Open Education/Managed Learning Environments

Goal - to have software and digital content that supports learning

• Interoperability is crucial with the ability to share children's ePortfolios with other schools
• ePortfolios ultimate ownership rests with the child
• The default platform needs to be open standards because:

1. To allow the ownership of the ePortfolio to be that of the child's rather than that of licensee of the software
2. Proprietary ownership of the ePortfolio platform would not necessarily allow for reading open standards ePortfolios
3. Proprietary software will change over time; this may deny future reading of the ePortfolio

With this in mind I wondered how an OpenMLE would better support the learning needs of a child through the context of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child?

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Article 3

• In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
• States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.

Question:How will the best interests of the child be safe guarded by using an OpenMLE and how will they conform with standards established by competent authorities?
  

Article 13

• The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.

Question:How does using an OpenMLE protect the freedom of expression and allow for the use of a media of a child's choice? 

Article 17

• States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:

(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29; (b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and international sources;

Question:How will an OpenMLE allow access to a diversity of information to be accessed by the child while encouraging international co-operation?

Article 29

• States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:

(a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;

(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;

(c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;

(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;

Question:Can an OpenMLE effectively enhance the development of a child by protecting their rights to freedom and respect?

Article 32

• States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

Question:Will using an OpenMLE protect the child from economic exploitation and not interfere with a child's education? 

OpenMLE:

1. School's documentation will always be in open standards
2. Documentation that belongs to the child whether child or institution generated will only use open standards
3. Digital content will be exported/shared using open standards
4. Children and their guardians will have access to this data as desired

Question:How will this leave a ClosedLMS user from another institution if they cannot open documentation sent by us in open standards?

To Explore:

• e-portfolios
• Overview of Open Source Learning Management Systems
• Moodle
• Olat
• Opensource vendors