Open Education Conf. Keynote Speakers Martha Kanter & Jim Shelton

Image via WikipediaMartha Kanter, Under Secretary of Education, U.S. Dept. of Ed, started off the conference with a keynote address. She is the former chancellor of the De Anza Community College where she was a strong advocate for open education. Kanter and Jim Shelton drafted the educational technology plan. She was appointed by Obama to the dept  of education. She says that we are getting out competed by other countries (we are 16th in the world). She sees open education as a way to make us more competitive. The goal is to get knowledge in the hands of everyone. She discussed some of the research around OERs in k-12. She described some projects in k-12 where the students had access to the learning content 24/7 and not just 40 minutes per class. She hopes that we can become champions for the dept. of ed's research into what is working and why. We will have 10 million students graduating from high school in 2020. We lose a kid every 22 seconds though. If they have open textbooks, we have an opportunity to change the culture of education. China and India are also embracing open universities. She emphasized that there is a role here for businesses as well. She discussed the 440 requirements for someone to become a teacher and she asked us to let her know what kinds of things we can get rid of: regulations and other things that get in the way.  She talked about ENTER, a free online platform for online teaching and learning. She quoted Obama who said he wants to build more online open resources instead of brick & mortar classrooms.

Jim Shelton is the Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Dept. of Education. He spoke on "Enabling Better 'Teaching and Learning': A Status Check." He says that he role is to create an ecosystem that will let talented people make the changes that need to happen. We are also interested in growing opportunities internationally. He said that this is about teaching and learning, not just "free" - if we do the same thing that we have been doing but just cheaper - then sham on use.

Step 1: Shift the dialog
Make the OER value proposition "better" not just "free."

Step 2: More and Better OER about Creating Effective ER
How people learn
How to

• Identify and describe what is to be learned
• Demonstrate what is to be learned
• Design and implement experiences
• Optimize and select deliver methods 
• Maximize motivation and engagement

Best -in-Class Examples

Step 3: Provide better Tools to Reduce Barriers to Quaility

Step 4: Create a Better Context / Align Incentives
Reduce regulatory barriers
make performance matter
Until then make "the science" matter
Ease and inform access

Moving Forward

• What's missing?
• What's in the way?
• Who's steping up?

What is inhibiting the progress?

NB: These are merely my raw notes and impressions for the benefit of our team at College of the Redwoods. Your results may vary and contents may have settled during shipping.