Open Education 2030
The article “Open Education 2030: Planning the future of adult learning in Europe” by Muñoz et al. (2013) provides an overview of a new approach to adult learning in Europe. Specifically, the article concerns the application of open education, an approach implying flexible learning experiences. The paper states that continuous lifelong learning is the priority of the European Union, which it tries to promote among citizens. The article postulates that adults can be encouraged to engage in continuous learning through a flexible framework allowing them to receive education in various environments. The authors also state that there is a need to address two challenges which concern guidance in learning and recognition of people’s educational achievements. The authors propose four potential scenarios on how the learning process can be designed to address the challenges.
The most powerful takeaway from the article is that the existing learning experiences will undergo considerable changes in the near future and will become more personalized. As a result, educational policies of governments must promote innovative practices for adaptive and flexible learning utilizing learning analytics. For instance, one way to achieve it is by creating communities of learners where people can motivate one another to enhance their knowledge and skills without the assistance of teachers. The quote from the article which resonates with me the most is that it is important to ensure that open education does not become a privilege and is available to everyone (Muñoz et al., 2013). Such a message is crucial since education should serve as a universal right that can be accessed by all people irrespective of their social status. Thus, the open education initiative promoted in Europe is an approach that has the potential to become highly effective in the near future. As a result, a question can be formulated, “Will open education require adjustments when applied in the United States?”
Learning from the Past
The article “Learning from the past, organizing for the future: Adult and community education in Aotearoa New Zealand” explores a historical perspective on New Zealand’s educational practices. Since New Zealand had a period of colonization, its adult education initiatives emerged only in the 20th century. Particularly, such type of education was rapidly developing after WW2 when community centers became common in the country. During the 1970s, movement-based education was popular in the country, and it was tailored to the needs of the native peoples, such as the Maori. The community-based learning of the Maori language became one of the first forms of adult education in New Zealand. Yet, in the 1980s-1990s, the funding for adult and community education in Aotearoa, New Zealand, was heavily reduced. The authors show how during various historical periods in New Zealand, activists and the government had different views of what adult education constitutes. Generally, the adult and community education activists insisted that learning should be tied to the social and cultural context of the country, while the state often insisted that it only should have economic purposes.
The most powerful takeaway from the article is that there is a need to learn from the history of adult and community education in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Specifically, the main idea which is worth noting is that educators should develop adult education that is autonomous and able to exist without government funding and not subject to the state’s demands. The quote which resonated with me was about the need for both learners and educators to bring their personal experiences to the learning process (Bowl & Tobias, 2012). In other words, adult education should have the capacity to be adjusted to the needs of individuals. Thus, the article shows how the history of adult ad community education can provide important insights for future initiatives. The question which naturally emerges after reading the article is the following one, “Should adult education be completely controlled by the government?”
References
Bowl, M., & Tobias, R. (2012). Learning from the past, organizing for the future: Adult and community education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Adult Education Quarterly, 62(3), 272–286. Web.
Muñoz, C., Redecker, C., Vuorikari, R., & Punie, Y. (2013). Open education 2030: Planning the future of adult learning in Europe. Open Learning, 28(3), 171–186. Web.