Value is shaped by context. We attribute value and meaning to people, objects and other things on the basis of the circumstances in which we experience them. A classic example of the power of context is art. If we take a work of art out from behind the red ropes, away from the quiet guards, and out of the gallery, the meaning and value of the art shifts considerably. It may not, in the case of some modern art, be interpreted as art at all.

Context is crucial in commercial markets, too. Vendors go to great lengths to control the context in which their products and services are positioned. Television advertisers avoid placing ads in the middle of programs on unsettling topics; those that evoke emotions and sensibilities that are not supportive of the product being promoted. “The Day After” was a fictional “made for TV movie” about the aftermath of a nuclear attack on US soil. The film’s producers found it so difficult to attract advertisers that they choose to run all ads prior to the point in the film when the nuclear attack occurs.  Apparently, convincing people that having fresher breath will make them one of the “beautiful people” is more difficult after witnessing death and destruction.

What, if anything, does this have to do with higher education? Well, until now, not much. Historically, higher education has been able to control the context in which student’s experience the institution. Compared to other types of organizations, colleges and universities are like islands, “all-in-one” organizations, in which the student - if they chose - could spend their entire educational career without ever leaving the campus.

The walls around higher education are becoming less substantial, though - only partly by design. Institutions deliberately reach beyond their walls to the community through the creation of Facebook pages (while still trying to regulate the message). But most of the outreach thus far has been driven by students. Whether creating work groups on Google applications, or adding their opinion to RateMyProfessor, students are taking elements of their experience outside of their schools to the broader public, piece by piece.

Even instructional materials are finding their way to the broader public. Open educational resources are placed in common platforms like Connexions and Merlot and Academic Earth for public use.

The fact that these materials are publicly available is, alone, significant. Previously, these materials were carefully held behind secure university course management systems, available only to students registered in the course. But it’s also significant that the materials are placed alongside other materials from competing institutions. Users are encouraged to evaluate and compare the different materials.

What the users experience is not always pretty. Philip Greenspun did a minute by minute evaluation of a well known finance professor’s lecture performance on Academic Earth, suggesting that the professor’s lecture was wasteful, self-indulgent and incoherent.