Mark Twain remarked that he could never “make a good impromptu speech without several hours to prepare it.” A tweet, restricted to 140 characters, is a reflection of the impromptu conscience of digital society today. This collection of micro contributions from educators, administrators, and learners reflecting on the burgeoning phenomenon of open education resources and open textbooks is reason to celebrate: we are returning to the core vocation of education, which is to share knowledge freely. Clearly these contributors have thought deeply about the value of “sharing to learn,” but more importantly “learning to share.” This book is insightfully clever because it conveys a powerful message that will be a catalyst to nurture and evolve into a growing community of educators worldwide that is committed to the evolution and collaborative planning of education projects rooted in the foundations of open content. It is clear that OER futures are inevitable. After reading this text, I wonder when we look back at the history of these sustainable education futures, will we wonder why it took so long? - Wayne Mackintosh
Free Learning
Doug Peterson discusses my ‘Free Learning‘ badge, which was created in response to one of his comments. “But, what does this mean? What am I supporting? … All day yesterday, I kept thinking about this new badge as I was having my discussions with friends, old and new. It could be interpreted in so many ways. My focus is on the word ‘free’. Has Stephen used it as a verb? Or, does it connect with ‘learning’ to be a noun. It seems to me that it takes on a different connotation depending upon how you use it.” To me, it’s fine no matter how you use it. I like the many meanings of the word free. I think they’re intermingled and related. And the meaning depends on your perspective. I have no problem with that (Badges ~ Stephen’s Web).
Calling all English language stakeholders!!
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as
long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.” –
George Bernard Shaw
This quote by George Bernard Shaw, I think, sums up how most of those who participate in WE and their commitment to OERs. In an attempt to do something for the community, I’ve
created the beginnings of an open course in English language learning
with the intent of bringing together English-language speakers (of all levels and
ages) in a way that fosters interaction. Although it may appear a bit
structured, the idea (as I have it at the moment) is to bring those
along the “long tail” into the heart of a discussion that brings about various cross-
cultural perspectives. In other words, I´m interested in not only
bringing together English language educators and ELLs, but any English
speaker that has an interest in interacting with big ideas, understandings, etc. as well as guiding ELLs
through the language learning process.
Recognizing that I will never develop such a project as well alone as
I could with others, I invite you to the wiki in order to have an
idea as to what I´m proposing. If it is of any interest to you
(regardless of your education, experience, or English level), please
feel free to leave comments in the “discussion” tab or contact me
directly (I prefer the “discussion” tab over putting comments directly in the
page itself, please). If anyone would like to discuss this in real-
time, we can certainly do that as well. I´m actually more interested
in receiving comments that explain why a project of this type would
not work, or how in its current form the course would fall short in
achieving its objective (i.e., constructive criticism).
Thanking you for taking the time to read this post, I am.
