This week´s topic is Open learning- sharing and openness. First of all I think we need to work out what does open mean in terms of learning? Open learning has been defined as learning situations which are flexible ”in time, place, instructional methods, modes of access, and other factors related to the learning process” [1]. Open education can mean a lot of things as here mentioned by Tony Bates [2]. However, the key factor in open education seems to be accessibility and removal of barriers to learning.

Openness is also a wide term and will have a different meaning for different individuals. David Wiley has for example defined openness, when related to open content, using four Rs [3]:

1. Reuse – ­the right to reuse a content
2. ­Revise – ­the right to adapt, adjust, modify or alter a content itself
3. ­Remix – ­the right to combine the original or revised content with other content to create something new
4. ­Redistribute – ­the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions or your remixes with others

During this topic, the PBL group that I am connected to, focused a lot on what could be the disadvantages and problems with going open. The benefits seemed quite clear for us in e.g. terms of efficiency, reaching out to a wider and larger audience, increased networking opportunities, increased visibility, less time needed for developing material but more time for discussion to mention some. However, as with everything else there are as well disadvantages [4]. One member in the PBL group put together a survey about open education for his/her 1-year undergraduate students to answer. The purpose was to survey the student´s experiences and perceptions of MOOCs (massive open online courses). 60% of the respondents had taken an online course at least once. In general, they were positive, but they stressed the importance of face-to-face interaction and the use of local context and examples for their learning. This is in line with earlier criticism that lack of faculty engagement might impede deep learning [5, 6].

Another concern that has been raised when it comes to MOOCs are the low level of completion rate [7]. Even though you might reach out to a larger audience, it does not necessarily mean that all participants have the same intentions or motivations for taking the course. In a recent study, from Poellhuber et al. [8] with the purpose to understand participant´s behaviour in MOOCs, they identified five different types of participants:

1. Browsers, participants that used just a few resources.
2. Self-Assessors, participants that almost only participated in quizzes, and tests.
3. Serious Readers, participants that read a high proportion of course materials, but were less active in taking quizzes and tests.
4. Active-Independents, participants that interacted with all course resources except discussion forums.
5. Active-Socials, participants similar to Active-Independents except that active-socials participate in discussion forum activities.

Reflecting back on this topic, discussions held and resources read/viewed, I would like to pinpoint a few things that I think is important to keep in mind if deciding to go open and maybe especially when it comes to MOOCs.

1. To whom do you want to reach out?
2. What will be the main motivation for the student´s to not only participate but also to fulfil the MOOC?
3. Is it important that the students fulfil the course?
4. What are the important learning outcomes?
5. Will the MOOC be accessible to your intended target group?
6. Will you be able to provide a safe environment and build trust among the participants and between the participants and facilitators/teachers?

The answers to these questions might guide you in your decision whether to go open or not. I also believe that reminding yourself of your target group and their motivations to take the course, potentially could lead to an increased completion rate.

Take home message- open is not always the answer!

1. Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012, ISBN : 978-1-4419-1427-9. Hasan Caliskan
2. https://www.tonybates.ca/2015/02/16/what-do-we-mean-by-open-in-education/
3. https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/355
4. https://felician.libguides.com/OER/proscons
5. https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why
6. https://jolt.merlot.org/vol10no1/bali_0314.pdf
7. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15(1), 133 – 160., http://dx.doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v15i1.1651
8. Poellhuber, B., Roy, N., & Bouchoucha, I. (2019). Understanding Participant’s Behaviour in Massively Open Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v20i1.3709