Building upon our understanding of ed-tech history from reading Weller (2020), our first major assignment in this unit asked us to choose one person of interest and further explore their contributions to the field. If innovation and technology drive social change, the creative commons license is undoubtedly the vehicle that has helped bring teachers and students into a new world of inter-connectedness and creativity.
Inspired by the impacts of easily editable computer code, or open-source code, David Wiley created the open content license that later developed into the Open Publication License (OPL) in 1998. Lessig and others used this innovation in 2001 to launch the Creative Commons license (Weller, 2020), and as such, I have chosen to explore David Wiley’s contributions to the field for this assignment.
Wiley coined the term ‘open content’ in 1998. His early work explored the concept of learning objects, defined by Linda Williams as “anything that can be used to instruct… and that is free of traditional copyright” (Lumen Learning, 2014, 1:30). In the years since, he has sought to develop ways that help teachers expand their operational bandwidth to support more students with better resources (Wiley, 2000a), and established Lumen Learning in 2012 to support the adoption of open education resources and reduce the cost of textbooks (McGivern, 2019). His dissertation reviewed learning object design and sequencing theory. It proposed the LODAS model, whereby ‘prescriptive linking material’ could help provide a standard organizational schema or taxonomy for researchers exploring the effectiveness of learning objects (Wiley, 2000b). In 2002, he discussed the reusability paradox, reminding educators that context is paramount for learners but cumbersome in software code design (Weller, 2020, p. 52). In 2008, he argued that good learning objects encourage dialogue (Weller, 2020, p. 54). Finally, in 2009, he explored the impact of dark reuse, whereby those interacting and creating open educational resources may be reusing resources in un-measurable ways (Weller, 2020, p. 81).
If you are interested in learning more about David Wiley, I recommend either of these resources to get started:
References
Lumen Learning (2014, January 27). Lumen Learning: Supporting students to succeed with open education. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1OUZJtGuyVg?t=90
Wiley (2000a). The Instructional Use of Learning Objects — Online Version. Reusability.org. http://reusability.org/read/#1
Wiley, D. (2000b). Learning object design and sequencing theory. https://opencontent.org/docs/dissertation.pdf
McGivern, C., SF Team. (2019, November 29). David Wiley & Lumen Learning: Making OER Mainstream. Shuttleworth Foundation. https://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/thinking/2019/11/29/thinking-david-wiley/
Soper, T. (2018, December 21). Lumen Learning raises more cash, aims to replace traditional textbooks with digital ‘open educational resources. Geek wire. https://www.geekwire.com/2018/edtech-startup-lumen-learning-raises-cash-aims-replace-textbooks-digital-open-educational-resources/