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The Case for Open Education in Higher Learning

I was recently discussing the issue of the Oakland University strike with someone. While the pay and benefits are obviously big factors in collective bargaining agreements, something else came up. One of his talking points for supporting the strike, well, stuck me. He was the notion of intellectual property in the classrooms and who it actually belongs to: do the lessons belong to the professors or the University.

Well, he wasn’t the least bit pleased about the idea of putting lessons online for people to see. He didn’t think it fair that “some kid in Oklahoma” could view the lessons and “learn for free”. Realistically, if schools like Yale, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, etc. all do this and see no threat, than Oakland University has absolutely no argument and no reason to be threatened. Lets take a look at why.

There’s nothing wrong with videotaping lectures and putting them online, and the lectures are property of the school not the professor, that’s how the real world works. My mom, who works for St. John Health System has to forfeit any and all rights over her intellectual property. If she invents something at home, St. John has the rights to it, regardless of what it is, unless she convinces them to sign an official release document releasing the rights to it.

Such things have been the way of the world for some time. When Steve Jobs and Steve Woz started Apple Computer, Woz worked for HP and as such, the Apple I belonged to HP. Woz showed it to them and they thought it was a joke and a toy, so they released the rights to it. While that was a massive mistake on HP’s part, they could have just as easily kept the Apple I and marketed it. Nonetheless, this is what happens.

Many colleges and universities offer course material online, and it doesn’t damage the school or the Professor’s integrity, on the contrary, it adds to it. A kid doesn’t get a degree for free via this method, but they do get to see what is being taught and it adds a lot of credibility to the school if people can go online and find, say, Oakland University experts for whatever they need. It builds a reputation and it’s just a fact that it does not decrease enrollment or anything else.

It doesn’t matter what they see, hear, or learn, without an actual degree it makes little difference other than for personal enrichment or research. Otherwise, we could put down “I spent 3 months in the library researching this, I know all about it” and that would be sufficient enough to land a job. But alas, in many cases it doesn’t matter if we have hands on experience, without the degree nothing matters in the eyes of Human Resources Departments around the world.

Take for example Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They offer what is called openCourseware.

Many other schools offer similar things online, and sure, anybody can just go online and look at lectures, course material, assignments, etc. To reiterate my point, I can’t put down “I looked at a bunch of courses online through MIT” on a resume and expect it to count. Not to mention, the “attendance” policy at Oakland is a joke. Anybody can just walk in there, sit down, and learn with the rest of the class. I know, I’ve done it before. If anyone can just stroll on in to class, what does it matter if material is online?

When I was prepping for grad school, I knew little, if anything about Urban Planning specifics. So what did I do? I went here and gave myself a crash course in undergraduate urban planning. I went though the lessons, not doing it all of course, but reading through the material, looking at maps, and ordering books to read through. One week into classes I can tell you that it has already paid off. There’s a good mix of people in my courses who are professional planners, and others who brand new to this, so thanks to the people at MIT and the fact that I can see their course material online, I’m prepared and, in many ways, ahead of the game as far as my classes go. I can answer questions and have intelligent discussion right away, while other students are obviously still adjusting, and I can keep up discussion with people who already do this for a living.

Online access to lectures and courses is also a great service to current students. Lets say you go to Oakland and are taking an early American History course. You wonder if the professor has some kind of bias or if there is another angle that isn’t being covered. It would be a great convenience to be able to pull up lectures from another school anywhere in the country to see what their angle is, get a different point of view, and enrich your learning experience. You can become better rounded and gain a deeper understanding of your subject with ease and convenience.

Published lessons also keep teachers honest and on point. People, especially parents who shell out hard earned cash for their kids to be educated, often wonder what really is being taught in college classrooms. This can give them direct insight into what is going on in these classrooms. Last week, I had my first course with a professor who wanted to spend a great deal of time picking a fight with someone who wasn’t on board with the Canadian health care system. Not only did this have nothing to do with the course, lesson, or material, but the girl whom he was engaging was Canadian and he was not. Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder if such a phenomenal amount of time would have been wasted had the class been recorded and put online (for now I’ll just chalk this up to being day one nonsense and we’ll see if it continues).

Such insight can also serve students when they go to choose a school or are looking to transfer schools. Let’s be honest, the “campus tours” and meetings with Professors and department heads are all the tip of the ice burg as far as what things will really be like. Maybe you’ve thought that chemical engineering was for you, if you watch a few lectures before you jump right in you can decide if you like it or not before you’re out time and money on a class you end up not liking. Maybe you don’t like the way that things are done at your school, wouldn’t it be disheartening and painfully frustrating to transfer across the state because someone else told you things are different, only to find out for yourself that it’s an even worse situation for you?

Online, open course platforms offer the chance for students to make the best, well-informed decisions about their education before they move far away, spend a ton of money, and end up in a world of frustration. Knowledge is power, even more important is having the power to control your knowledge.

Let us not forget as well that we are discussing Public Universities. As such, they conduct public research, take federal and state money, and are expected to make numerous contributions to our lives. Open course platforms do such things as a low cost and high volume solution. By doing this, we accomplish:

• More transparency as to where federal and state dollars go.
• Better and more informed choices in education
• More resources for students
• More resources for the general public
• A higher standard to meet and greater quality education

Literally nothing is lost except for the small cost it takes to set something up and the bandwith to keep it running, which is marginal at most. It’s win for everybody. More credibility for the professors, a higher profile for the University, and better education for the students.

So before we get all zealous about what we pay for our education as students, or what rights these tenured professors feel they deserve, let’s look at the big picture and see what good it does for everyone.

To see other schools that do this sort of thing, check out 101 Killer Open Courseware Projects and see for yourself.

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