Bold innovations in openwashing | Abject

peter.suber's bookmarks 2018-10-14

Summary:

"One could argue that Audrey Watters’ dismissal of today’s announcement is a little harsh, somewhat cynical. Maybe insistence on open code and open content as necessary conditions for “open education” is a case of ‘zeal over pragmatism’.

But if proprietary content and platforms in service of for-profit enterprises [Udacity] counts as “open education”, just what is the “open” part supposed to be? Audrey’s subsequent tweets offer a clue....

Open as in doors. Open as in hearts. Open as in “for business”. And give them credit, the venture capitalized open education movers have proven tireless in making deals and spewing triumphant press releases. The Open Education Alliance represents the latest landmark in this glorious history.

In any event, while a concept such as open source carries certain obligatory qualities, when we talk about education the application of “open” is more closely related to how ‘All Natural!’ or ‘New and Improved!’ are used on our supermarket shelves. It’s gotten to the point where I find myself hesitant to use a term like “open education” when I speak with people. And I wonder if I still want to be called an open educator...."

Link:

https://abject.ca/open-for-business/

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » peter.suber's bookmarks

Tags:

oa.openwashing oa.oer oa.education oa.definitions oa.terminology oa.udacity oa.courseware

Date tagged:

10/14/2018, 17:20

Date published:

10/14/2018, 13:20