What makes a MOOC open and not just online (MOC)? More than just the less-than-favorable pronunciation \ˈmäk, ˈmȯk\ , a MOC may also be the more accurate name for those classes where students sign up, take a class and get some sort of validation of completion. There is very little that is truly capital-O Open about MOOCs.
The strict definition of open content centers on the 5Rs. This framework evolved from the Open Content Project work of David A. Wiley (1998), which rolled into Creative Commons (2003). This work also produced the Definition of Free Cultural Works (2006) and Open Knowledge Foundation (2004).
The 5R Principles (Wiley, 2014)
- Retain
- Reuse
- Revise
- Remix
- Redistribute
After a quick look at the list of the 5Rs you can quickly see how ‘true’ openness may be difficult to attain. Author sensitivity to retaining ownership make the concept of having someone else take your resource, transform it and then publish it as a new resource; even if that new resource allows you to retain the license to the content. Questions of intellectual property as they relate to promotion and tenure bring up perception challenges to junior faculty eager to achieve stability in their profession after years of working their way up and over hurdles.
In OER and MOOC: The need for openness, Ismar Frango Silveira writes that both open educational resources and massive online open courses fall short of providing open content that is fully free. Free in this sense is used in the context of UNESCO’s Paris OER Declaration in 2012. Open suggests accessibility to humans regardless of cost or distribution format; licensing provisions for educators to use information and materials in ways that they feel best communicate a concept; and ultimately empowering teachers to teach, learners to learn, and information designers to design in a way that allows all people to have access to open content by employing universal design.
Educator rights. The goal is an informed population. Individuals who what to learn, have access to learn. This may sound idealistic and unrealistic, but all things open at its core supports open pedagogy whether that learning is in a formal or informal setting. As we pop from page to page online and follow links to learn more about what interests us, the literacy skills we need to navigate and evaluate content follow from having the ability to look at the content in the first place. Open Pedagogy is the core of the open movement from my perspective. Granted, I am an educator and academic librarian, and feel strongly about access to information. I enjoy learning from others how they see open content from the perspectives that they bring.
Wiley, D. A. (2014). The access compromise and the 5th R. Retrieved December 13, 2015 from http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3221
Silveira, I. F. (2016). OER and MOOC: The need for openness. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 13, 209-223. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Publications/3478
