The Impact of Open Source

The Impact of Open Source

I recently registered for a beginners Computer Programming course through Udacity (www.udacity.com) because I had heard so much about Udacity and wanted to see what all the noise was about.

This is a link to the course I was enrolled on: https://www.udacity.com/course/viewer#!/c-cs101/l-48299949/m-48698544

When I began the course (as soon as I had registered as it is completely student led), I was immediately taken to a very clean white page with a video embedded in it. The first lesson (Lesson 1: How to Get Started) included an introductory video by the instructor (Dave Evans) giving a general overview of the course and what to expect. The video is setup as a mixture between a screencast and a FaceTime call. It is very effective - the informal feel of the video actually does feel like a classroom environment and the student is immediately put at ease. Dave certainly made me feel that even a beginner would be able to do this course - I was told at the beginning that I needed no Computer Science experience whatsoever, but throughout the intro there is reference made to programming concepts and it is riddled with techy vernacular.

The course itself is made up of ‘Lessons.” Each lesson includes a series of screencasts and video instructionals that are peppered by short quizzes to test understanding. At the end of each lesson there is an assignment. This course followed a linear-designed instruction model of sequential units or lessons. I felt that the layout was extremely effective - the learner isn’t distracted by lots of side content or information. The course only consists of the lecturer’s videos and screencasts so my attention is only on my instruction. This is very effective. Across the top of the screen is a visual representation of my progression through the course. I can always go back to a previous page/video, but cannot advance until I have watched the video content. This course is very carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment. As a student, I feel that I am part of a class (even though as a student I control the lesson progression to a large degree) and am able to get to know my instructor through the videos. There are interesting interviews in the lessons (in the first lesson, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, is interviewed) which brings interest and weight/relevance to the instruction.

The setup of this course was not concerned with who I was - at no point was I asked to take part in an introductory blog or discussion. I believe this is because the organizers want to give a great deal of flexibility to the student and not require any sort of collaboration exercise that would require students to be at the same learning point. This course is designed on the principle that students are joining from all over the world at completely different times within the time frame (a couple of months) set out for the course. It is up to the student how quickly they progress through the course and so any attempt at bringing the ‘class’ together would mean a loss in that course flexibility.

“Taking the time to learn about the learners in the class yields a more productive learning environment. Knowledge of general learner characteristics can inform the instructor of the nature of the students at origination and distance sites. This knowledge can aid the distance education instructor in overcoming the separation of instructor and students.” (Simonson et al, 2012)

This course in Computer Science did not necessitate learning about the student - it is designed to be a way for everyone to learn, regardless of background, training, experience or geographical location. The nature of Open Source Learning is that it has to work for everyone because there could be 50,000 students in one course! There is no way to learn about them all, and there seems to be no need in this particular learning system. The student logs in, learns and takes away the knowledge they need to go onto other things. There is not a credit system in place, students are doing the course simply because they want to learn. Personal motivation is enough for these students. That gives some clues about the type of learner and one can make sweeping generalizations based on the assumption that all learners on Open Source Education courses are self motivated and aren’t driven by the need for a qualification. They just want the skills.

“The content of a course needs to reflect where this content relates to the rest of the curriculum. It is essential to examine the nature of the content, as well as the sequence of information.” (Simonson et al, 2012)

The course that I enrolled on certainly laid out the course content very clearly - even before I had registered, there was a written synopsis of the course and a list of what would be covered in each lesson. Once enrolled, more detail was forthcoming, including the introductory video and screencast. The goals and objectives for instruction were slightly different than a conventional course - there are assignments which you are expected to achieve a passing mark on in order to proceed, so there are expectations of the learners to meet a predetermined level of performance, but without any interaction with the instructor.

How is open source going to impact learning? Well, the fact that I can go online and search for this level of instruction for free about just about any topic is amazing to me - learning just became available to everyone! I could be sitting in an internet cafe in Zimbabwe and, as long as I have an internet connection, could learn from the best instructors in America. What an opportunity! Only time will tell if it actually changes the face of education, but it certainly seems to have the potential to do so.

References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. Pearsons Education.