The idea of open learning and sharing knowledge appeals greatly to me. Education really is something that can change your life but is out of reach for a lot of individuals. Open education resources could change that. But is “open” really open?

Stephen Downes stated that an open learning environment has four key principles; autonomy, diversity, openness and interaction/connectivity (Jenny Mackness). These principles have helped me to understand what open really means.

When learners have autonomy, they can choose what and how they access the content they need. Learners can work across a variety of sources and disciplines and can explore knowledge in a way that is meaningful to them. They have the opportunity to choose their learning journey.

The principle of diversity is very important as it implies you are open to diverse way of thinking, different cultures of learning and different people. Bringing in diversity helps learners to explore outside of their normal contexts and exposes them to many different ways of learning as well as different approachs to the same material. This principle can only broaden our understanding of each other as well as the content we consume.

In my approach to open education, openness for me means that you are open to sharing and receiving content through various platforms. It also means that you are open to comment (both contructive and postive) on the material you develop. Openness brings in critical evaluation and discussions to ensure that what is made avaliable to everyone has been “vetted” by peers.

The final principle of connectivity has been discussed across the previous three principles and is perhaps the most important. There is no open learning without individuals being able to connect with each other. This is vital for any real learning and sharing to take place.

Reflecting on these principles and my own belief that learning and knowledge should be made available to everyone, I can now challenge myself to see how a private learning institution can live into the principles of open networked learning.