Contact - Volume 7, Issue 5

January 2011 - Open Courses

You have probably heard of them, free online courses open to anyone who wants to take them. Some courses have had more than 2,000 students participating. What is it about open courses that makes them the latest phenomenon in online learning? Why are so many flocking to learn without credit?

For upcoming workshops on teaching and learning, check out Concierge.

Podcast - The dynamics of the massive open online course

An podcast interview withStephen Downes, educational technology expert, by Dr. Maureen Wideman.

Play it / hear it - MP3 - 18 minutes

Improving Quality and Efficiency in Teaching Through the Open Learning Initiative

by Yilin Wang

The author reports on Carnegie Melon University's Open Learning Initiative which includes numerous courses available free to the public.

Open for Learning: The CMS and the Open Learning Network

by Jon Mott and David Wiley

This article discusses traditional uses of technology in learning and suggests that learning is improved when moved beyond the learning management system and on to the web.

'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge

by Stephen Downes

In this article in the Huffington post, Mr. Downes explains knowledge is distributed
across a network of connections, and that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks. Knowledge, therefore, is not acquired or transmitted but is
the formation of connections.

Other Resources:

Open Access at Concordia

Concordia University encourages all of its faculty and students to make their peer-reviewed research and creative output freely accessible via the internet.

Contact is the University of Ontario Institute of Technology's monthly e-newsletter bringing you the latest information on teaching and learning. Contact podcasts are also available for subscription free from the iTunes Music Store - just search on UOIT.

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Contact is produced by the Office of the Associate Provost, Academic, University of Ontario Institute of Technology.