EC&I 831: Social Media & Open Education

         I sat through the October 18th chat on Social Media, Networked Learning and Identity.  Here are a few things that I got out of the presentation:
 1.  To have any positive affect, educators need to find ways to build serious academic live online, present semi-public selves, and be connected and invested in the works of their students and peers. They need to be present in more than one world and build social capital.
2.  Open source movement- sharing knowledge to solve problems and to have various perspectives.
3.   CMS (course management system) vs. PLN (personal learning network)
4.  Before: Knowledge protected, After: Knowledge liberated.  With internet resources, knowledge is now not exclusive.  It is open.  We can all learn from one another.  This is the idea of open education or open education.

"Open Education is the simple and powerful idea that the world's knowledge 

is a public good and that technology in general and the Worldwide Web 

in particular provide and extraordinary opportunity for everyone 

to share, use, and reuse knowledge."

~William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

         He makes a point to emphasize how great open teaching is.  He shares that this online classroom is open to the public.  Therefore the room is filled with people who are taking the course for credit and those who choose to be there.  I do like this idea of open education, especially since I feel that all schools should welcome the concept of open classrooms.  Teachers should be open to have other teachers see them teach and feel free to observe others.  This with the intention to improve as teachers, not to be judged by others.  However,  I am not sure as to how I feel about the open teaching in this type of environment.  I am conflicted because I do not feel that it is fair for those who are taking the course for credit and who are paying to be there.  I could have mistaken what he was saying, but I just do not know how much I would like it if I was a paying student in the course and needed to amuse the present public.  I do however like the idea of being able to have a greater wealth of knowledge and learning from one another. Ultimately, it is true that knowledge should be accessible for all.