After completing the first topic on online participation and
digital literacy in the context of education, the discussions I had with
colleagues and the literature I went through seem to suggest there is a great
potential that could be derived from the use of technology in the teaching
learning process. It is apparent that the strides made in ICT has changed the
education landscape around the globe. Contrary to my previous belief, I have
now learned that, open education does not have to come in the form of digital
material nor it needs to be online accessible. However, it is no secret that
the declining cost of ICT as well as the improved coverage and high speed of
Internet has contributed to the popularity of open learning (Tuomi, 2013).
In the past decades, the phenomenon “Openness in higher
education” has been brought up in the literature along with similar concepts
such as Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Educational Practices, and
Massive Open Online Course (Peter and Deimann, 2013). Indeed, our time has been
described as the “open-decade” by some scholars (for instance, Materu, 2004) who
has also coined various nick names for those who are keen on embracing the
phenomenon of higher education openness. Just for fun, I googled for some of
the terms used to refer those educators. I found “Open Scholar” and “Open
Professor” referring to open educators while “Open Assessment” is used to refer
a method used to make assessments where anyone could take part and contribute
(Peters, 2008).
Before taking the course, I did not reflect on a topic which
I thought was commonly used in the academic landscape nowadays. I obviously thought
no academic would dismiss the significance of openness in education. For me, it
is the duty of educators to make the best use of all the resources available to
promote and spread knowledge. It is no news for those who are familiar with the
recently emerged phenomenon “Massive Open Online Courses” (MOOC). More and more
universities including the Ivy Leagues are developing course which are free and
open to more and more people from all over the world. However, I have also
noticed that there are debates questioning this model of education.
Going through the literature and many online videos on open
education, I noticed that the term “open education” has not been fully
understood by many. Atkins, Brown, & Hammond, (2007, p. 4) define open
education resources as:
“OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the
public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that
permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources
include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos,
tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support
access to knowledge”
The articles by Toumi (2013) and D’Antoni and Savage (2009) also
provide clear description of open education. Even though the debate surrounding
the open education focuses on accessibility, there are three more attributes to
open education resources (1) the right and capability to enjoy the services
generated by the resource, (2) the right and capability to modify and add value
to the resources, (3) accumulative and expansionary dynamic of resource
development. The comprehensive understanding of the open education resources
will make us responsible users of the resources. This way, the value created
from the use of open education resources could be sustained.
In conclusion, I share the fundamental claim that knowledge
should be considered to be a common good that should be as accessible and as
open as possible (D’Antoni and Savage, 2009). However, I also acknowledge
openness in this context is a complex issue encompassing social, economic,
cognitive and technical dimensions (Tuomi, 2013). The supporters of open
education argue that initiatives should be undertaken to promote open
educational resources with no cost for educators and users (McAndrew, 2010).
Even though I appreciate the motivation, it is also worth mentioning that there
are many stakeholders involved in the development of materials used for open
education. In other words, what is no-cost for someone might not necessarily
mean that it is free for everyone. Educators and academic institutions need to
be informed on such issues as copyright, the interplay between economic and
educational factors (Peter and Deimann, 2013).
References
Atkins, D. E., Brown, J. S.
& Hammond, A. L. (2007). A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER)
Movement: achievements, challenges, and new opportunities (Menlo Park, The
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation).
D’Antoni, S., & Savage,
C. (2009). Open educational resources: conversations in cyberspace. Paris:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Hug, T. (2016). Defining
openness in education. Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and
Theory, 1-6.
McAndrew, P. (2010). Defining
Openness: Updating the Concept of" Open" for a Connected World. Journal
of interactive Media in Education, 1-13.
Peter, S., & Deimann, M.
(2013). On the role of openness in education: A historical
reconstruction. Open Praxis, 5(1), 7-14.
Peter, S., & Farrell, L.
(2009). From café education to internet café education. Paper presented at the
AARE 2009, Canberra.
Tuomi, I. (2013). Open
educational resources and the transformation of education. European
Journal of Education, 48(1), 58-78.
