Fostering Open Educational Practices
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This document summarizes key experiences and lessons learned from fostering open educational practices (OEP) based on a case study of The Open University in the UK. It identifies five important factors for encouraging openness and engagement with open educational resources (OER): 1) necessary infrastructure like legal and technical tools, 2) opportunities for use and communities of learners, 3) design considerations for open content and models of use, 4) adoption of OER into institutional practices, and 5) supportive policies. The Open University's experiences with its OpenLearn platform and OLnet research initiative provide evidence that embracing openness enables innovation, collaboration, and new educational opportunities.
Fostering Open Educational Practices
- 1. From the field Fostering Open Educational Practices Author OER are becoming accepted as part of the range of materials that learners and educa- tors can use. However, the methods and practices that enable learners, teachers and Patrick McAndrew, institutions to best engage with OER are not yet established and may well be more im- Associate Director (Learning & Teaching) Institute of portant in enabling change in education systems than the availability of the resources Educational Technology themselves. By looking at the experiences that The Open University in the UK has in The Open University direct provision of OER and the broader research carried out by the Open Learning p.mcandrew@open.ac.uk Network (OLnet) initiative, several factors and related practices can be identified that should help encourage openness and engagement with OER. Tags engagement with OER, Experiences from The Open University best practices, case-based analysis The Open University in the UK has direct experience working with OER through OpenLearn, research into the impact of OER through the OLnet initiative, and understanding as an insti- tute of how OER can influence future options. We see OER as having the potential to change the practice of learners, educators and organisations in a profound way. The learner is given choice by OER of ways to learn, either as existing courses make use of the resources or much less formally through individual or group learning around and with the open resources. The practice of learning in this open way does not come naturally to everyone and methods that link together individual experiences need to be developed. For the educator this means thinking through the design and operation of an open approach to education. A key element is the release of resources with a licence that allows change and reuse leading to new forms of course based on paths, guidance and ways to learn. Institutions can evolve by offering the missing elements of support, assessment and accreditation to link the non-formal to the for- mal. However, there are also more radical options where new practices are needed. This paper builds on the experience we have had at The Open University in Open Educational resources. First in OpenLearn where we released content to the world for free. And then in the OLnet initiative which has a research focus that looks much more outside the Open Uni- versity to find evidence. The Open University has always been open in various ways (McAn- drew, 2010) and so there is an interest in new ways to make use of openness. OpenLearn pro- vided an experiment in opening up content that had previously only been available for those paying fees. The evaluation of OpenLearn (McAndrew et al, 2009) found there were several benefits. These included accelerating innovation, establishing collaborations, and attracting new students to the University. In contrast to the inward looking work on OpenLearn, OLnet is considering the developments across all of those involved in OER. For example part of the work has been examining more that 100 reported results from OER project funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Hewlett Foundation has been a major catalyst for the adoption of more open approaches. Analysis of the projects over time shows a move from initial work on the concept of open content, to supporting the open provision of exist- ing content to now work on advocacy and models of use. The concept of resources them- ing earn eLearning Papers • ISSN: 1887-1542 • www.elearningpapers.eu eL ers 23 u ers.e gpap .elea rnin n.º 23 • March 2011 Pap www 1
- 2. From the field selves as the core of openness is gradually being augmented based on open content or rethinking of the value of education with the concept of Open Educational Practices (OEP), notably and the more personal control summarised as “Do-It-Yourself through the work of the EU funded Opal project (Ehlers, 2011). University” (Kamenetz, 2010). In other words; how does the presence of approved and free 5 Policy: an increasingly important aspect of OER is the recogni- resources change the operation of individuals and institutions? tion that they have characteristics to support change at many levels, including institutional and national policies. Adjusting Elements of practice the copyright and permissions to content may seem like a minor In OLnet our analysis has picked out five factors change. However the use of openness has enables the cross- ing of barriers and an easy path for sharing experiences without 1 Infrastructure: the tools that are needed for sharing of con- having to establish all agreements and components. tent, but also of practice and experiences. Such infrastructure includes the software basis that is becoming well established as free and open systems underlie much of the Internet, but also Contexts the infrastructure of legal elements, such as copyright and proc- The context provides a further underlying factor. Contextual ess models. The models are changing from producer-led such matters include the country, culture, level, organisation and as OpenCourseWare (Carson, 2007) to more open approaches other special aspects of each situation. The OLnet fellowship where all may share content. Each approach offers different programme illustrates the way in which OER can both adjust advantages with the more formal having clearer messages of and apply in different contexts. The fellowship programme will quality and expectation, while the latter has greater potential support at least 24 fellows over the 3-year period of OLnet. So for diversity. far 15 fellowships have taken place or are underway. These can be loosely characterised as “expert fellowships”, where the re- 2 Use: with the greater availability of content there is more op- cipient is bringing in their specialist knowledge and being given portunity for use and to recognise the way in which OER can act the space and direction to apply that expertise to OER research as an attractor for communities of learners. Social spaces can and as “open fellowships”, which are more developmental in be established on top of content. so even in a move towards nature and focussed on solving particular problems using OER. greater value in social learning and the gaining of “21st Century Skills” (ref) the role of content as a way to bring people together Each fellow brings their own experiences and situation. Be- and allow self-directed learning is a great enabler of learning. ing able to work across these contexts has given an important pointer to how to operate in a more open future. This work 3 Design: designing for openness both in terms of the content has helped us share and reflect on approaches already identi- itself, but also the models for use of educational contents. Re- fied but more importantly we have also been able to bring in search has shown (Dimitriadis et al, 2009) that considering de- new lessons in each case. Examples of contexts that the fellows signing for use of the content and establishing patterns around have brought from different countries and cultures include: In free and open content may bring benefits more quickly than China (http://olnet.org/node/485), to share teaching methods embedding the design in the materials. as much as teaching resources and to bring in use of open envi- 4 Adoption: how to make use of OER as the basis for the practice ronments alongside the programme of national courses linked of institutions and individuals. This places content as only part to the use of the open environment of OpenLearn. In Brazil OER of the function of learning. To complete the learning experience (http://slidesha.re/eZLgpa) are being used to support outreach other elements such as management, support, assessment and by institutions. In Turkey (http://olnet.org/node/195) to sup- accreditation all have roles to play. Content can be seen as part port the expansion of tertiary education. Working with UNESCO of a disaggregation of each of these components allowing insti- in Russia and CIS (http://olnet.org/node/422) to help set up a tutions to build revised models around bringing together free study of the readiness for OER in that part of the world. content alongside other services. However there can also be more radical models demonstrated by initiative such as P2PU (http://p2pu.org/), OpenSE (http://opense.net/), OpenEd 2.0 (http://www.open-ed.eu/) that are each offering open courses ing earn eLearning Papers • ISSN: 1887-1542 • www.elearningpapers.eu eL ers 23 u ers.e gpap .elea rnin n.º 23 • March 2011 Pap www 2
- 3. From the field Conclusion References The greater spread and availability of Open Educational Re- Carson, Stephen (2007). StephenCarson,The OpenCourseWare sources has given a platform for change and adoption of Open Model: High-Impact Open Educational Content, Educational Educational Practice. These require a process of change and de- Technology, vol.47, no.6 (November/December 2007), pp. 23–25. velopment if they are to give the greatest benefit. The evidence that is emerging is that embracing openness can provide many Dimitriadis, Yannis; McAndrew, Patrick; Conole, Grainne opportunities. The first recognised moves to open content took and Makriyannis, Elpida (2009). New design approaches to place approximately 10 years ago with the 10th anniversary of repurposing open educational resources for collaborative learning OpenCourseWare about to be marked in 2011 (OCWC confer- using mediating artefacts. In: ascilite 2009: Same places, different ence). The level of maturity of the field means that there are spaces, 6-9 Dec 2009, Auckland, New Zealand. http://oro.open. chance for new innovations but also lessons that should be tak- ac.uk/19378/ en as involvement continues to grow. The five factors outlined above can be treated as the basis for recommendations such as: Ehlers, Ulf-Daniel (2011). OPAL: Open Educational Quality Initiative. http://www.oer-quality.org 1. Infrastructure: an open approach needs to be transportable and so there is no need to develop new systems. Legal prob- Kamenetz, Anya (2010). DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and lems solved in one context often can be adopted for other the Coming Transformation of Higher Education. Chelsea Green contexts. Publishing: White River Jct.VT. 2. Use: there is greater opportunity in making use of the thou- McAndrew, Patrick (2010). Defining openness: updating the sands of free an open resources than in focussing on produc- concept of “open” for a connected world. Journal of Interac- tion tive Media in Education, 2010(10), pp. 1–13. http://oro.open. ac.uk/25819/ 3. Design: focus on the way in which a learner may work with a variety of content rather than specific content. McAndrew, P. and Cropper, K. (2010). Open Learning Net- work: the evidence of OER impact. In: Open Ed 2010: The Sev- 4. Adoption: content is only part of the answer, the role for enth Annual Open Education Conference, November 2-4, 2010, support and accreditation remains but there may also be a Barcelona, Spain. http://oro.open.ac.uk/23824/ chance for innovation. McAndrew, P.; Santos, A.; Lane, A.; Godwin, S.; Okada, A.; 5. Policy: governments often appear to seek the impossible of Wilson, T.; Connolly, T.; Ferreira, G.; Buckingham Shum, an expanding education system that costs less. Openness is S.; Bretts, J. and Webb, R. (2009). OpenLearn Research Report one of the few approaches that may be able to achieve this 2006-2008. The Open University, Milton Keynes, England. http:// aim. oro.open.ac.uk/17513/ Open approaches continue to develop and it remains clear McAndrew, P., Scanlon, E., and Clow, D. (2010) An Open that there is much to learn from new contexts and systems in Future for Higher Education. Educational Quarterly http://oro. this period of change. The role for international bodies such open.ac.uk/21894 as UNESCO in encouraging awareness of the approaches and developing two way communication can help to improve com- munication and provide a catalyst to taking up the chances that are available. ing earn eLearning Papers • ISSN: 1887-1542 • www.elearningpapers.eu eL ers 23 u ers.e gpap .elea rnin n.º 23 • March 2011 Pap www 3
- 4. From the field Edition and production Name of the publication: eLearning Papers Copyrights ISSN: 1887-1542 The texts published in this journal, unless otherwise indicated, are subject Publisher: elearningeuropa.info to a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks Edited by: P.A.U. Education, S.L. 3.0 Unported licence. They may be copied, distributed and broadcast pro- Postal address: c/Muntaner 262, 3r, 08021 Barcelona (Spain) vided that the author and the e-journal that publishes them, eLearning Phone: +34 933 670 400 Papers, are cited. Commercial use and derivative works are not permitted. Email: editorial@elearningeuropa.info The full licence can be consulted on http://creativecommons.org/licens- Internet: www.elearningpapers.eu es/by-nc-nd/3.0/ ing earn eLearning Papers • ISSN: 1887-1542 • www.elearningpapers.eu eL ers 23 u ers.e gpap .elea rnin n.º 23 • March 2011 Pap www 4