Activity 22: An open education technology

A blog by @mircwalsh

Activity 22: An open education technology

Write a short blog post suggesting one additional technology that is important for open education, either from the role of a learner or a provider. The technology can be one that has been significant, or one that you feel is going to become increasingly relevant. What you include as a technology can be quite broad: for instance, it can be a general category (such as social networks), a specific service or a particular standard.

In your post briefly explain what the technology is, and then why you think it is important for open education. The emphasis should be on open education in particular, and not just education in general

My chosen technology is iTunes U course manager.

We have looked at various different platforms through this course and iTunes U may be something that people already know of but few realise the benefits of iTunes U course manager. Teachers can put together a course of their choice using all the resources they require from apps to photos, text and more. Assignments can be set and students can interact with eachother via discussions. It is the ultimate tool to a paperless classroom and all student activities are available on the device.

The big advantage is that it can be both open and private. A teacher may choose to have that individual course viewable by their own students or publish it for the world to see. All courses are free and accessible for people to view. It is a valuable lesson because you can learn from the comfort of your home or bring it out on field trips. Last summer along with over 300 other educators I visited lagoons and climbed mountains in San Diego. We had an iTunes U course on our devices and it was all we needed for the trips. Until this I never really got how important open learning was. Sure I was told and nodded and smiled but this really taught me.

I have since used this to create my own courses (both private and public) and Apple recently published my course on Non-Verbal and Visual Communications so now educators and students around the world can take part in it.

The big advantage however is that it’s use is limited to those with iOS devices but I duplicate the posts via moodle so no one is left out.

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