Open Education 2030
Lifelong Learning
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported License.
Future of Open Education: A Lifelong Learner’s Vision through OERP 2030
Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
University of Delhi, Delhi (India)
Email: vinodpr111@gmail.com
In 2030, learners and facilitators would give rise to a society made up of global democratic
citizen, having values of respecting others, as they are, with the help of highly advanced
technologies through sustainable practices involving public and private actors including the
last learner of the society, too, through open educational resources and practices facilitating
learning, throughout the life.
Learners
Enrolment and support schemes: Enrolment will be possible through mobiles, also, and would
be automatized. While making entries in the forms the ‘automator’ will support throughout
the form and would provide several options for lessening the chances of errors. Going through
several automated suggestions, no mistakes would be made in the forms. There would be a
single platform for all the similar courses. Once signed up for a particular course, information
pertaining to all the institutes would be automatically received well in time through
mobile/email/social networking sites etc. Temporal and information constraints would not be
a problem.
Peer learning and interaction: In place of heavy devices like mobile, laptop, etc. learners
would be using wrist-watches for interaction and all sorts of computer/web-enabled task
would be pursued through a folding transparent screen fitted within the watches. Noises will
have no place in peer learning and interaction.
Learner-teacher roles: Teachers would be simply learning managers through moderating,
managing, configuring, correcting, and adjudicating the best possible learning open
educational resources. Perhaps, the open educational resources would themselves be able to
correct, manage and transfer them to the learners, while a certain set of instructions are
programmed and given by the teacher. Teacher would be working, all the time, just to
enhance the quality of produced open educational resources. Learner would be learning,
throughout the life, based on the principles of the ‘hole in the wall’. Learner and teacher
would never come in face-to-face contact with each other throughout the entire course and
sometimes may not know each other for the whole period and that would be very challenging.
Learning practices and outcomes: Most of the learning, throughout the life, would be
automated, machine-driven, machine-managed and automated. The entire burden would lie on
the high quality open educational resources. Learning practices would be focused on not just
exploring the open educational resources but the highest quality open educational resources.
Learning, throughout the life, would be a fun and learning practices would not be
emphasizing on the memorization or rote learning. Knowing the figure and facts would not
make any difference in learning, throughout the life. Learning, throughout the life, will be
meant ‘how’ and ‘why’.
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Linking formal and informal learning: Since, most of the learning, throughout the life, would
be ubiquitous and through wrist-watches, hand held devices etc. there would be no formal
system of learning, throughout the life. Learners would be learning, throughout the life, at
their own pace, at the time when they decide, at the place where they are comfortable, courses
and subjects which they feel interesting and joyful, there would be no place for the formal
system of education. Learning, throughout the life, would be for the learner, by the learner
and to the learner. There would be no concept of ‘power hierarchy’ as learners and peers
would play significant role in evaluation, grading and final accreditation.
Learner engagement and motivation: Learning, throughout the life, would be driven by selfmotivation.
A high quality of open educational resources would engage learners in a better
way than that of the teachers. A ‘whole in the hole’ (everything in the screen fitted in the hole
of the wrist-watch) principles would not only engage learners all the time but also ease of
access would create a sense of attachment to the learning process.
Teachers
Teacher-learner interaction: Teacher and learner would interact in a temporal-free, spatialfree,
bias-free and idiosyncratic-free environment. The culture variability will have no
meaning; the language will no more be a variable. A democratic and learning-friendly
environment would be generated, where caste, class, strata, creed, race, religion, colour,
language, gender, locality will have no hamper on the learning, throughout the life. No system
made for learning, throughout the life, will ask information like gender, etc. A teacher would
be a teacher, not a male or a female, and a learner would be a learner, not a male or a female.
Teacher training and collaboration: Teacher training aspirations would be totally changed. A
good teacher training course would be the one which can turn a person to generate, manage,
moderate and configure open educational resources with high quality. The quality manager of
learning open educational resources would be a good teacher. Since all the open educational
resources would be generated by learners, teachers would be learning, throughout the life, to
enhance their quality, maintaining the quality and manage such open educational resources
under different domains so that learners can easily access them as per their need. The best set
of teachers would be having best possible collaborations consisting of teachers from various
streams, disciplines and domains. They would be collaborating to manage and correcting the
open educational resources keeping high quality with respect to not only a single subject but
the open educational resources sound with respect to all the subjects altogether and
simultaneously.
Pedagogical methodologies and practices: Pedagogical methodologies and practices would
be limited to managing the learning through learning open educational resources. The
evaluation part would need better quizzes, questionnaires, tests, rubrics, etc. which would be
developed with the help of learners. The methodologies and practices would be learner-driven
than the system-driven or teacher-driven.
Quality and innovation: The innovations would be guided by the strategy for conveying the
best possible open educational resources with maximum ease in most learner-friendly version
in minimum time in the lightest mode to the learner. Continuous and comprehensive joyful
learning, throughout the life, would be at the centre while quality of open educational
resources and innovative practices are decided.
Content and scope of “teaching”: Teaching would be entirely replaced by the facilitating and
managing. Facilitating the learners and their learning, throughout the life, by managing the
quality open educational resources as per the need and interest of the learners would be the
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prime focus and prime vital task of teaching. The teacher at one place would be a learner at
other place. In other words, the dividing line between the teacher and the learner would be
diminished.
Teacher engagement and motivation: Teacher will be highly motivated as they would not
have to waste their energy in ‘non-teaching learning’ activities due to absence of problems
pertaining to formal system of education. Absence of face-to-face interaction would save
them from several un-academic problems and threats. Hence, they would be more
enthusiastically and energetically engaged in the teaching-learning activities. The motivation
would be from within and environment would help them continuing keeping the same at high
level.
Organisational aspects
Business and sustainability models of Open resources and Practices: Open educational
resources would be developed by all, managed by lesser and moderated by the least. Since all
would develop OERs, the cost of developing and availability would be the least. The
companies would require people just for developing new softwares or platforms. As the
resources would be generated by the participation and devotion of all, these would be highly
sustainable. Public generates most of the resources not for financial gain but for name, fame
and recognition. Thousands of android softwares support this phenomenon. Hence lack of
high cost would make it more sustainable.
Interaction between public and private actors: Public funding would be provided to private
actors for developing more learner-friendly softwares and platforms. And private actors
would be consistently and continuously interacting with the public actors for the need and
demands which could benefit the mass level. Public would decide the needs and targets and
private actors would endeavour to achieve those.
Interaction between different educational centres / institutions: Different educational
institutions would come closer to give rise to a common platform for collaboration of courses,
interaction, OERP, degrees, evaluation, etc. The individual identity of institutions would
merge to generate a new identity to the group of similar institutions. The institutions would be
steam based or discipline based rather than all the streams at a single institute.
Assessment, recognition, and certification: Most of the assessment would be done by
machines. The certification, alongwith the learning, throughout the life, would be free and
open in its true sense. The degrees and awards would be universally recognized. Certification
would be highly specialized as per the skills and learning, throughout the life.
Curricula and Learning Objectives: Curricula would be highly refined through dynamic
ratifications and possible modifications. Learners would be a part of curricula development.
Needs and demands of the learners and society would be the predominant factor for the
changes in curricula. Learning objective would be develop a global democratic citizen trusting
in the values of live and let live free from the concept of caste, creed, race, gender, class,
religion, etc.
Technological aspects: Technology would be highly advanced and would be accessible to all
with the ease of reach even to the last learner of the society. Wrist-watches would decrease
the need and demand of heavy and big devices. Foldable screens would be found everywhere.
Public money would be invested for technological advancement and availability of highly
advanced devices and instruments under ‘TFA’ (Technology for All) likewise ‘EFA’
(Education for All).
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Socio-economic aspects
Equity and equality: Equity, equality and democracy would get a higher place in the society.
Technology would make all equal and bias-free. Technology would give all an equalopportunity
environment. Quality would be generated through consistent refinement of
resources through massive and engaged collaboration of all.
Addressing emerging skills and business needs: The most demanding skill would be
exploration for learning, throughout the life, with the optimum utilization of available
resources within the minimum possible time. Multitasking would be a habit. People would not
mind if others are busy in interacting with others for teaching and learning, throughout the
life.
Fostering employment, active citizenship and inclusion: People would be manifested into
global democratic citizens having respect for others irrespective of caste, creed, gender, etc.
They would be well aware of their duties and expected behaviours with others. All would
have equal rights and equal opportunities for inclusion in the mainstream due to technological
advancement. People would generate their own employment by developing better
opportunities for facilitating learning, throughout the life, and learning platforms alongwith
the educational resources.
Impact on the market structure: Market would be learner-friendly. Cost for softwares and
other resources would come down. Market would be public-needs driven. Government would
look after the consumption of high quality educational resources arriving in the market.
Legal issues (IPR, copyrights): Copyrights would give all sorts of freedom except the
acknowledgement and clear referencing. One would be able to copy, modify, change,
regenerate, reuse and even sell also, but a proper acknowledgement would be a must. Since
everything would be free, it would demotivate selling of the secondary resources. Less legal
issues and conflicts would arise as everything would be ‘open’.
Summary
In 2030, learners and facilitators would give rise to a society made up of global democratic
citizen, having values of respecting others, as they are, with the help of highly advanced
technologies through sustainable practices involving public and private actors including the
last learner of the society, too, through open educational resources and practices facilitating
learning, throughout the life.
