A collaborative syllabus developed by the participants in the first week.
Last week we told you about a new P2PU School of the Mathematical Future course that blurs the boundaries of university and open learning. Developing Mathematics: The Early Years (also known as ED218 at Acadia University) has 25 participants, 7 of which take the course for credit at Arcadia University. For many people, this is their first online course, their first peer-to-peer open course, or both.
Maria Droujkova who leads the P2PU school this hybrid math course says, “the practice of opening for-credit, traditional university courses to non-credit online participants is very new. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only such mathematics education course in the world currently running. What we do here will influence where open mathematics education goes in the next decade.”
It’s not the first time a university course was offered at P2PU and wired into the traditional classroom. Joi Ito ran a Digital Journalism course that combined his Keio University students with P2PU’s learners. Inviting a disperse group of learners (P2PU) to join a cohesive location based group (Keio students) provided some obstacles. With some experimentation they were able to find a flow and produce an experience with quality.
The Arcadia and P2PU Math participants have also found a harmony. In their first week they have collaboratively built the syllabus, compiled fun media on their favorite math rich videos, and have planned out their synchronous meetings for the coming weeks. ..What could happen if this idea of inviting open groups into the classroom catches on?