Impact of Open Courseware on distance learning

A noticeable trend in distance learning is the use of open courseware. Open Courseware (OCW) is ”a free and open digital publication of high quality college and university-level educational materials” (Open Courseware Consortium, n.d., para. 1) that is “available for use and adaptation under an open licence, such as a Creative Commons licence” (“OpenCourseware”, 2012, para. 2). The use of OCW does not normally provide for access to faculty and is not for earning college credits or certification. Although OCW was originally designed for college and university education, OCW materials for high schools are now available (MIT, 2011a). Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the pioneers of OCW, started to make materials available free on the web in 2002 (Baldi, Heier, & Stanzick, 2002).

 

 

Use of MIT Open Courseware worldwide

 

MIT OCW was originally designed in 2002 to enable other non MIT educators to “use the syllabi, lecture notes, assignments and exams from MIT courses to design their own courses” (Carson, 2011, para. 1). However, a decade later, the primary users of these materials are independent (self) learners who are not attached to any learning institution (Carson, 2011; MIT, 2011b). The MIT website explains that MIT OCW is “available on the web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world” (MIT, n.d.). According to the MIT (2011b) statistics summary report, OCW materials are accessed in the following ways: online access (more than 127 million monthly visits); access through secondary channels; offline access (14 million course zip files and 28 million video and audio files downloaded since 2006). OCW is being used by learners who want to learn about specific course topics and educators who want to integrate it into their own teaching materials (Baldi, Heier, & Stanzick, 2002). The MIT (2011b) statistics summary report highlights that users are satisfied with the “breadth, depth, quality and currency of OCW content”.

Suitability of MIT OCW to online distance learning

 

A typical MIT open course site for a graduate course such as Information Technology Essentials includes the following menu options:

• Syllabus
• Calendar
• Readings
• Lecture Notes
• Assignments
• Exams
• Download Course Materials

The range of resources and activities included in the above course package is indicative of a well designed course that has the potential to provide meaningful and effective learning experiences to learners. The download option provides learners with the flexibility and convenience to use the learning materials offline. Navigation from one section of the course to another is the same for both online and offline access.

 

Despite the popularity and widespread online use of MIT OCW, the materials were not designed for e-learning but classroom based learning (Baldi, Heier, & Stanzick, 2002). From a distance learning point of view, MIT OCW does satisfy an essential need of distance learners because learners are able to access the content at their own time and study at their own pace. This is in line with Wedemeyer’s (1977) theory of independence study (as cited in Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012). However, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek (2012) have suggested that courses that were originally designed for the traditional classroom environment may need to be retooled in order to engage learners in an online distance learning environment. Their recommended strategies for designing online instruction include activities that encourage interactivity and allow for student group work.

 

Redesigning OCW for the online distance learning environment
 

Is it a priority to redesign MIT OCW and other OCW for the online distance learning environment which incorporates social and collaborative learning? Maybe not. The required financial and time resources would be prohibitive because the upfront costs of developing online courses and programs are huge (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008). MIT OCW currently focuses on meeting specific needs of learners and learners have reported that they are satisfied with the content on offer (MIT, 2011b). Rather than trying to redesign OCW to facilitate social and collaborative learning, MIT has started restructuring its open courses to facilitate complete independent study by providing a complete set of materials arranged in a logical study sequence. This will go a long way in addressing some challenges faced by independent learners because  previous course materials were “arranged by materials type, with lecture notes in one section, assignments in another and exams in a third” (Carson, 2011, para. 4).

                                     

                                                           References

 
Baldi, S., Heier, H. & Stanzick, F. (2002). Open courseware vs open source software – a critical comparison. ECIS.
Retrieved from  http://csrc.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20020137.pdf
 
Carson, S. (2011, January 12). MIT OpenCourseWare introduces courses designed for independent learners. MIT News. Retrieved from
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/mitocw-independent learners.html?tmpl=component&print=1
 
MIT (2011a). Highlights for High School. Retrieved from
http://ocw.mit.edu/high-school/
 
MIT (2011b). 2011 Program Evaluation Findings Summary. Retrieved from
http://ocw.mit.edu/about/site-statistics/11_Eval_Summary_112311_MITOCW.pdf
 
MIT (n.d.). Twenty frequently asked questions about MIT OpenCourseWare. Retrieved from
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/global/MIT_OpenCourseWare_FAQs.pdf
 
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete
 
Open CourseWare Consortium (n.d.). What is OpenCourseWare?
Retrieved from  http://www.ocwconsortium.org/en/aboutus/whatisocw
 
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
 
OpenCourseware (2012, November 27). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCourseWare