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According to the Encarta dictionary (2009), innovation means the act or process of introducing something new.  The concept innovation connotes the inevitability of change from how the usual procedures to improvement where there is use of minimal resources to maximize output or services in a sustainable manner. Innovations deals with scaling up, it thus has another connotation of modernity. In the same lane, Jansen and Weaver (2008) argue that innovation in education is necessary for sustainability. This then calls for not only interdisciplinary working but also transdisciplinarity, interagency working and stakeholder engagement.  

In the same lane,  McAndrew and Farrow (2013) reveal an OpenLearn model that befits the definition of innovation in education whereby the Open University adopted the Open Education Resources (OER). In this way, the University, has had a wide-ranging influence, changing the way that the university collaborates with other organizations and having significant impact on mainstream production techniques and on approaches to research. Consequently, the Open University has developed a broader understanding of business models and has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with alternative ways to offer mass learning beyond its existing student base.

To enable the achievement of the above plan,  McAndrew and Farrow (2013) emphasise that some challenges should be addressed and priority should go to: 1) finding out what can be done to improve OER Sustainability, 2) streamlining  the issues surrounding Copyright and Licensing, and how can they be overcome and 3) establishing the best ways to Promote and Advocate educational methods which use OER. I prioritize these three issues as an online student living, working and studying in Uganda; a developing country. The mentioned issues impede availability, access and use of OER. Moreover, the last two issues at times compromise the academic freedom and innovativeness in learning [process] through very strict rules and restrictions. Finally, there is a risk of a student to comply with rules and try to fix in the mold that addressing issues based on her/his context and environment. On the otherhand, with the communitarian ethic where we subscribe to the idea “I am because we are”, I wonder if the issues of copyright genuinely apply in education. knowledge is cumulative based on very old knowledge, skills and experiences that we do not own. This is the true essence of OpenLearn.  Thus, who has the copyright to a book, video or academic credential when many have contributed overtime.  In other words, my argument is that in the learning and learning process, we are all indebted and should thus emphasize good use rather than forwarding pecuniary interests.

McAndrew and Farrow (2013) reveal that OER challenge the conventional assumptions about paying for higher education modules in a way that it deconstructs the education system whereby it supports the adoption of less formal approaches into formal structures and vice versa. In a way, the Open University courses released through OpenLearn are being adopted at scale as the basis for informal learning. This means that there is a collapse of the ivory tower syndrome that higher education modules have been using by personalizing, and mystifying education. Consequently, with OER, Users take advantage of the ability to follow their own path by picking aspects from within structures or by using the content as the trigger for social learning around the content within informal learning groups that sit alongside the attraction of the content base.  In this case, if am to borrow Burger and Ostrom (2001) idea I would add education to the common pool resources that ought to be shared equitably and collectively protected at one’s station.

In conclusion, I concur with McAndrew and Farrow (2013) when they quote Ilich (1971)’s idea of Deschooling society which … “enable the student to gain access to any educational resource which may help him to define and achieve his own goals … [from] Reference Services to Learning Objects….” To me the OpenLearn is benchmarking the idea and this approach is more empowering and gives education its core purpose. Education to me is problem solving not a frame to design people according some ideologies. In this case, education and learning processes, then ought to be contextual based on the given challenges within the environment.

References

Burger, J., Field, C., Norgaard., R., Ostrom, E., and Policansky, D., 2001, Common-Pool Resources and Commons Institutions an Overview of the Applicability of the Concept and Approach to Current Environmental Problems. In: Burger, J., Field, C., Norgaard., R., Ostrom, E., and Policansky, D., (eds) (2001) Protecting the Commons: The Framework for Resource Management in the Americas. Washington: Island Press, Pp.1-15.

Jansen, L and Weaver, P. (2008) Education to Meet New challenges in a networked society. In: Larkley, J. and Maynhard (Eds) Innovation in Education. New York. Nova Science Publishers, pp. 1-47.

McAndrew, P. and Farrow, R. (2013) Open education research: from the practical to the theoretical. In: McGreal, Rory; Kinuthia, Wanjira and Marshall, Stewart eds. Open Educational Resources: Innovation, Research and Practice. Vancouver: Commonwealth of Learning and Athabasca University, pp. 65–78.