Open education

# 7 Conclusion

Figure 19

You are now at the end of the Open Education open course. To pull it together and help you check your understanding of what you’ve learned, we suggest that open learners do the following activity.

## What to expect this week

In this concluding week there are two activities to enable you to reflect on the course, and consider aspects of open education.

## Activity 26: Reflecting on openness

Timing: 5 hours

In this activity you will create a video and share it via your blog, using YouTube, Vimeo or other video-sharing sites. If you prefer not to create a video then you can use audio or another tool or medium of your choice, but avoid just plain text in this instance if possible.

In your video reflect on what you have learned in this course, covering both of the following elements:

- What aspect of openness in education interests you most (and why)?
- What the future direction of open education will be in your opinion, justifying your answer.
- Your experience of studying an open course versus traditional, formal education.

Post your video to your blog. If you are content to use Twitter to share your thoughts, Tweet about your blog post using the hashtags #h817open and #Activity26.

## Activity 27: Reflecting on your experience of an open course

Timing: 3 hours

Create an extended text blog post (in text, video, or audio form as you prefer) about your experience of studying this open course (and previous open courses you may have studied) versus your prior experiences of traditional, formal education. Try to gather your reflections over at least two separate study sessions, so that you have time to register your initial reactions, and then post your subsequent responses to your initial reactions and how your thinking may have changed after a little more time.

Post your reflection to your blog.

If you are content to use Twitter to share your thoughts, Tweet about your blog post using the hashtags #h817open and #Activity27.

This is the end of the open course. We hope you have found both the content and the experience useful.

Openness in education is undergoing a period of rapid change, with different forms of openness being proposed in all areas of higher education. Sometimes this doesn’t turn out the way the initial proponents of openness hoped that it would, and we are seeing many discussions arising around what constitutes openness.

The intention of this open course has been to provide you with sufficient experience and knowledge to engage in these debates and discussions as the field progresses.

If you wish to explore Open Education further, take a look at The Open University’s Master’s in Online and Distance Education. Another recommended free course related to education, openness and technology is The digital scholar.

OpenLearn - Open education
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