HISTORY
The OpenCourseWare movement started with the University
of Tübingen in Germany in 1999. However, in 2001 MIT OpenCourseWare blossomed in the U.S. This program inspired the birthing of the Open Education Consortium through which 280+ universities and other institutions have made their course
materials available as open educational resources.The program was based on a large-scale,
web-based publication of MIT course materials.
The Open Education Consortium
The Open Education Consortium (OEC), with it's headquarters in
Massachusetts, USA, is a globally based network of educational institutions. Where individuals and organizations support an approach to education based on
openness, collaboration, innovation and collective development and the use of open educational materials. The Open Education Consortium is a
non-profit, social benefit organization registered in the United States and
operating worldwide.
Mary Lou Forward is the Executive Director of the Open
Education Consortium, providing leadership for the organization’s efforts to
advance open education by improving higher education and people’s access
to these types of programs.
Mission & Vision
The Open Education Consortium:
·
Is a worldwide community of 280+ higher
education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing open
education and its impact on global education;
·
Envisions a world where everyone, everywhere, has
access to the education they need to build their futures;
·
Seeks to instill openness as a feature of
education around the world. Allowing expanded access to education while
providing a shared body of knowledge upon which innovative and effective
approaches to today’s social problems can be built;
·
Serves as a resource for starting and sustaining
open education projects, as a coordinating body for the movement on a global
scale, and as a forum for exchange of ideas and future planning; and
·
Aims at bringing about change by leveraging its
sources of expert opinion, its global network and its position as the principal
voice of open education.
Open Education Consortium Honored
The Homeschool Base program is the largest
volunteer-driven resource and news website for homeschoolers. This program has
named the Open Education Consortium as one of the Top 10 Open Course Education
Websites of 2017. The award is recommended by teachers, home educators,
and homeschool parents; and honors exemplary websites/apps that offer quality,
innovative, unique, cost-effective, or significant value to teachers,
educators, and homeschooling families.
What is Open Education?
Open education encompasses resources, tools,and practices
that employ a framework of open sharing, to improve educational access and
effectiveness worldwide.
The key is to be open ; being open does not just allow access, but allows the ability
to modify and use materials, information, and networks so education can be
personalized to individual users or woven together in new ways for large and
diverse audiences.
Why is Open Education important?
People want to learn. By providing free and open access
to education and knowledge, people can fulfill their desire:
·
Students can get additional information,
viewpoints and materials to help them succeed.
·
Workers can learn a new skill that will help them
on the job.
·
Faculty can exchange materials and access resources from around the world.
·
Researchers can share data and develop new
networks.
·
Teachers can find new ways to help students
learn.
·
People can connect with others they wouldn’t
otherwise meet to share information and ideas.
·
Materials can be translated, mixed together,
broken apart and openly shared again, increasing access and allowing new
approaches.
·
Anyone can access educational materials,
scholarly articles, and supportive learning communities anytime they want to.
·
Education is available, accessible, modifiable
and free.
Open Education Consortium Sponsors
Activities of the Open Education Consortium are
generously supported by:
·
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Sustaining Members of the Open Education Consortium:
The African Virtual University
|
Open Universiteit
|
Community College Consortium for Open Educational
Resources
|
Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
|
Delft University of Technology
|
Taiwan Open Course Consortium
|
Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV Online
|
Tecnológico de Monterrey
|
Japan OpenCourseWare Consortium
|
Tufts University
|
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
|
Universia
|
Korea OpenCourseWare Consortium
|
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
|
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
University of California, Irvine
|
Netease Open Courses
|
University of Michigan
|
And Contributions of Member Organizations
·
280+ organizations in 40+ countries
OPEN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM RESOURCES
The “Resources” page of the Open Education Consortium
website (address given below) has four sections: Open Education Information
Center; CCCOER Webinars; Courses in STEM; and Open Textbooks:
- OPEN EDUCATION INFORMATION CENTER
This initiative strives to provide information on all
aspects of open education in one place. Information is organized to address
needs of different audiences, such as: groups , faculty, students, administrators,
researchers, and policy makers.
Visitors/ members of the audience may contribute to an on-going
discussion or initiate a new one.
- CCCOER WEBINARS
The popular Community College Consortium for Open Educational
Resources (CCCOER) webinars, feature leaders and practitioners in an open education environment. The equivalence of this opened education of that to community college faculty, students, and staff. Recent
webinar topics include: Finding Open Textbooks and Fostering Faculty Adoptions;
A Primer on Open Licenses and Intellectual Property; OER Impact Research
Faculty and Student Voices; Open Textbook Publishing and Adoptions; California
Community Colleges Share It Forward with CC-BY; Fostering Open Policies on Your
Campus and Beyond; OER and Open Textbook Adoption and Sustainability; and,
Libraries Lead the Way: Open Courses, OER, and Open Policy.
- COURSES IN STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
o Great
Courses and Teachers in STEM
o Featured
Courses by Great Teachers
- OPEN TEXTBOOKS
Audience/visitors may view open textbooks under the
following subject areas:
Anthropology & Archaeology
|
Engineering & Electronics
|
Music
|
Art
|
English & Composition
|
Philosophy
|
Biology & Genetics
|
Health & Nursing
|
Physics
|
Business
|
History
|
Political Science
|
Chemistry
|
Languages & Communications
|
Psychology
|
Computer Science
|
Literature
|
Science
|
Economics
|
Law
|
Sociology
|
Education
|
Math
|
Statistics & Probability
|
OPEN EDUCATION
CONSORTIUM COURSES - BY MAJOR CATEGORIES (& NO. OF SUB-CATEGORIES)
Arts & Design (with 5 sub-categories)
|
Language & Culture (2 – English (1); Others (11))
|
Business & Management (16)
|
Math & Logic (4)
|
Computer Science (16)
|
Personal Development (14)
|
Education & Training (2)
|
Science (10)
|
Engineering (3)
|
Social Sciences (5)
|
Health & Medicine (5)
|
Sports & Leisure (6)
|
Humanities (4)
|
ARE OPEN
EDUCATION CONSORTIUM COURSES FREE?
Yes, Open Education Consortium online courses can be
audited for free by anyone with an internet connection. However, if students want to receive a verified
certificate, they have to pay a fee. For
example, for the 13-week MIT course “Supply Chain Design” that could be
accessed via the Open Education Consortium may require a fee of $150 for a
verified certificate. This is an advanced level Engineering course with videos and transcripts in English and it requires 8-12 hrs/wk of studies.
WHAT NEXT?
For more information, please kindly check out the Open
Education Consortium website via the link given below. However, to start exploring the courses
offered via the Consortium, please
click here.
Open Education Consortium website: http://www.oeconsortium.org/
Posted by: Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi
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