Impact of Open Source

Open courseware websites provide great opportunities for anyone who desires to gain skills and knowledge in a variety of subject areas anywhere at any time. As stated by Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, (2012), open source courseware is to be freely shared and can be improved upon and redistributed to others. According to Jamie Littlefield, of About.com (2012), open courseware is class material such as syllabi, reading lists, lecture notes, and other documents that were once used in an actual classroom and are now available to the public for free. As a service to the public, universities put their course materials on the internet.

Websites for open courseware began in 1999, when the University of Tübingen in Germany published videos of lectures online.  The open courseware movement really took off with the launch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open Courseware in October 2002. MIT's reasoning behind open courseware was to "enhance human learning worldwide by the availability of a web of knowledge."  MIT also believes that it would allow students to become better prepared for classes so that they may be more engaged during the class. (Wikipedia, 2012)                                                                 

In reviewing the MIT courseware website, the homepage is very organized with sections on “getting started” for new learners, highlight information for school students, various announcements, as well as a donation box where donations can be made to the organization.  Within the MIT courseware website, the distribution of course materials is easily arranged making the over 30 course department very accessible. One course I reviewed beneath the Writing and Humanistic Studies department was the Writing on Contemporary Issues Imaging the Future course. This course focus on having the learners read and write about how some writers and filmmakers have responded to the present as a way of imagining—and warning about—possible worlds to come. The course description has a very inviting introduction capable of sparking a learner’s interest.  The content information is easily displayed along the side of the course page as well as the posting of the course syllabus, calendar, lecture notes, assignments, and project information. Recommended readings that can be purchased online through Amazon are also are listed in the course area. These recommended readings are not necessary for the understanding of the information, but to further your knowledge. (Faery, 2007)

There was careful pre-planning and design considerations given to the courseware, in the fact that there is “exemplary student work” section under the assignments that offers examples of prior students’ work. To implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students, the courseware has projects such as writing workshops and activities listed within each course where discussion forums are established.  Because the courses are not for credit, there is no method of uploading an assignment or for grading, although test and answer sheets are available for learner inactivity. The course was created to include both online and in-class activities, but the material could easily be planned into an online course. (Faery, 2007)

Overall the Writing on Contemporary Issues Imaging the Future course within the MIT is a well thought-out open course that offers a great opportunity for self-educators, educators, and anyone else who is interested in expanding their understanding of contemporary writing. The increase in the development of courses such as this one within CMS’s is encouraging improvement their quality, which in turn increases their evolution.  

References:

Faery, Rebecca Blevins.  (2007), Creative Commons BY-NC-SA, 21W.730-5 Writing on Contemporary Issues: Imagining the Future, Fall 2007. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare),  Retrieved on March 6, 2012, from http://ocw.mit.edu

Littlefield, J., (2012), About.com, What is open courseware? Retrieved on March 31, 2012, from http://distancelearn.about.com/od/isitforyou/a/opencourseware.htm

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning         at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Wikipedia, (2012), Open courseware, Retrieved on March 31, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCourseWare