Synthesis

After reading all the articles and browsing through the websites this week, I feel as if there is a better understanding for open content, creative commons, and electronic books.  Although these tools of the internet are spreading like a virus to millions of people around the world, there are still positives and challenges in applying them to teaching and learning. 

            Open content has brought a new age of how information is disseminated to the learner.  They allow for customizable documents to be shared within classrooms, which ultimately increase the adaptability of a classroom.  All of this comes to the user for free, which significantly increases the chances of usage.  Open content also allows the students to find new works, evaluate the information provided in front of them, and put this information to use (Johnson, Adams, & Haywood, 2011, pg. 23).  This allows a new form of learning for the students and engages them in different learning styles.  Although the teacher should create lesson plans, it also helps them in reducing their own workloads within the classroom.  All of the materials for a lecture can be downloaded and modified for any lecture.  It is very surprising that the open content also gives credit where credit is due, which in any academic institution hold many accountable for their work.  It is amazing how companies such as Creative Commons have increased this awareness for open content using specific licensing options.  After looking at their website, I was very shocked to see the number of companies that participate in open content.  Since health is my background, I was amazed that GlaxoSmithKline surrendered a malaria data set.  This allows for other users (primarily people who love stats) to work with this information and create a publication from it, allowing more people to see research at its best.  Open content and the technology surrounding it will be important for our future as educators wherever we end up. 

            Electronic books are also very important as we continue to digitally enhance everyday living.  With the invention of the Kindle, Google E-reader, Apple iPad, and many other electronic devices, it literally has changed the way we read books.  “Publishers are beginning to explore richly visual interfaces that include multimedia and collaborative elements” (Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, & Haywood, 2011, pg. 8).  This allows the reader to interact with what is being read in the e-book.  Instead of blankly reading Shakespeare, the reader can now engage interactively with others in understanding a lost genre of literature.  Electronic books also help with the amount that can be carried.  Since the electronic books can store hundreds of books on one tablet, it reduces potential health risks that might occur due to carrying a heavy load of books.  They also allow the use to stop in the middle of a page at the computer and pick up again from a mobile device, as long as it has internet access ("Google ebooks: Overview ," ).  With such an advanced piece of technology at our disposals, it can only make our lives easier in the classroom as well as our personal lives. 

Even though open content is starting to gain notoriety across the world, there are still some challenges that must not be overlooked.  Academia thrives on publications and many of the journals that professors and students submit to have a strict peer reviewed process.  Unfortunately, open content lacks within this area and within the scientific community and many don’t recognize it as quality information.  Additionally open content needs more research and work on the models for citation of any new content that is published (Johnson, et al, 2011, pg. 23).  Again looking at the academic world how does one cite from an open content writing and is it valid and reliable.  Another problem that may hinder the expansion of open content is the amount of materials that are available.  After perusing through some of the websites, I noticed that one site had limited options available to the user, while another had a variety of options.  There is not consistency when looking for information on the websites.  I also noticed that many of the publications were from an earlier date (in the health field) and not very recent in nature.  This can cause a problem, if users are trying for up-to-date information.  Even after all of these challenges, it can be safe to say that open content will be a dominant force in education within the next ten years. 

Electronic books also have their problems because there still isn’t enough research out on them yet.  Since E-books rely on a power source, many of these readers need to be charged and can pose problems if they aren’t connected.  There haven’t been clear studies that show the long term effects of using an E-reader.  Eventually something new will come out and it has the potential to become obsolete, like its predecessor paperbacks.  With so many unanswered questions, there has to be a caution for its usage until they can be determined as a low hazard risk.  E-books are still going to be around as long as people are going to use them, so even though there are unanswered questions, it will take some time to figure it out. 

 References

Google ebooks: Overview . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/help/ebooks/overview.html

Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., (2011). The NMC Horizon Report:

2011 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.