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

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

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

Facts & skills based Teacher controlled Work alone Avoid failure Discipline based Deeper understanding Student controlled pace Creative by creating Work in groups Synthesize and analyze Try, fail and try again Changing World Requires Old + New Basics

High quality educational content and tools Free on the Web anytime Usable and re-usable Adaptable for all cultures and languages A Powerful Tool for Systemic Reform and Transformation

Accelerating Global Movement Higher Education

90+ universities around the world published OCWs 4,000+ courses, 400+ translated into 10 languages

K12

Journals, Books, Videos, Data, Games…

Usage Expanding Number of Visits Per Month (000)

Open is Powerful for Learning Because… …Institutions can now reach people that they don’t 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

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.” Amartya Sen Views knowledge, education, and health as necessary to ensure freedom.

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

Some of The Obstacles Intellectual Property Localization and Translation Interoperability Accessibility Sustainability

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.

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

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 Open Collaboration Enables Governments to Build Leading Universities

Openness Leads to Fast Feedback Loops That Engage Rapid Cycles of Improvement of Teaching Materials Open Textbooks

Accelerated Learning Challenges Conventional Wisdom

Facts & skills based Teacher controlled Work alone Avoid failure Discipline based Deeper understanding Student controlled pace Creative by creating Work in groups Synthesize and analyze Try, fail and try again Beyond Systemic Reform – Transform Learning

Properties of 21 st 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 individual’s performance and personalizing experience

Problem-Based Learning Environments: Virtual and Open Poverty: Food Force Science Education: Immune Attack Politics: PeaceMaker Harvard Law Extension School’s Virtual Class in Second Life

Opening The World to Knowledge and Education This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.