Into the Great Wide Openness

I've been meaning to talk about this idea of 'open' in educational technology.  It's not new, but it is en vogue. The question I have is, "Is it good?"  For the field of adult education, the answer is really complicated. I want to kick off this topic with a little article from The Atlantic.

With your comments and the follow up that I hope to do, we can build some bridges between the questions around 'openness' in the article and adult ed's realities and potential directions.  A few ideas to consider:

• Can ABE/GED students manage their own learning, or is facilitation key? 
• How do subscription based learning programs and free online sites compare? 
• Should learners only spend time doing NRS reportable tasks, or should teachers integrate a wider range of source materials and learning experiences? 
• Do students learn better in a structured course, or when they are encouraged to explore? 
• Which model of providing educational resources helps adult ed programs with retention and expansion? 

Maybe we should make a list of Open vs. Closed learning models... (to be continued)