Education at the fork in the road

Following on my off-the-cuff post from last night I wanted to expand a bit on the nature of the discussion on open learning, and whether educational organisations and conferences, such as EDUCAUSE, have a duty or even moral obligation to make information and opportunities for learning as widely available and as easily accessible as possible.

In re-reading my post from last night, I can’t help but realise how dismissive I was of Joshua Kim’s sentiments. So this morning I’m realising how important it is that I change my stance on the matter, and wholeheartedly back him up.

Challenging the Status Quo

Certainly one of the prevailing views in education is one in which intellectual property carries critical importance, preservation of reputation and personal prestige are a currency to be guarded and sculpted under lock and key – as if knowledge and information were commodities that can be branded with a personal insignia – and that these things are often assigned far greater significance than the lessons and educational opportunities they might facilitate; and along with this, the view that access to information and knowledge can and should be controlled based on permissions assigned by an expert, with pre-requisites and an underlying “need to know” basis meaning that the few can dictate what the many can see, how they’re allowed to interpret it, discuss it, remix it, or adapt it – and indeed even when they’re allowed to declare “I understand this.”

Sure this might be the norm in higher education, and indeed most facets of formal schooling in general – but it doesn’t make it right. Just because the norm is to lock up content – thus inhibiting and constraining the learning process – doesn’t mean this reality should be blindly accepted, with unquestioning obedience.

So I want to change my tune about Joshua’s post. Educause should absolutely model Open Learning. In fact all conferences, and indeed institutions should follow suit as well.

Splinter and Crack

I firmly believe we are reaching a stage in education where the system and practice of formal education will either adapt and move forward as a whole, cohesive entity, or we will start to see it splinter and crack into different pieces.

In an informal, grass roots sense, this is arguably already the case. Networks and communities of practice have been seizing hold of the opportunities inherent in social technologies for years to come together with an ease and synchronicity never before seen.

So now, instead of isolated pockets of innovation rising briefly from the ether, only to eventually fade back into the mists of tradition in the absence of local interest and support – these pockets of innovation are starting to connect to one another, creating a web of progressive educators, whose efforts are openly visible and transparent for all who would care to access and engage with them.

Educators are reaching the stage – indeed we have reached the stage – where we no longer need institutions to function. We are able to go it alone if necessary; with or without our colleagues, with or without the backing of our educational systems. Not only is this an extraordinarily freeing position to be in, it’s one that is propelling action and engagement at an increasingly rapid rate and broad scale.

So for virtually every conference like Educause, traditional course or institution, there is an equivalent open version that is available to anyone. Sure, this model does not appeal to everyone, and in some cases not without its drawbacks – and many will prefer to remain with more traditional models – but for others this brave new world offers extraordinary potential and opportunity, in ways that the former model cannot possibly match.

Higher Education is in no danger of dying, or being eclipsed – but surely of losing elements of its relevance and monopoly. It’s starting to have competition, from the same subject matter experts and students who walk the corridors during the day, many of whom are beginning to turn their backs and explore other ways of doing things.

So organisations like EDUCAUSE need to decide whether education can and should move forward in a relatively unified fashion, in recognition of the changing atmosphere of learning and global inclusivity, or if its time to split at the fork in the road.