Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash.
In this first credit course of the RRU Master of Arts in Learning and Technology (MALAT) program, I had the opportunity to participate in live webinars and review previously recorded sessions as part of the 2024 MALAT Virtual Symposium. I began my journey with Elizabeth Child’s (2019) and Dave Cormier’s (2017) sessions that introduced Open Education as both a concept and a value system.
At the Crossroads
Unfortunately, I had significant difficulty hearing Catherine Cronin’s 2017 recording, so I opted to review the keynote titled The future isn’t what it used to be delivered by Catherine Cronin and Laura Czerniewicz at the Open Education Conference (OER24) on March 28, 2024. In their talk, Cronin and Czerniewicz (2024) posited that Open Education is at a crossroads due to the global polycrisis that COVID-19 and internal and external factors have exacerbated. Cronin and Cerniewicz concluded their talk with a call to action and a final question for the audience; “how can we genuinely grow a global alliance of open education networks?”
In recent years, I have followed the work of the Consilience Project, the Center for Humane Technology and Nate Hagens, and education is often noted as a core element to address the global coordination problems perpetuating the metacrisis, but discrete approaches have not been proposed. Cronin and Czerniewicz’s call to action for a global alliance of open education networks presents an interesting potential solution.
In her talk, Katia Maxwell (2024) identified the significant difficulties experienced by international students in asynchronous learning programs in Canada. Upon reflecting on this talk, I wondered about the role of, and access to, Open Education for international students, particularly those participating in asynchronous programs. Could growth in Canadian OER and OEP deliver accessible learning without the risks of coming to Canada? However, the question is complex as potential problems such as technology-mediated neocolonialism could create unintended harm.
AI Opportunities and Limitations in Learning
In addition to the challenges of Open Education, Artificial Intelligence was a common theme in many sessions. In her talk, Nicole Johnson (2024) used findings from the Pan-Canadian Digital Learning Survey Project to support the expectation of greater technology use in post-secondary education, particularly AI. However, the survey data indicated that the role of AI in post-secondary education is still unclear (Johnson, 2024). In their talk, Monique Brewer and Jenni Heyman (2024) shared examples where training closed AIs on large amounts of specialized knowledge produced engaging structured educational content. An interesting side conversation emerged among the attendees about personal experiences with open AIs and issues of accuracy and ownership of ideas. The discussion reminded me of Corrie Houldsworth’s talk (2024) and her concern about current AI biases and reliability in critical applications.
Overall, the 2024 Virtual Symposium was a stimulating start to the MALAT program and I look forward to investigating the intersection of Open Education, ethics, and AI in the coming years with my peers.
References
Brewer, M. and Heyman, J. (2024, April 11) Using Generative Ai in Centres for Teaching and
Learning – approaches, challenges, and opportunities [Webinar]. MALAT 2024 Symposium. Royal Roads University. https://mediaspace.royalroads.ca/media/Instructional+Designers+using+Generative+Ai+April+11+2024/0_ks3alslr
Childs, E. (2019, April 15) Part 1. Openness in MALAT [Webinar]. MALAT 2019 Symposium. Royal Roads University. https://mediaspace.royalroads.ca/id/0_6v7lpo97
Cormier, D. (2017, April 18) Intentional messiness of online communities [Webinar]. MALAT 2017 Symposium. Royal Roads University. https://mediaspace.royalroads.ca/id/0_mm564uhv
Cronin, C. and Czerniewicz, L. (2024, March 28) The future isn’t what it used to be: Open education at a crossroads [Keynote]. Open Education Conference (OER24). Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland. https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2024/03/oer24-the-future-isnt-what-it-used-to-be/
Houldsworth, C. (2024, April 9) Interactive tech empowers educators [Webinar]. MALAT 2024 Symposium. Royal Roads University. https://mediaspace.royalroads.ca/media/C%20Houldsworth%20MALATVS%20April%209%202024/0_y8ic7n1l
Johnson, N. (2024, April 8) Digital learning trends in Canadian post-secondary education: A time of digital transformation [Webinar]. MALAT 2024 Symposium. Royal Roads University. https://mediaspace.royalroads.ca/media/N%20Johnston%20MALAT%20VS%202024/0_296cnc6m
Maxell, K. (2024, April 12) What does it mean to be an international student in an asynchronous learning environment [Webinar]. MALAT 2024 Symposium. Royal Roads University. https://mediaspace.royalroads.ca/media/K+Maxwell+MALAT+VS+April+12+2024/0_xurhuoid
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