This week's topic in ETEC 647e covering open educational resources (OER) and open courseware was quite possibly the most enjoyable and addictively time consuming one yet. While I had looked at iTunes U before, I had not really paid much attention to what I was seeing. Nor, had I realized its value. That all changed this week as my Team Tokyo teammates and I worked together to complete this week's project. I now realize what an awesome resources OER and open courseware can be.
Having said that, I also learned how hunting down these OERs can become a proverbial black hole which sucks in and devours hours of one's life in the seeming blink of an eye. The material offered at iTunes is just so extensive! And so interesting!
Being naturally curious and a lover of learning, I was easily distracted by all the educational opportunities I found. Even after my teammates and I had decided upon a particular OER and had decided upon a particular program to learn about, I still searched for more ways to learn more about it. I just wanted to see what else I could find, what else I could learn. In so doing, I learned another lesson.
This lesson, however, was more of a cold blast of unpleasantness than it was an euphoric gush of joy. You see, I was reminded that sometimes technology just does not function as expected. I was reminded that sometimes things just do not work.
My teammates and I had decided to use a particular OER at iTunes U to learn how to use Evernote. The OER looked interesting and it seemed to offer us the means to answer all of the questions asked in the assignment.
Unfortunately, when, after we had finished our cooperative Google Hangout, I started to utilize the material that we had selected, I discovered that it was not nearly as complete nor as useful as we had first thought. Oh well, in that we all learn a valuable lesson.
To try to make up for this perceived short coming, I began looking for other OERs to supplement the rather seemingly weak one my teammates and I had chosen.
Low and behold, I found something that looked much better than the one we had selected. I could not help but ask myself "How had all three of us missed it?" Now, I think the answer is clear. We missed it thanks to divine providence.
You see, the OER I found, while its description looked very good, was really just a frustrating tease. No matter how many times I "subscribed" to it, it never showed up in my iTunes U library. Every time I when back to see if perhaps that material was available where I subscribed, I discovered that my subscription request had not gone through. The button which had switched from "subscribe" to "subscribed" with my previous click, was back to displaying "subscribe." This wonderful seeming OER does not really seem to exist.
Looking at the contributions to our team's success made by my teammates, and looking at the better seeming but actually not functioning better option that I found, I came to realize that we had picked the best OER for our purposes. Judging by their work and by my own discoveries I believe that this experience taught each of us a lot about OERs.
I would also like to say something about Evernote, the program we tried to use the OER to learn. Honestly, I think that it is going to be one of those programs like Twitter. It will take me a while to both get the hang of it and to really understand its value.
Learning about it through the OER and through the Evernote tutorial on its website was really fun. It too seemed to evaporate the time I had allotted for the project. It too seemed as if one could lose themselves and all their free time just trying to play with, learn, master, and then actually utilize it for its intended purpose.
These new technologies, if they can get one's attention and spark one's interest with their possibilities they can really consume one's time. I almost have to wonder whether, on balance, some of these more addictive programs are really valuable or are just another way to whittle away the already too limited hours of our days.
Or then again, maybe it is just me and my overzealousness to learn and master new things?
Lastly, I would like to touch upon my experience with my Team Tokyo teammates. In a word, it was awesome. All three of us are VERY busy. Yet, we managed to make time for both a very productive Google Hangout, create what I believe to be a fantastic presentation for the class, and overcome the difficulties that arose when our "best laid plans" went astray. Both of my teammates were excellent. I look forward to working with them again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment