'Open learning 2.0'? Aligning student, teacher and content for openness in education

The mission of Thompson Rivers University Open Learning (TRU-OL) can be understood in terms of three entities: the student, the faculty member and the curriculum content. Their conjuncture - when a TRU-OL student works with TRU-OL courseware and is supported by a TRUOL faculty member - is where learning, assessment and, ultimately, credentialing take place. These three elements may form three points in a triangle, with assessment and credentialing in the centre. TRU-OL is currently exploring the results of defining these three elements differently. Instead of designating TRU-OL students, teachers and contents specifically, these elements may serve as placeholders for any students, any instructional personnel or supports, and any open content. These can, in theory, all be shared, opened and disaggregated among various institutions, with assessment and credentialing remaining as the principal service offered locally. The purpose of this article is to explain this model in the context of the open educational movement, to describe its various permutations and implications, and to consider some questions and objections that may arise in relation to it. The result is an updated version of similar triangular models that would interconnect student, teacher and content in pedagogical interrelationship.