Transparency.
Open Systems.
Open.
We've been hearing this word "open" a lot in the past year or two, especially since Bush left office. You may have seen this letter from Google titled "The Meaning of Open." One phrase that stuck out to me was this:
"...innovation in a closed system tends towards being incremental at best (is a four blade razor really that much better than a three blade one?) because the whole point is to preserve the status quo. Complacency is the hallmark of any closed system."
It makes me think about the struggle many educators feel who live in an open system on the blogosphere and on Twitter, sharing ideas, lesson plans, and strategies- only to have to go back to their closed systems when they go to work. This is sad.
So, if open systems breed innovation and collaboration, what does a pure open educational system look like? I've set up a topic in Google Moderator, and will let this idea grow for a few weeks.
The link to the topic is here, and I urge you to add your ideas. You can attach a video if you'd like. Should we really be trying to live within this current system? Or should we re-design it? Let us know, and I'll continue to share your ideas on Twitter and the like. Thanks for your contributions.
