Open Education 2014

In pursuing progress, striving to inhabit the "Bleeding Edge of Open" (as one theme of this conference proposes), it can be easy to disregard and lose the insights of recent and more distant experience. In an attempt to luxuriate in this problem, the presenters are developing a Paleoconnectivism Reader, intended to frame the current moment in open education and technology in a broader historical context. Paleoconnectivism is a conceptual position that the co-presenters, and others working in the open education space, have been developing over a number of years via blogs and discussion. It is only recently that we have discussed collecting and analysing these ideas as a way of shaping the implications of this position.

Many of the recent developments in "Open Education" have been ahistorical, taking a position either against or in ignorance of the existing literature and theory. Whereas any field could and should welcome challenge and debate from new ideas, the use of contested histories and refusal to acknowledge prior work has caused a rift between existing and emerging practice.

The Reader will collect essays, memoirs, and creative expressions in a book, and in an online companion. Proposed themes include "History Is A Commercial" and "The Stories We Have Told Ourselves Offer An Insight Into The Values We Hold", as well as a series of vignettes drawn from instructional guides for the web published during the 1990?s. Attendees will be invited to offer feedback, suggestions for stories and themes, and sources for investigation. It is hoped the session will provoke contributions for both the print and multimedia version of the Reader from participants.