Do Online Learners Need a Bill of Rights?

Do Online Learners Need a Bill of Rights?

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2013/01/30/do-online-learners-need-bill-rights/

“There are those who think you do. A Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in the Digital Age was developed last month by a small group of people who “believe that online learning represents a powerful and potentially awe-inspiring opportunity to make new forms of learning available to all students worldwide, whether young or old, learning for credit, self-improvement, employment, or just pleasure.”

One of the early complaints of this initiative has been that the bill is proposed and written by educators, higher education administrators, ed tech CEOs, and writers – not students. Anya Kamenetz wrote on Inside Higher Ed, “They didn’t ask learners what they wanted to put in the document. The voice of learners is absolutely silent.” But let’s keep in mind the “draft” nature of the current bill, and take a closer look.

Rights and Principles

The document is made up of two lists: 1) “inalienable rights which transfer to new and emerging digital environments” and 2) guiding principles “to which the best online learning should aspire.”

Among the nine rights included in the bill are topics that we’ve addressed here at Inside Online Learning, directed at issues of quality and value in online learning:

• Financial transparency: details about costs for all opportunities, including those that are “free.”
• Pedagogical transparency: information about what you can expect at the end of the learning experience as it relates to overall outcome, certification, employment, etc.
• Quality and care: concerns related to the consumer approach to online education; students “are not being sold a product – nor are they the product being sold.”

Additional rights address student protection in terms of:

• Access: availability of a wide range of affordable formats for a diverse group of learners.
• Privacy: in a world of “big data” you need to know how your information is  collected, used, and protected by the institution.
• Personal data and intellectual property: terms of service and licensing options for student work should be clearly communicated.

The remaining rights speak to activity related to online interaction:

• Create public knowledge: sharing and connecting online, in class and in more public forums, is encouraged as an option for students.
• Have great teachers: the role of instructor is important to the learning process and must be supported: “teachers’ … working conditions are students’ learning conditions.”
• Be teachers: students can contribute to the learning process “as makers, doers, thinkers … not just passive recipients.”

The 10 guiding principles encourage those designing, developing, and delivering online learning options to not only make the most of the technologies available, but also continue to enhance the experience by building on what’s been done before.

Some of these principles reflect the ideas we already know to be important to online learners and their success:

• Value: providing an experience that “allows students to equip themselves to address the challenges and requirements of life and work.”
• Flexibility: ever-evolving options related to fields of study, documentation of learning, technologies, and formats.
• Persistence: recognition that “learning is emergent, a lifelong pursuit.”
• Civility: encouraging academic and professional discourse from a diverse group of learners in a safe environment.
• Play: “cultivat[ing] the imagination and the dispositions of questing, tinkering, and connecting.”

Other principles focus on pushing exploration and improvement even further:

• Global contribution: the potential reach is unprecedented, “offering multiple and multinational perspectives.”
• Hybrid learning: embracing real-world elements through current events and case studies, as well as on-ground experiences (i.e., internships, apprenticeships).
• Innovation: focused on adaptability and individualization, “one size or approach does not fit all.”
• Formative assessment: inclusion of constructive assessment throughout the learning process, not just at the end of a course.
• Experimentation: encouragement of trial and error by students with additional support to help them find their “best fit.”

Whether you are enrolled in a formal academic course as part of an online degree program, taking an online course as part of a traditional program, participating in a MOOC, or engaging with online learning resources in a self-directed way, this bill seeks to create the best learning environment possible to support you in reaching your goals, whatever they may be.

Do you need a Bill of Rights? As an educator and writer focused on online education, I’m not sure it’s necessary, but perhaps it serves a very helpful purpose. The document as-is hits on a lot of the concerns I have heard from my online students and readers, but it also hints at the expertise and interests of its authors, including open education, participatory learning, and personalized vs. standardized environments.

The industry is so incredibly dynamic with rapid changes on all fronts, from degree and certification options to the technology available to deliver content and interact with the world at large. It’s difficult to create one set of guidelines that meets the needs of a variety of students in a variety of contexts. While the bill may go a long way in advocating for students, it’s not, at least right now, the result of learner demands. But I’m just another educator weighing in …

Now it’s Your Turn

What’s missing? How can the industry work to meet your needs and the needs of future online students? Add your comments to the many already posted on the Google Docs version of the document. Instructions are also posted for emailing to request edits. (Note that the current version even has a new title: “Rights and Principles for Networked Learners” as of the writing of this post.)

The original Bill of Rights draft also includes an invitation to join the discussion in other ways, such as:

• commenting on blogs and in forums talking about the bill,
• posting your thoughts and ideas for revision on your own blog,
• using the hashtag #learnersrights to share your thoughts via Twitter.

What this document can potentially do is keep the conversation going as we work toward finding ways to better serve students. As the world of online learning continues to evolve, your input and that of the students who follow you will be critical to the directions it takes.

Now is the time to share your response to the proposed bill to ensure that it reflects your priorities for online learning.”

Stephen