I have been giving some significant thought to the idea of independent learners “scratching an itch,” as Andreas describes it, the notion of disaggregation, and openness as a pedagogical intent. My thoughts have been further stimulated by an email I received from my daughter last week. She is 14 years old, is living in a Scandinavian country and has shown aptitude and interest in science. She has identified an intellectual itch to take upon herself “independent study” of biology and turned to the MIT Open Courseware site for some content and some structure for a course of study.
As her birthday is coming up, she decided to ask that I make a birthday gift of the recommended textbook for the open biology course. Unfortunately the textbook was not open (perhaps another discussion). I, of course, have happy purchased, and will forward the physical text to her.
So, she will have a “course” that has been designed with the full complement of objectives, learning outcomes, assessments, etc. providing some structure to her learning. She will also have some content in the form of the online course and the textbook. What else though might she need to make the best use of her efforts while engaging in self-study and improvement? What would she have received if she were doing this within the context of a traditional learning environment (university)? What if she wants to formally apply her independent learning to a University sanctioned curriculum in the future? How can she access those things that she finds valuable relative to her personal development aspirations?
Off the top of my head, here are some of the things she might get if she were studying in a traditional manner at a university:
- An assigned professor/tutor (facilitation and support)
- A peer group (formal and informal social learning opportunities)
- Assigned credit for demonstrated knowledge (external motivator, recognition and portability learning, etc.)
- Student services/support (tutoring, library & research services, etc.)
I would assume that all of these could be very valuable. So, as an independent learner and user of open courseware, how might she access these valuable services? Is SocialLearn and ROLE intended to support independent (life long) learners like my daughter (who I am sure will study at some time at a university) or is it principally about opening opportunities for learners who decided to study at a university?
So many questions. . . my last one is:
Can we disaggregate the university for independent learners, but not fragment the experience?
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