So…for those of you just joining me on this 16 week journey through Tropical Mar
So…for those of you just joining me on this 16 week journey through Tropical Marine Biology (and our 9 day trip to Turks and Caicos in 2 days), you might be wondering what all these blog posts are about, and why are we doing them? As a junior, and incoming senior studying Biology at Keene State College, several of my teachers have changed their teaching philosophy to open education. Open education is the philosophy and belief that people, even the world should produce, share, and build on knowledge that everyone has access to. It is believed that open education will promote a higher quality education and community that has been so limited by the textbook companies and licenses.
The first “open education” course I took at Keene State College was an Introduction to Neurobiology with Dr. Whittemore. I understood the concept, and like any other assignment, I did it, according to the guidelines given, and produced the work. However, I took it for granted. I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to take over my education like I should have. This past semester I am currently finishing up, I took two courses in which professors taught with the open education philosophy: Endocrine and Endocrine Disruption and Tropical Marine Biology. Noticing a trend in the upper level biology courses and professors new philosophy, I decided to give this open education philosophy a chance. I figured worse that could happen was that, I didn’t have to pay for yet another ridiculously expensive text book. At first, I was hesitant to accept this change, but eventually adapted, and actually learned so much. So, here it goes, what open education taught me:
To Keep An Open Mind
The traditional methods of Powerpoint slides and textbook readings are slowly coming to an end, and that is okay. I was skeptical that this open education philosophy would work, questioned what I was going to learn, before I even gave it a chance. So, I learned to keep an open mind. Education isn’t a way single, one-way, narrow, dead-end street. It is open to possibilities, and many of them, it doesn’t have to be a specific way. Your education is what you make of it, no matter how you may learn, be open to new methods; it is okay.
To Take Control of My Education
Open education comes down to one word: accountability. As a student using the open education philosophy, you chose a topic, do the research, compile it, and make a blog post, such as this one. Noticing a theme? This is your education, and for the first time, in a very long time, maybe ever, we have a say in what we want to learn. Granted, there are parameters and some guidelines we need to stick to, but the bottom line is, you get to learn what you want to learn, and that is huge; revolutionary maybe. The take away? Don’t take for granted your education, and don’t let an individual, whether a peer, professor, or textbook company, have more control over your education than you do.
That My Professors Are Still Learning Too
This might be one of t