Anya Kamenetz is announcing that her new book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education is now available on preorder. From the book description:

The future lies in personal learning networks and paths, learning that blends experiential and digital approaches, and free and open-source educational models. Increasingly, you will decide what, when, where, and with whom you want to learn, and you will learn by doing. The university is the cathedral of modernity and rationality, and with our whole civilization in crisis, we are poised on the brink of Reformation.

Also covered by Stephen Downes.

Patrick McAndrew, Eileen Scanlon, and Doug Clow have published an article through EDUCAUSE on openness in education. From the article:

Openness of education implies new approaches to how we research as well as how we educate.

Paula S. McMillen and Cory Tucker have published an article on advocating open access in the Journal for International Counselor Education. From the article:

It is the individual and collective responsibility of scholars to define and shape the digital scholarship world (Magnan, 2007; Wallace, 2008). Individuals can “push the train” through choosing to publish in journals that support OA and by proactively managing their copyrights. Likewise journal editors and reviewers can advocate for economic models that are more likely to expand access and thereby promote research.

Thanks to Eli Edwards for the link.

The .Edu Toolbox has posted a collection of 50 OpenCourseWare video resources.

Donald Clark has a new post disparaging Moodle. From the post:

A lot of rot is spoken about Moodle supporting a ‘constructivist’ approach to learning. That was always a utopian dream. This Vygotsky-inspired babble is only really spouted by academics with too much time on their hands. It’s really just a standard collection of learning management tools with no real pedagogic innovation or intent.

Thanks to Stephen Downes for the link.

Rodd Lucier discusses his use of Creative Commons in his classroom in Canada.

Last week OEN reported on a post by Tony Karrer about open content in the workplace. We also reported on a response by Paul Anglieri. Holly Macdonald has also posted a response. From Macdonald’s response:

It’s hard to say that open/free is bad in most situations, but I’m going to distill this down to “how can OER deliver value”?

Ahrash Bissell has a new post questioning the value of advanced degrees. From the post:

…I suspect that this trend towards more relevant and practical education will be accelerated by open education, which will eventually come to encompass not just the resources (OER) but also the support structures, mentors, and pathways to competency and accreditation.

A common argument in the face of innovation or new systems – which I explored here just the other day in fact – is the lack of resourcing. Resourcing for support, for maintainance, for training and documentation. Basically the issue of how the system is to be effectively translated to a sustainable service.

This is a significant crux in the issue. When we view systems as "services" that others will support we heap an entirely new set of demands and requirements into the equation – far broader than the initial prospect of setting up or accessing the system in the first place, far broader than the aim we initially set out to achieve.

In my view there is a form of learned powerlessness or learned helplessness in the view of educational technology as a service, because we grow to assume and expect that others will be there to answer our technical questions, protect our data, and generally be there whenever we need them. We take on the role of the "customer" and IT as the role of the "vendor."

In this culture, the realities of resourcing are profound. Central units cannot know everything, support everything and maintain everything – so we are instead allocated a small set of options that they can support. If they do not meet our needs, that’s unfortunate – there just isn’t the budget for anything else.

The demand for autonomy, diversity and increased flexibility in online learning must therefore – by necessity and practicality – incorporate the notions of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency.

There’s more to it than that though. The perhaps most significant elements in the DIY Edtech, edupunk, and open education movements relate to how we work with others, eliminate barriers to connect, contribute to the broader good, and engage within a dynamic participatory landscape.

Essentially, it’s the view that technologies are media through which we engage, connect and participate with others in a deep, meaningful and dynamic sort of way. We need to recognise that viewing technology as merely a space or place we go to, or a "thing" we use to do something is too narrow and too superficial.

There is indeed a critical importance in fostering individuality and diversity, but it’s up to all of us to make this happen, and to sustain it in the long term.

Posted via email from Mike Bogle

I’ve posted a rough summary of my talk at TEDxNYED on my connectivism site: Collapsing to Connections