Topic #3- Equity and Access

This is a short video that I found on the open web which was very helpful in re-explaining why open education matters due to the costs of higher education. It reiterates the idea of equity and access.

TOPIC 3-

For this week’s blog post I wanted to delve deep into the question that the first reading asked us, “How do you see the roles of the learner and the teacher?” (Mays, 2017). In my opinion, there should be equal control between the learner and the teacher. What I mean by this is that the teacher should not be the only one teaching and the learner should not be the only one learning. The teacher should let their students construct one’s own learning by discussing with peers, inquiring by creating projects, and questioning what is being told. The teacher should be open to adapting and listening to what the students say. I believe online and open education can be extremely beneficial for this learner/teacher balance.

The first reading this week suggests that the teacher and students should work together to build their own open educational resources (OERs). Open educational resources are which are free resources that are accessible to anyone who has access to a device that students can use like textbooks or Quizlet to help them be successful in their degrees (Mays, 2017) Students know which information is relevant to them as students of the course so having students create their own OERs can not only allow students to become the teacher by constructing and reflecting on their own learning and make it meaningful beyond the course (Mays, 2017) it also helps other future students have access to OERs.

Open and online learning is also beneficial to the teacher getting to learn and the learner getting to teach because if they have a website, like for example this WordPress blog they are able to manage their own learning and control their own data (Mays, 2017). Blogs are great because they give students the ability to add whatever they want to it as it is their own and communicate as well as collaborate with their peers and their teacher. The teacher can read students’ blog posts and learn from them as well as the students can learn from each other. Having a website that belongs to the student reduces the idea of the teacher controlling the class.

In the second reading, they talk about why there should be an equal balance between the students and the teacher. With a controlled environment, the instructor has preset learning outcomes and processes that the student has to understand which means there is a higher authority that determines when, how, and what a student has to know (Gilliard & Culik, 2016). This idea of authority is not allowing for equal roles between the teacher and the learner.

The reason I wanted to talk about the roles in the classroom is that in my opinion, I think it does have something to do with equity. Students should be given more control of their own learning and that is why having blogs, and group chats with peers in an open setting can allow for this to happen.

The way online learning can thrive especially with keeping the balance of a learner and a teacher there needs to be equal access to resources like textbooks and devices. They need to be readily available and higher education institutes need to incorporate the concept of open learning to include everyone. As a future teacher, I want my students and parents to have access to any resource they need.

I wanted to leave with some questions, higher education claims it should be equally accessible to all (Mays, 2017) but how come textbooks aren’t free? How come we are still paying for textbooks when we have so many open educational resources nowadays?

References:

Gilliard, C., & Culik, H. (2016, May 24). Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy. Common Sense Education.

Mays, E. (Ed.). (2017). A guide to making open textbooks with students. Rebus Community.