The Impact of an Open Course Website

Open Course (free) websites are an emerging trend in education.  In this week's assignment we were charged with choosing one of the open course websites to evaluate and to compare with our learning resources used for our Distance Learning course. I  chose Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) Open Course: A free and open educational resource for educators, students, and self-learners around the world.  http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm  As I explored the website, I immediately noticed that the layout of the website was easy to follow. The color scheme softly invited users to learn more about MIT.

Course Offerings

Over 2000 courses are offered to the public on a variety of subjects that are appealing to all levels of learners. Global testimonials from educators and some of the Fortune 500 companies exist to validate the quality of the free courses, giving credibility to the new distance learner. Graphics, links, and photos are used to create an engaging experience (Laureate Education n.d.) and to compel interest in the MIT courses. Once each of the tabs were clicked upon, information was obtained about the MIT Open Courseware site. When the user was satisfied with the chosen information, it was easy to get back to the home page, or any desired page when ready. The left sidebar made it easy to choose a course, a syllabus, calendar, readings, assignments, and other related information. After all,  the eye is automatically drawn to the left side for reading. 

Translation

Translations are an option to invite global students who are interested in learning through MIT. The highlight of the course and a course description appear in the middle of the page, with links that lead to more information about the courses. Technology requirements are listed under the help tab, if needed. Archived courses and a curriculum guide is featured in case the current course does not offer the information that the user seeks. 

Site Map

The site map is located at the bottom of the page, but opens up to a page featuring most possibilities that a distance learner may need.  Questions and Answers for possible problems, directions on how to get started, and the technical requirements are  given  for learner success. A place to evaluate and cite the website is located on the first page, in open view for everyone to see.

Management Course

The course that I chose to further explore is from the Sloan School of Management. Amazingly, a learner can study the same courses required for an undergraduate or graduate degree in management. The course is also set up so that the learner can take any class that he would desire without taking all the classes in the program.  The website and the learner led asynchronous course appear to be carefully preplanned, and designed for a successful learner environment. The course objectives were posted on the first page, enabling the student to decide whether this would be a class that he would be further interested in.

Syllabus

The syllabus ensures communication at a distance between the learner and the website.  It is a very important document that will provide the learner with direction  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek 2012). Without the syllabus the distance learner will not know what to do, when to do it, or who to contact when he is having difficulty. It is suggested that an email address or a toll-free phone number is the best avenue to use for communication for the distance learner. A time schedule should be given to let the learner know when it  is appropriate to call for assistance (Simonson, et al. p. 199).

MITs syllabus gives class requirements including descriptions, meeting times, assignments and grading information. Instructional materials that would assist the learners are able to be downloaded. Textbook information is given along with a link to a website that would give proceeds back to MIT, if the learner chose to buy there. A link to a site that gives free and open textbooks is given on the download page.  The courses are carefully laid out in the succession that one would need to complete them, thus allowing the learner plenty of time to plan life activities around distance learning.  A link that would enable learners to receive class updates also exists, retaining learner's interest in the course, even after initial completion.

Evaluation

Learner assessment was taken into account, allowing the students the choice to be honest with themselves. Midterm and final open book examinations are supplied giving the learner an evaluation of his progress. Without knowing how well the learner did in the course would end in a pointless outcome. The examinations make it apparent what knowledge, skills and feelings the instructor wanted the learners to gain from the course (Simonson, et al. p. 135).

Social Networking

In the world of Web 2.0, MIT has recognized that learning can be obtained by social networking. The open courseware site realizes it is certainly nice to have friends, even virtual ones, (Simonson, et al.  p. 131) and  offers learners the opportunity to keep in touch via Twitter and Facebook, which both promote the development of online communities through posting of personal information and similar interests to meet virtually (Simonson, et al. 2012 p. 131). The learners can meet  online to collaborate, communicate with other learners, and share learning experiences.  When learners interact with each other, new information is acquired, interpreted, and made meaningful, forming a community of learners that are separated by time, space and geography (Poe and Stassen n.d.).

Navigation

MIT offers ease of access and usability with easy to find directional tabs, giving accurate learner instructions. Navigation tools are located in easy to find places, and lead to intuitive direction in discovering website information. These website traits, and well-integrated tools make MIT's open courseware worth having the label of "best teaching practices and "quality instruction indicators" (Simonson, et al. 2012 p. 194).

Just-in Time-Learning

The open courseware offers Just-in-Time-Learning geared toward today's current business needs. The information and skills learned could be useful for the learner's success in the workplace, if incorporated into distance learner training. The learning could provide a basis for the person to further his education on one of the chosen topics or to improve work performance.  

Training

Although MIT's open courseware consortium is fairly new to Web 2.0, it appears to be" a great training course that will stand the test of time" (Laureate Education n.d.). The site appears to fulfill the requirements of preparing learners for a successful learning experience across distances. It proved to be in line with what we are studying in our Distance Learning course.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Developing online courses. [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6290464&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=6926731&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1.

Poe, M. and Stassen, M. (n.d.).   Teaching and Learning Online. Communication, community, and assessment. Retrieved from http://www.umass.edu/oapa/oapa/publications/online_handbooks/Teaching_and_Learning_Online_Handbook.pdf

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.