Openness in learning creates an opportunity for flexible learning and lifelong learning as materials are readily available and mostly at no cost. The need for good communication skills (written or verbal) is thus increasingly emphasized (Bates, 2015). Openness in education has good implications for sustainable development especially as materials become accessible even in remote places. It has lots of advantages for the university, the individual teachers as well as for the students. Universities have a lot to gain by opening up some of their courses and materials as it gives them the opportunity to showcase themselves and what they have to offer. For me as a teacher, it gives me the opportunity to share knowledge but also access to materials shared by others. The oppotunities of interations and collabortaions are endless. Students generally get the chance to access materials by high profile teachers/professors globally.

In this ONL course, i have learnt of many ways to promote
openess and access open resources. I already knew a few but have also learn a
whole lot! For example, i have always been concerned about using pictures on my
teaching slides, scared i may run the risk of infringing on some copy rights.
But the webinar opened my eyes to a whole range of resources unknown to me. The
power of creative commons, whoever came up with idea, simply empowering!

The disadvantages of openess abound and may  be the potential reasons why people,
colleagues and universities may not be entirely willing to go open. For
example, potential damage to a iúniversity brand if their materials are taken
out of context to propagate ideas that the universitieý does not stand for.
Openess may also be seen as a potential threat to income generation as fees for
e.g. course participation, purchase of learning materials etc may be eliminated
when certain aspects are made open. These concerns can however be addressed as
the learning resources for this week has made it clear that instutions can
choose to what extent they want to be open.

Teachers may also be wary of the likelihood of their materials being remixed to produce end products that ridicle the author or produce other not so flattering ideas. This is where i wonder if universities are obliged to protect the intergrity of their staff in case of such violations using materials generated by the employees. Can teachers be assured that the university will litigate on their behalf? Are there assurances that the individual teacher will not be left to fight a battle arising from such violations alone? Will the university treat such violations as a work place issue that warant their engagement? These are some questions that need answers as we ponder on this wonder called openess in education!

Reference

Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for Teaching and Learning. 
(This is probably the best guide there is today to teaching in a digital context. Worth reading the whole book but for this unit you can focus on Chapter 10, Trends in open education.)