The web is an amazing collection of no-cost resources for lifelong learners. I’ve shared hundreds of resource links on this blog and there are millions of others available to help anyone in their pursuit of learning.
I often take learning-oriented websites for granted. But, every once and a while, it’s important to consider how these resources came to be. Without people taking the time to support no-cost learning opportunities, the web would offer learners little more than skateboarding videos and pictures of baby animals.
Learning advocates have done so much in this area, but self-education resources can continue to improve. Imagine a future where: collaborative textbooks can be downloaded to your computer or e-reader at no cost, millions of out-of-copyright books are available in digital or audio formats, opencourseware classes are provided by every university, and no-cost academic journals are available at the click of a mouse. These realistic possibilities could have a huge impact on our ability to learn independently.
This month, I’m making it a goal to improve self-education on the web. Care to join me? Here are a few easy and impactful ways to help:
1. Ask universities to favor open access research policies. The most current research in any topic is published exclusively in academic journals. Unfortunately, these journals pay writers nothing while charging outrageous amounts for the research they provide. According to Right to Research, some journals cost $20,000 for a one-year subscription. Accessing a single article could cost up to $30. An independent learner may not be able to access these journals unless they’re connected to a university or have a lot of money to spare. Right to Research puts it this way:
“Digital technologies have opened new opportunities for research. New tools facilitate faster discoveries, speed the development of new technologies, and accelerate the progress of science. Patients could have access to the latest medical research, citizens could evaluate scientific information on environmental impacts, and developing countries could apply the most recent scholarship to public health and development efforts. But access barriers leave these opportunities under-explored. Open Access is an alternative to the traditional closed, subscription-access system of scholarly communication. Open Access makes the results of scholarly research available online for free, immediately upon publication, and removes barriers for scholarly and educational re-use.”
You can help create a more collaborative system of learning by encouraging universities to create open access policies. Write a letter to schools in your area and let them know you support open research. You may also want to encourage the government to create an open access policy for research funded by tax-payer dollars. Why should the results of publicly-funded studies be so expensive to read? [click to continue…]
{ 8 comments }
