NB: This post was originally intended just for Posterous and initially came through as more of an off-hand comment than a more considered post. I didn’t realise that the bookmarklet would autopost it to other sources as well, so I’m editing this to add an additional bit of background on the article.
In a post on Inside Higher Ed this week (“EDUCAUSE Should Model Open Learning“) Joshua Kim writes of his concerns regarding the decision by presenter Jim Collins at the recent Educause conference not to allow the recording or release of his talk.
“EDUCAUSE should be taking the lead in providing access to the conference materials to as many learners and educators as possible. The model of open learning and sharing is one that many members of EDUCAUSE are advocating for on our campuses. We look to EDUCAUSE as both a resource and an example of best practices.”
While I wholeheartedly agree with the notion of forward looking organisations and conferences modelling the types of transparency, openness and sharing that we want to see in education, I don’t necessarily see Jim Collins decision as “a trend” in the sense that it’s a new habit.
Rather Joshua’s observations merely highlight the unfortunate fact that the traditionalist walled garden model is still alive and well in education today. In that sense I don’t see Jim Collin’s decision so much as “a troubling development” than just another example of the existing paradigm of content and information hoarding.
