Introduction
“The term open source describes practices in production and development that promotes access to the end product's source materials” Wikipedia (n.d., para. 1). Open source can refer to free open software or it can refer to free open courseware. Open source is not unlicensed, is free for users to use as they see fit and must comply with the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2009, p. 256). More information on OSI. For purposes of this discussion, I will be looking at an open course provided by MIT that I accessed through Open Culture at http://openculture.com/. The title of the course is 6.912 Introduction to Copyright Law and is a video recording of the synchronous class and can be accessed through the following link: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-912-introduction-to-copyright-law-january-iap-2006/index.htm#features.
Planning and Designing of the Course for Distance Learning
This is a video recording of a 4-week course offered at MIT. When planning for distance learning, it is important to anticipate the needs of your learners and provide them with some sort of orientation to the course site, technology requirements, etc. This course did not provide any orientation so you would need to be familiar with the distance learning environment. However, it is a well-designed and easy to navigate site for the experienced distant learner. When planning and designing a course, whether it is online or face-to-face, it is important to have well-defined goals and objectives. I did not see any goals or objectives established for this course.
Does the Course Follow Recommendations for Online Instruction?
This course included important course information such as course features, course highlights, course description, syllabus, links to course readings, assignments to complete, and the video lectures. However, this course does not allow the learner to actively participate in any type of discussion, either synchronous or asynchronous. There was not the option to submit and receive feedback on the two assignments. One of the fundamentals of teaching online discussed by Simonson, et al is to avoid “dumping” a face-to-face course onto the web; however, that is what this course appears to be. There is no grading of assignments, keeping students informed, due dates, or identification of the intended audience. Simonson et al. (2009)
Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?
I did not review any of the lectures in their entirety so I cannot say if there was any interactivity embedded in the videos. There were two course assignments; however, there was no dropbox to submit these courses for grading or feedback. Other than that, I did not see any type of learner activities.
Conclusion
Open course is a viable solution for universities and businesses to access pre-developed courses. However, this course is basically a "dumping" of an instructor-led course with little or no modifications for the distant learning environment. If this were to be used in a formal setting, the organization would need to tailor the course to include such things as an orientation to the site, discussion forums, and feedback on assignments. If you are skilled distance learner looking to advance your knowledge in copyright laws, this is a course that appears user friendly and informative. I plan to review this course in its entirety and hopefully recommend it as a requirement for all SME’s within my organization.
References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Wikipedia (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
http://opensource.linus-mirror.org/.
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