28.1 Embedding student expectations

I hope that you’ll bear with me as I bring a slightly different approach to the posts here at Terra Incognita. My interests and passions fall directly in the argument for openness and transparency across all forms of teaching and learning. I am not going to write a case for opening learning or open courseware, but I will attempt to engage you in a discussion related to our overall willingness to change some of our fundamental models to empower those around us to participate.

I am curious of how we see the emergence of remix culture and where it fits into our domain — and I am really anxious to know if these notions resonate with the readers here. So if my post misses the mark I apologize in advance, but with that …

I have been making the argument lately that what is beginning to happen (in a more general sense) is that the web is finally starting to fulfill its promise as a platform to support and extend conversations. I know this isn’t news to those of us who have been ultra-connected for the last 10 years, but its emergence recently to a larger audience is very interesting in several ways.

The ability to instantly create and share is shattering the notions many institutions have built their teaching and learning models on. The emergence of the social web has jump started discussions around open learning, engaged communities of practice, Creative Commons, and so much more. This focus is bringing into question our reliance on closed tools to support teaching and learning practice. Faculty and students alike are interested in participating easily inside the academy just like they can outside in a place like Facebook. It is a frustrating world we live in and I am not sure we are paying close enough attention.

Lately I have been spending a lot of time talking to people in the newspaper industry to help them understand our students and what they mean to their continuously downward trending subscription rates. One thing is certain, they are afraid. They are obviously fighting for their lives in an industry where there seems to be few answers. I talk with them about how important it is to embrace new practices and models, to rethink the role of the traditional publication, and to look at trends across the social web that can be superimposed on their space. The announcement that The Christian Science Monitor will go to a totally online newspaper has brought new focus on the inevitable need to rethink existing practice and embrace a more open model of publication. Clearly circulation is plummeting for all sorts of reasons, but the short sighted lack of acceptance of the social web is a major factor in my mind.