea that the world’s knowledge is a public
good and that technology in general and
the Worldwide Web in particular provide an
extraordinary opportunity for everyone to
share, use, and reuse knowledge.”
(William & Flora Hewlett Foundation)

32. open(ness)
(short version)
open education
free software
open source software
open educational resources
open content
open access publication
open access courses
open teaching
open scholarship
open accreditation

33. Free/Open Content
“describes any kind of creative work in a
format that explicitly allows copying and
modifying of its information by anyone, not
exclusively by a closed organization, firm, or
individual.” (Wikipedia)

35. 35

36. 36

40. core changes

41. David Wiley
Then vs Now
Analog Digital
Tethered Mobile
Isolated Connected
Generic Personal
Consumption Creating
@opencontent
Closed Open

42. David Wiley
Education vs Everyday
Analog Digital
Tethered Mobile
Isolated Connected
Generic Personal
Consumption Creating
@opencontent
Closed Open

43. Why Do Students Go to University?
Content Degrees
Social Life Support Services
(Wiley, 2010)

44. Why Do Students Go to University?
PLoS
GCT
Wikipedia MCSE
Google Scholar ACT
OCW
Content Degrees
Flatworld K arXiv.org CNE
CCNA
Open Courses
Facebook Twitter
Skype
Social Life Support Services
MySpace Yahoo! Answers
MMOGs
Quora
ChaCha
(Wiley, 2010)

45. Informal Learning
• “Informal learning is a
significant aspect of our
learning experience.
Formal education no
longer comprises the
majority of our learning.”
•
George Siemens
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

46. social media

47. Personal Computer to Mobile
Early Day of PC in Schools Today’s Social/Mobile Reality

49. media stats (2010)
• 107 trillion emails (89% spam), from 1.04 billion users.
• 255 million websites
• 1.97 billion Internet users
• 152 millions blogs
• 600 million Facebook users (sharing 30 billion pieces of
content per month)
• 2 billion videos watched on Youtube daily
• 5 billion photos hosted on Flickr
Stats as of January 2011 via Royal Pingdom

56. affordances

57. Blogs & Wikis

58. Simple Blogging

59. Microblogging

60. Social Bookmarking

61. Info/File Management

62. Social Networking

63. Social Curation

64. Network Literacies
• “Understanding how
networks work is one of
the most important
literacies of the 21st
century.” (2010)
Howard Rheingold

65. Politics
Howard Rheingold
http://www.anduro.com/calgary-mayor-race.html

66. Services

67. Reputation

68. Leveraging
Networks

71. “To answer your question, I did use
Youtube to learn how to dance. I
consider it my ‘main’ teacher.”
“10 years ago, street dance was very
exclusive, especially rare dances like popping
(the one I teach and do). You either had to
learn it from a friend that knew it or get VHS
tapes which were hard to get. Now with
Youtube, anyone, anywhere in the world can
learn previously ‘exclusive’ dance styles.”

80. social networks
• redefine communities,
friends, citizenship,
identity, presence, privacy,
publics, geography.
• enable learning,
communication, sharing,
collaboration, community.
• networks form around
shared interests &
objects.

81. open courses

87. #eci831

88. open teaching

89. network mentors

90. non-credit students

91. course trailers

92. student-controlled spaces

93. aggregation

94. microblogging

95. shared resources

96. daily social digest

97. What We Learned
• Open access, low-cost, high impact.
• Courses become shared, global, learning events.
• Students immersed in a greater learning community.
• Rethinking of space/interaction (walled gardens, open spaces)
• Learning spaces controlled and/or owned by students.
• Digital artefacts may allow for deep, critical reflection.
• Development of emerging literacies, relevant for other courses.
• Pedagogy focused more on connecting & interactions; content
important, but secondary.
• Development of sustainable, long-term, learning connections.

98. “I was able to go out and learn
throughout the entire week,
the entire year, and I’m still
learning with everyone.”
“The best part of the course is
that it’s not ending. With the
connections we’ve built, it
never has to end.”

99. “The course ... has been the most profound pd
experience I’ve ever had. It forced me to critique & review
my practice. I never knew how important social networks
were. Now, I couldn’t be a teacher without being
connected. It’s drastically changed my view of education.”

100. big ideas to consider

101. Sharing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

102. On Sharing ...
“it’s about overcoming
the inner 2 year old in
you that screams
mine, mine, it’s mine.”
(Wiley, TEDxNYED, 2010)

104. Openness
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/4396467701/sizes/l/in/photostream/

106. Private Public
Closed Open

108. Relationships

109. @shareski

111. conclusion

112. 21st Century Learning
• “What happens to
traditional concepts of
classrooms and teaching
when we can now learn
anything, anywhere,
anytime?”
Will Richardson

114. Don’t limit a child to your
own learning, for he was born
in another time. ~Tagore
http://couros.ca
couros@gmail.com
@courosa