WARNING: This document is now maintained at https://github.com/rwxrob/ocms/about as of Sunday, October 2, 2022, 10:18:29AM EDT. Eventually, that will be a copy of whatever is at https://ocms.cc when that is up.
Don’t dictate, facilitate. (OCMS Motto)
OCMS (pronounced “Occam’s”) is a learning system focused on cutting away the unnecessary waste and broken priorities of traditional “teaching” approaches by focusing entirely on motivating and fostering autodidactic learning habits within individuals who entirely control their own learning.
OCMS is a practical system. You’ll never hear anyone use the words “practical” or “applied” pejoratively (as has been done by asinine academicians for centuries). Applied knowledge is the only knowledge that matters in OCMS. Theory without application is useless on the job.
OCMS promotes employable skills. While hobbyists and dabblers can certainly benefit from the approach. The core priority is on producing practical learning producing modern employment opportunities. This includes unexpected vocational skills such as getting “good to gig” by preparing resumes, participating in authentic social networking, personal financial management, writing, communication, and other skills that are not often directly associated with employment, particularly in the tech sector.
OCMS focuses on tech, but it not necessarily limited to tech. The methods and pedagogical approaches can well be applied to any profession.
OCMS eliminates the broken notion of “teachers” who dictate curriculum and assignments and are forced to waste energy on protecting against cheating broken, zero-trust, overly simplified, irrelevant, multiple-guess, testing systems that have objectively proven to fail both those undergoing these “assessments” and those who would be asked to trust them as a measure of employability. Our world is slowly realizing most of our tests, degrees, and certifications are woefully broken. Certifications that require monitored execution of actual tasks in a controlled lab environment are a hopeful change in the right direction, one OCMS hopes to promote further.
OCMS replaces “teachers” with mentors who work for and with learners, taking direction from them as they facilitate their learning. Mentors will often work side-by-side with those they are helping to learn, together, fostering trusted relationships that can last a lifetime. A mentor is more likely to say, “You’re the boss, you tell me”, something no “teacher” has ever said (even though some of the best mentors have also been employed as teachers). The mentor’s job is to guide the learner, to clear confusion, to explain the map, give direction, outline options, and provide context. It’s the learner’s job to choose their path and take personal responsibility for their choices. Such learners will never say, “You didn’t teach me that” or “What are we doing today?” When mentor and learner meet for an OCMS session, the learner has a full list of questions and work to be reviewed, and opinions to discuss and confirm. This is exactly how practical scout learning has worked for decades.
OCMS only works if the mentor has already been down that path. Mentors must possess a working mastery of the topic or skill and be able to demonstrate their merit at any time. Teachers without practical experience in the topic or skill are more than irrelevant, they are dangerous. Their insecurities (combined with the pressure of a profession unappreciated by every age of humanity) often morph into angry dictatorial tendencies that toxify learning environments where “students” are told to sit down, be quiet, and listen. No meaningful learning has ever happened that way, yet our schools are filled with these toxic individuals at every level.
OCMS mentors organize their learning objectives into open credentials colloquially called badges (although the term “merit badge” can create some confusing implications and should probably be avoided). An open credential is a outlined map of skills and knowledge written in active voice as if listed on a resume with specific requirements modeled originally after the merit badges and rank advancements of earlier scouting systems. All OCMS open credentials must be licensed under Creative Commons (CC0, “no rights reserved”) so that anyone can adapt and modify them to their own needs. OCMS badges follow a strict YAML structured data schema to maximize versioning, sharing, and sustainable adaptation. Unlike the rigid scouting merit badge requirements that almost never change, OCMS badges are meant to regularly be adapted and changed based on the needs of the individual, industry, and society.
OCMS deeply acknowledges the reality that modern learning methods must embrace software development best practices if there is to even be a hope of keeping up with the pace of modern knowledge and skills requirements. Indeed, the core cause of modern educational institutional failure is this massive disconnect which only continues to separate those who need skills from those who want and need to learn them, all while incurring massive financial burdens on all parties. OCMS cuts through the overhead of such systems and promotes rapid adaptation.
The ideas for OCMS originated during a collaborative session of mentors and educators live on rwxrob.tv in early 2021. The term ‘open credential’ was coined at that time as was the decision to let the learner decide for themselves when to declare whether or not they have passed a certain credential. Then, the learner can decide to invite one or more additional mentors to validate their own assessment and provide their own stamps of trustworthy approval. Such a system promotes and runs on trust above all, trust that then propagates into working relationships with employers and others.
The word “merit” is inspired by the courage of visionaries from various scouting programs since 1911 who have been gamifying learning and achievement since well-before such terms existed.
Related:
Tags:
#pedagogy #education #learning #100daysofcode #edtech