3rd Learning Reflection

This session started with Frances Ferreira who talked about illiteracy rate among children especially in developing countries. I strongly agree with her, that if we want to scale up education, we should not only develop educational resources but also choose the right licenses for these educational resources. Ahrash Bissell mentioned the phrase "when sharing, simple is best". For educators to reuse, revise, remix or redistribute the learning resources, it is essential that they are published under CC-BY. CC-BY automatically encompasses the four essential freedoms. I also learnt about the copyleft license model and its conditions are that any remixes and derivatives should carry the same licence as the original which according to me will limit freedom of use on educational resources. Lastly in this session, the objective of OER university which will be a blessing especially to students from developing countries.

Overall, this micro open online course was really an enriching experience for me. Although the last five sessions were very time consuming, I really enjoyed completing all the activities. This was my first online course and I must admit I learned more than traditional courses. The activities, case study, learning reflections and also small personal thoughts have played a major role to reinforce learning. This course gave me the opportunity to use micro blogs and to create my own blog. Equally the term "Open Educational Resources" (OER), prior to the start of this course was totally new to me. I got the opportunity to know how OER can contribute to standardize the quality of education worldwide and at the same time provide free education to students in developing countries. 

I was totally unaware about the existence of Creative Commons licenses and I was amazed how creative commons CC-BY can help in the battle to make Educational Resources "open". The Creative Commons licenses combination were also interesting and I was happy to learn about the advantages and limitations. Previously when researching an information or image from the internet, I did not checked whether the work was copyrighted but henceforth I will definitely check the licenses of any resource before downloading from the internet. Regarding the choice of license, I strongly agree with Ahrash Bissell recommendation that for the sake of simplicity OERs should all aim to be CC BY. As an educator, I consider teaching more like a vocation than business. So educators should not bother to publish their work under the CC-BY-NC license as our aims should be to promote learning and build on existing resources. So henceforth, I will opt for a CC-BY license when publishing my educational resources.

E-Activity – Remix and reflection

Dodo

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Its closest genetic relative was the also extinct Rodrigues Solitaire, the two forming the subfamily Raphinae of the family of pigeons and doves. The closest living relative of the Dodo is the Nicobar Pigeon. A white Dodo was once incorrectly thought to have existed on the nearby island of Réunion.

Reference:
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo)
(Retrieved on 16 September 2013)
Creative Commons License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 

Remake of 1626 painting by Roelant Savery

Reference:

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/dodo/pictures/3963/

(Retrieved on 16 September 2013)

A brief history of the dodo

The Dodo were huge birds of unknown species that existed only on the island of Mauritius which had no human habitation prior to 1598. Due to its short wings and bulky body the dodo could not fly or flee in the face of danger.

For many years people have been using the above description when referring to the Dodo. However, new research carried out in the United Kingdom has revealed two important things we did not know before about this extinct bird.

Firstly, the Dodo came from a distant family of Asian pigeons. Secondly, they were not so huge and bulky in their natural habitat as was commonly thought of. 

Those birds had no experience of any types of predators before the arrival of settlers in the island. They were passive creatures even when approached by human visitors for the first time. So it was with lack of fears and child-like innocence that those birds greeted the first settlers, the Dutch, in 1598.

The story of the Dodo is indeed a tragic one. Firstly, human visitors, mainly the Dutch, used to kill them for food. Those that survived became prey to animals such as pigs, rats and monkeys that had been introduced into the island by sailors. By the year 1681 the last Dodo had died. The manner in which the Dodo were obliterated from the surface of the earth has left a lasting impact on the natural history of our global eco-system: in fact a lesson in extinction to humanity. So much so, that the English expression 'As dead as the Dodo' had to be coined to emphasize the concept of total annihilation or non-existence (by death) of something, or someone, or some idea, either in the literal or abstract sense.

Reference:

http://www.mauritiusdelight.com/dodohist.htm

(Retrieved on 16 September 2013)

Copyright - All Rights Reserved

Findings

In October 2005, Dutch and Mauritian researchers found a cache of 2,000-year-old bones from about 20 dodos in Mauritius. These findings were made public in December 2005 by Naturalis, the Netherlands scientific institute in Leiden. The discovery was significant because of the scarcity of specimens today. The last complete stuffed bird burned in a fire at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum in 1755. As of 2006, no complete skeleton has ever been found.

Though no whole specimens are preserved, a number of museum collections contain dodo skeletons that are composites, made up of the bones of different birds. A dodo egg is on display at the East London[ Museum in South Africa. The most complete remains of a single dodo are a head and foot, on display at the Oxford Museum of Natural History. Analysis of genetic material recovered from this specimen revealed that the dodo was a member of the pigeon family and its closest living relative is likely the Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) from the Nicobar Islands and nearby Southeast Asia (Shapiro 2002).

Reference:

New World Encyclopedia

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dodo

(Retrieved on 16 September 2013)

Creative Commons License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 

Contents on this blog is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Reflections

I used two articles under Creative Commons license BY-SA, one resource (image) in the public domain, and an All Rights Reserved work used here under Fair use as per Mauritius copyright act 1997. Even after research research on the internet, I was unable to find articles on "Dodo" published under other different Creative Commons license types. Since all the articles under creative commons licenses has the restrictions Share Alike (SA), all the works that follows contain the same term of use thus limiting I search. I even came across several articles more precisely image which I wasn't sure about their licenses. So to be on the safe side, I preferred to chose an image from the public domain.

Although this activity was very time-consuming as I spent more than 2 hrs searching for suitable articles and images, I believe it was an enriching experience for me where I got to learn news things about copyright and creative commons. This activity has also allowed me to read a bit about the "Mauritius copyright act 1997" which I was totally unaware.

I have registered this post registered with Creative Commons under CC Attribution-Share Alike license (CC BY-SA). This allow people having access to this post to copy, distribute, display and perform my copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they credit me in their work. People will also be able to use this post for commercial purposes as I believe this post contains interesting facts about dodo and can be use to promote Mauritius island worldwide. This give me the feeling that I am taking part in my community by promoting my beloved island.

E-Activity - Activity 3.1

Scenario: John is a Design and Technology teacher in a private college in Mauritius. As there is not a specific book which cover the whole syllabus of Design and Technology at HSC level, John decided to prepare his own teaching resources in the form of an e-book. The e-book will be used within the classroom in order to help students better understand their lessons. In order to prepare his e-book, John will download and use information, pictures and animated images from technologystudent.com website and the author of the contents in the website is V.Ryan.

Multiple Choice Questions:

Question 1: Do you think that John has the right to use these information, pictures and animated images without asking the consent of the author?

YES
Correct:  The author indicates on the website that all materials may be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted solely for your own private use (in this instance, for teaching purposes within the classroom)

NO
Incorrect: On the website, the author states that contents are free to use only for personal use and any other use requires the prior written permission of the V.Ryan.


Question 2: Will John be able to post his e-book on the school website so that other students can have access to it?

YES
Incorrect: It is stated in the 'COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER' on the website that contents on technologystudent.com website must not be placed on other Websites.

NO
Correct:  On website it is indicated that contents are solely for your own private use but not for any commercial or public use. However it is also mentioned that any other use of contents on technologystudent.com website requires the prior written permission of the V.Ryan.

Case study - Session 3

For session 3 we had to explore the issues surrounding copyright. As part of this session we had to explore a fictional online course on Hamlet created by an English teacher and available through the LMS at the school that she teachers at. The teacher is planning to use a number of resources including a portrait of William Shakespeare, an image of Hamlet, an edited text of the original play and a short video on Hamlet produced by the BBC.

The idea of the exercise was to highlight some of the complications of copyright law.

The text of Hamlet edited by Charles Kean is out of copyright and in the public domain. So Theresa can include The text of Hamlet in her course without consent or permission from the copyright holder.

The image of Hamlet by William Morris Hunt is held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. According to their 'Terms of use' (FAIR USE PERMITTED: The Materials are made available for limited non-commercial, educational, and personal use only, or for fair use as defined in the United States copyright laws. Users may download these files for personal use, subject to any additional terms or restrictions applicable to the individual Material. Users must properly cite to the source of the Materials and the citations should include a link to www.mfa.org. By downloading, printing, or using Material from the Website, whether accessed directly or indirectly, users agree that such uses will comply with fair use, and will not violate MFA’s or any other party's proprietary rights), Theresa can include an image of the portrait of Hamlet in her course as it is for educational purpose.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust own the copyright of the digital copy of the Cobbe portrait. According to 'Terms and condition' (Copyright: The copyright in all content comprising or contained within this website remains with The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and other copyright owners as specified. Users may access content on this site solely for their own personal or educational non-commercial use.), Theresa can include a digital copy of the Cobbe portrait in her course as it is for educational purpose.

A copy of the BBC video providing an overview of the major themes of the play is protected by copyright which is owned by the BBC. According to the 'terms of use' (If you comply with these Terms of Use and any applicable Additional Terms and with all relevant laws (for instance, copyright law), you may use BBC Online Services to access, view and/or listen to BBC Content for your personal and non-business use), Theresa can include a copy of the BBC video in her course as it is for non-business purpose (educational purpose).

The slide show was based on Theresa's own original research work drawing extensively on her article published in the Australian Humanities Review, an open access journal. So most probably the Theresa will have to seek permission from the Australian National University before including a copy of the slide show in the LMS.

The case study was really interesting. It shows clearly that before creating learning materials, one need to seek permissions where necessary.

Learning reflection for session 2

Session 2 was without doubt a good learning experience, where the focus was on "Open Educational Resources" (OER). I was very impressed with the concept of 4R's which is reuse, revise, remix and re-distribute. For educators, making use of educational resources online will enhance the learning of students. Therefore if we educator has the freedom to reuse online educational resources in our classes, modify and adapt them to suit our lesson, merge them with other educational resources to create new resources, and share them with our fellow colleagues and also students, them according to me the literacy rate across the world will definitely increase.

Being an Design and Technology educator, I can say that I have already started to use the concept of 4R's in my teaching. The syllabus of Design and Technology at Higher level is very vast and there is not a comprehensive book on the market which cover the whole syllabus. As I don't want my students to buy several books for one class, I decided to research resources and tutorials online that would be helpful. Sometimes I use the resources in its original state, sometimes I modify and simplify it so that my students understand better, sometimes create a new resources by merging two or several resources in order to teach a topic better. Lastly each student is given a hard copy of the educational resources. Eventually at the end of each semester, each students have their notes stapled together forming their own textbook. I even share my notes with other Design and Technology teachers.

So this practice of 4R's is already present in education although there exist several OER which are protected by copyright and not accessible to common people. All these restriction will only limit creativity in learning. According to me OER is the key to be more creative in learning and to educate the population worldwide.

However the question that still need to be ask is how to make all these resources 'open'? What will be the future of universities and other learning institutions once OER is achieved? Will the creator of knowledge still be keen to share his work freely on the net?

We still have to determine how to adapt OER in our community and make it beneficial  to all stakeholders involved!!!

Learning Reflection for Session 1

I have created this blog for the open contest licensing for educator course (OCL4Ed). In fact it's my first ever blog and I did get a lot of trouble before creating it. I should admit that before this session, the only social network site that I was familiar was only Facebook. However with the help of my friends who are also participation in this workshop, I was able to create my blog and carried out the activities involved in session 1. For me this is an amazing and fruitful experience to learn new things and hope I will be able to adapt whatever I am learning here in my teaching.

Prior to this workshop I did know about e-learning materials but I was totally unaware about the open licensing. From my point of view, education is very fundamental in everyone's life. Everyone should get the opportunity to be educated. Nowadays there are thousands of millions of e-learning resources which are available freely on the internet. So anyone can get instant access to these resources. However, there are also copyright resources which require special licenses to be able to use them.

That's the importance of open licensing. This will save money and allow students from remote place around the world to getting full access to education freely. Coupled with this there will be sharing of knowledge, ideas, suggestion and this interaction of learners can only benefit themselves.

The extract which discuss about teaching as a vocation or profession is also very interesting. It gives food for thoughts. If all educators consider teaching as a vocation, they will always be in search of new knowledge, new teaching strategies which can only enhance the learning of their students. From now onward, I will try to adhere to these practices for the better development of our our future generations.

In order to improve the quality of education worldwide, digital freedom should be allow. Schools, colleges, universities, institutions should be able to share, modify and reuse learning materials freely and legally.

Having said all these, the questions that remain are, what will be the future of our schools, colleges, universities, institutions if digital freedom and open licensing is achieved??? Will they have to shut down? Will they be available just for evaluation purposes like examinations? All these issues will need to be sorted out before coming a decision.

About me

My Intro

Hi, I am Ritish Haman and I live in Mauritius. I am a Design and Technology teacher in a private college called Le Lycee Mauricien. It will be nearly 3 years since I joined the education field and it has been really a fantastic and enriching journey till now. I consider education as the most powerful weapon which you can use to change your world.

Presently I am following a Msc course in Educational Technology and I hope to learn new things through this course and eventually help my students in the future. 

For the requirement of this course we were ask to create a blog in order to participate in the Open Content Licensing for Educators course. Till now the only social network site I am familiar with is facebook but hopefully with this Msc course I will get the chance to learn and use other social network sites. Being a first time blogger I did get some difficulties to create and personalize my blog, but thank you youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaQUdIXEJ9Q ) for rescuing me ;-) !!!!

My Objective

Some teachers, once they have attained certain level of experience in their field of expertise, tend to feel that they do have the skill it takes to actually reach all kinds of students as well as the skill it takes to teach whatever content. However, according to me, teaching is to be perfected on a daily basis and technology is to make our teaching more effective and efficient especially for our new generation of students.

Technology is to be adapted in order to meet students’ need in classroom. One of the most remarkable characteristics of technology is its adaptability and we have to take full advantage of such a fact. Teaching is to be student-centered, therefore, technology as well as any other teaching-learning resources must suit what students learning requirements suggest.

Having said all this, my objective regarding this course is to grow as a teacher and I hope that this course prove fruitful and beneficial not only in terms of how much I will lean but also in terms of how much I can shared with other people through my blog. And I hope that this workshop on Open Content Licensing for Educators course help me in my professional development.

I want to end by inviting my fellow friends, colleagues and students to follow my blog and any constructive comment or opinion will be the most welcome. I also encourage my fellow colleague to create their own blog and follow the workshop on Open Content Licensing for Educators course.

"The only way to obtain perfection in any field is constant learning and practice"