George Siemans has a blog post on “Cute Kitten Syndrome” as it applies to OER. Siemans argues that OER can sometimes be perceived as an accepted universal good without thinking through the implications. From the article:
Why OERs? What are we trying to achieve? Marketing our institution? Reducing costs for learners? Better quality learning materials? Making the world a better place? Help people in developing countries? What’s your motivation or the motivation of your institution in pursuing OERs? I fear too many educators are talking about it because others are. Look deep within your soul. Why are you interested in OERs? What can we do with them that we cannot do under our current system?
Thanks to Stephen Downes for the link.
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