Ideas and the Public Space -- THE Journal

Ideas and the Public Space -- THE Journal:

Who owns ideas? Is it actually possible to own ideas? These questions have long been settled by academia for the most part: Ideas are public, should be shared, should be worked, and ultimately should be used well to modify and change behavior or increase knowledge in some significant manner. With the buying and selling of education, however, ideas have somehow become owned. They've become the property of institutions and individuals. In the proices, the ideas sometimes become formulated as content or course material and, when tied directly to specific course titles and numbers, are associated with that course and owned by whoever "developed" the content or teaches the content.

New technology, however, has challenged much of what we have come to understand as regular practice in education. Not only are there changes in methods and deliveries,but there are changes in access and ownership as well. Once again, we have the potential of sharing, working, and using ideas well. Only now, we can share more widely and benefit more richly owing to the wider network of the Internet. This can considerably enrich content and the learning experience for everyone