Open Educational ResourcesWhat They Are, and What They Are Not

Nicholas C Burbules

Three features of the Internet

- Information wants to be free

- Culture of remixing

- The emergence of self-educating communities

Educational resources

- Readings, textbooks- Syllabi, lesson plans, study guides- Lectures- Simulations, games- Instructional modules/learning objects- Quizzes, assessment tools

What does “open” mean?

- Open licensing

- Creative Commons

- Public domain

- The paradox of volume

How are open resources used?

- Modularity, remixing

- Used by teachers

- Used by learners- Individually

- Collectively

What they are, what they aren’t

- Avenues of universal access

- How they’re used, who they’re used by

- Open doesn’t mean free

- Resource as a potentiality

- What is needed to activate potential

MOOC mania

- What they are, what they aren’t

- The problem of overpromising

- Their potential