OpenEducation4Schools

Precursor
Michael Pollan describes in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma", a glass abattoir. He tells of people arriving at the glass abattoir to purchase their meat being able to see the whole operation of an animal being processed for consumption. All is witnessed - the herding and handling of livestock from the field, the humane killing of the animal, the hygienic standards of the abattoir, the butchering of the animal, dealing with waste and finally the purchasing of the meat. From beginning to end the process is allowed to be examined. Michael advocates this should be the process for all our food - open to scrutiny with nothing hidden and nothing to hide - traceable food, from conception to consumption.


 * Food feeds the body/Education feeds the mind

Using the glass abattoir concept; Open Education would be:

 * 1) Open for scrutiny from every possible angle
 * 2) Accessed by all regardless of age, race gender or socio-economic level; it would be available for all that desire it
 * 3) Beyond the sole domain of key individuals, institutions, governments or corporations
 * 4) Envirethical

Glass, clear, transparency - OPEN EDUCATION - traceable from conception, creation to consumption

Purpose

 * To co-create Open Education systems in schools that are created from educationalists upwards rather than bureaucracy, government or corporate down
 * To connect schools who are contemplating or going on the Open Education journey
 * To assist schools in realising the educational opportunities that Open Education provides
 * To promote sound educational philosophy in the use of Open Education in schools
 * To promote Open Education as the best path for schools and the wider learning community

See Open Education

Open Education

 * Open Education is about being OPEN with our students, colleagues, parents and wider community

It is:

 * About the way we view the world - open to ideas and possibilities
 * Sharing and giving
 * Transparent relationships
 * Our choice of communication
 * Freedom and ownership to the processes of learning
 * Learning communities collaborating at a local and global level

Most educators were released from their training institutions believing:

 * Education and learning is linear and planned
 * Education and learning is measurable
 * Students must be taught a predetermined curriculum
 * Education was seen as transferring information in a controlled sequence, a process that eliminates context - all learners receive the same content in the same format - but fails to accommodate variations in learner needs.

But..

 * Open Education allows for learners to take responsibility for their education, it allows educationalists to become more flexible with their delivery and makes the achievement of goals a product of the contextual journey rather than the sole cause.
 * Open education is a natural approach that is about networks rather than the line: our neural networks forms the basis of memory/knowledge and like all networks e.g brain, internet; come down to two elements - links and nodes.
 * The internet has changed the way we learn and that’s because of its network qualities. Open education has moved beyond the linear age of education to the non-linear and often unplanned age of networks, and therefore to the age of networked learning.
 * Open Education allows learners and educationalists to mix and mingle components in a collaborative manner; is open to scrutiny; has integrity at its core and allows for natural non-linear leaning while at the same time accommodates those who desire the linear path to education.

Components
The 4Rs of Open Education - Reuse, Redistribute, Revise, Remix Plus two more - recycle and re create and another - regenerate
 * Decision Making
 * Computing - NZ case study
 * Open Education/Software
 * Teaching
 * Learning
 * Management
 * Communication
 * Play Writing
 * Open Education/Managed Learning Environments
 * Open Education/Systems
 * Open Education/Appraisal
 * Open Education/Assessment
 * Open Education/Pupil Council

Stakeholders

 * Warrington School, New Zealand