Though ostensibly a review of the book edited by Laura Czerniewicz and Catherine Cronin, this article stands as a manifesto on its own, defining what constitutes a 'good' university, identifying the relation to 'open', and arguing for a basis in social justice, broadly construed. Now I am not at all a supporter of the neo-Liberal vision of higher education that is cast as the antagonist in this review, and I am even in support of pretty much each of the causes listed, but there's one important difference between my vision of open education and theirs: my version of open education is not tied explicitly to a particular progressive world view. Education - like democracy - must be for everyone. If someone wants to learn how to be a neo-liberal techno-capitalist, there should be an opportunity in the system for them to do so. I am concerned about things like data and evidence, accuracy, relevance and impact. An open learning resource may be valuable even if it does not adhere to a particular conception of social justice. I fear that for many readers this may place me squarely on 'the other side' - but the very idea that there would be 'sides' in open education is antithetical to me.
Today: 0 Total: 128 [Direct link] [Share]
