Practical Application Access to higher education opportunities has historically been limited to those who can meet entrance requirements as well as afford the costs. Given the massive amounts of content and learning materials freely available over the Internet, it is important for educators and researchers to begin examining the different ways learning can take place online. Moreover, given the availability of free and open software, the open online course concept provides an opportunity for colleges and universities to expand their offerings to a wider public who may not be able to financially afford such academic access otherwise. This case study suggests an open online college elective course focusing on building and enhancing personal learning online lends itself well to self-regulated learners. By examining students' perceptions of their ability to self-regulate, online course designers were able to better evaluate whether their socially constructivist learner-centered design allowed students to take greater control of where, when, how, what and with whom they learn. Online courses of a similar nature could provide students additional opportunities to deepen their understanding of various content areas as producers of content, artifacts, and knowledge, that requires wrestling with real issues associated with designing meaningful personal learning. Context Personal learning environments (PLEs) can be defined as "the spaces in which people interact and communicate and whose ultimate result is learning and the development of collective know-how. In terms of technology, PLEs are made-up of a collection of loosely coupled tools, including Web 2.0 technologies, used for working, learning, reflection and collaboration with others" (Attwell, 2010, p. 1). Personal learning environments give learners increased control by customizing the learning experience and connecting the learner to others (Downes, 2007). The eight week course focusing on PLE development and use was offered to 138 registered participants, 11 of whom received university credit. The remaining students participated free of charge in an open-access format. The moderated open course design was optimal for studying and constructing personal learning environments. All course content was offered in an open forum and all participants had access to every learning opportunity available on the open Internet. The goal was to create a PLE that harnessed content and network connections in an effective, sustainable manner. http://bit.ly/PLEK12week1 Problem A key challenge for the instructors was to design the course that supported the delicate balance between academic structure and learner autonomy. An open online course offers an innovative form of teaching and learning that allows participants to "take control of where, when, how, what and with whom they learn" (Mackness, Mak, Williams, 2010). While a an open online course can be a form of "improvisation" (S. Downes, personal communication, June 16, 2010), it can also take the form of highly structured gaming adventures (D. Wiley, personal communication, June, 28, 2010). The open course developed by the authors attempts to strike a balance between structure and autonomy allowing participants "maximum choice" of when, how, what, and with whom they learn within a meaningfully constructed online learning environment (Moore, 2007). Given the focus on developing and exploring personal learning environments, the course designers use their open learning course as a way to investigate online self-regulation strategies and skills and learner autonomy. Approach To investigate self-regulation and learner autonomy in an open learning course, a social cognitive approach was used to conceptualize the research model for this study (Bandura, 1982, 1986, 1997). In a social cognitive model, environmental factors, personal factors, and behavior overlap, acting as interacting relationships (Wood & Bandura, 1989). The designers chose to deliver the course via Google Docs even though an LMS option was available. This provided for fully open access for all students. There were no sign ins, passwords or structures to inhibit students from viewing and contributing to content. Open learning environments seek to take advantage of personal factors such as prior knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-motivation. The connections between participants allow them to share knowledge, seek knowledge, and collaborate with peers in and outside the boundaries of the formal course structure. Course design supported the communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing both formally and informally. Results In this case, course content was geared toward maximizing social participation through a variety of online platforms and social networking systems. Students were directed to share, communicate, and collaborate with classmates, communities, and personal networks locally and globally. Such objectives required participants and the course designers/facilitators to negotiate a balance between academic structure and learner autonomy. Using a modified Online Self-regulated Learning Questionnaire (Lan, Bremer, Stevens, & Mullen, 2004; Barnard, Paton, & Lan, 2008), we discovered that participants entered the course with a high degree of self-regulatory skills and strategies associated with environment structuring, goal setting, time management, help seeking, task strategies, and self-evaluation. As such they were able to participate and engage with others inside and outside the formal classroom, invite feedback from colleagues and peers outside the classroom, share their reflections and artifacts inside and outside the class. In addition, students can return to the course content at any time and adopt/adapt the course content for use in their own practice. Open educational resources like this and other open learning courses (Downes et al) mark the beginning of a new era in tertiary and higher education. Such resources offer university approved facilitated learning opportunities free and open to any one with Internet access. Course designers are encouraged to adopt a social cognitive approach in order to design for a more self-regulated learning experience.
