To share or not to share? is the question of the past two week(s). A question that, at first, seemed like a simple one turned out to be quite the contrary. It led to more questions. Why is openness in education important? What are the motivations to ‘go open’? What does openness even mean?

What is openness in higher education?

This topic is in many ways complex, as openness can mean different things to different people, partly depending on where they are physically located in the world. It is clearly not only a matter of where one works and lives, but the roots go way deeper than that: to our professional histories, experiences and socialization processes in academia. According to Ragupathi, the different aspects of openness in both education and learning can be characterized in terms of accessibility (of information, content and knowledge), sharing, transparency and roles, awareness and communities (i.e. level of collaboration). However, which of these aspects contributes to the experience of openness the most is never clear-cut. And to make the notion even fuzzier, if something is said to be open (e.g. a course or a study programme), to whom is it open and how can we tell? One way to unravel the tangle is to consider openness through building a puzzle: each piece represents an attribute to openness, and it must exceed a certain threshold value of openness in order to fit. The more pieces become a part of the entity, the easier it would be to characterize it as open.

Although merely aspiring to illustrate a point, I must admit that even this is perhaps an oversimplification of the topic. More than anything, openness is a matter of perspective -whether are we looking at it from the point of view of the learner, educator or the institution.

Why is it worth pursuing openness in teaching?

Although it is difficult to define what openness means both in and for education, some very clear arguments have been made about whether openness is something that we should pursue. The resistance seems much related to the fear of losing something, such as prestige or expertise, or concern over unbearable increase in the workload. While I partly hear my voice somewhere in between these lines, many people have also spoken for the undeniable benefits that can result from going open. Now I mean ‘open’ in respect to one or more of the following three principles: open educational resources (OERs), open access and open teaching (Wiley and Green, 2012). Some points to justify openness are definitely worth highlighting:

• Education is about sharing. By making study materials accessible and using OERs, you can promote equality, improve student performance and satisfaction and make bridges between formal and informal education (Weller, 2014; see also Colvard et al., 2018)
• Sharing materials can actually be more beneficial (financially) and help building a (good) reputation of individuals, institutions and communities.
• Sharing materials and teaching enhance pedagogy and the students’ learning experience (Weller, 2014).

Open teaching provides individuals who might otherwise never have the opportunity to experience postsecondary learning a free and open chance to participate

Wiley and Green (2012: 88)

Should I do it then?

I don’t believe that promoting openness requires us to magically turn all our teaching around, nor would it make sense to be constantly on the hunt for only the pieces that make our puzzles complete. Having an open mind and honest curiosity towards the possibilities out there, such as those involving collaboration with other educators, can already steer us closer to building an academic community in which more people are included and not everything is behind closed doors. Personally, I’m ready for the change. Are you?

References

Colvard, N., Watson C. & Park H. (2018). The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262-276.

Ragupathi, K. (2020). Being open: Drawing parallels with the Coffee House model. [online]

Weller, M. (2014). Open Educational Resources. In M. Weller (Ed.), Battle for Open: How Openness won and why it doesn’t feel like a victory. London: Ubiquity Press, 67-88.

Wiley, D. & Green C. (2012). Why Openness? In D. Oblinger (Ed.), Game changers: Education and Information Technologies. Educause, 81-89.

To share or not to share? is the question of the past two week(s). A question that, at first, seemed like a simple one turned out to be quite the contrary. It led to more questions. Why is openness in education important? What are the motivations to ‘go open’? What does openness even mean?

What is openness in higher education?

This topic is in many ways complex, as openness can mean different things to different people, partly depending on where they are physically located in the world. It is clearly not only a matter of where one works and lives, but the roots go way deeper than that: to our professional histories, experiences and socialization processes in academia. According to Ragupathi, the different aspects of openness in both education and learning can be characterized in terms of accessibility (of information, content and knowledge), sharing, transparency and roles, awareness and communities (i.e. level of collaboration). However, which of these aspects contributes to the experience of openness the most is never clear-cut. And to make the notion even fuzzier, if something is said to be open (e.g. a course or a study programme), to whom is it open and how can we tell? One way to unravel the tangle is to consider openness through building a puzzle: each piece represents an attribute to openness, and it must exceed a certain threshold value of openness in order to fit. The more pieces become a part of the entity, the easier it would be to characterize it as open.

Although merely aspiring to illustrate a point, I must admit that even this is perhaps an oversimplification of the topic. More than anything, openness is a matter of perspective -whether are we looking at it from the point of view of the learner, educator or the institution.

Why is it worth pursuing openness in teaching?

Although it is difficult to define what openness means both in and for education, some very clear arguments have been made about whether openness is something that we should pursue. The resistance seems much related to the fear of losing something, such as prestige or expertise, or concern over unbearable increase in the workload. While I partly hear my voice somewhere in between these lines, many people have also spoken for the undeniable benefits that can result from going open. Now I mean ‘open’ in respect to one or more of the following three principles: open educational resources (OERs), open access and open teaching (Wiley and Green, 2012). Some points to justify openness are definitely worth highlighting:

• Education is about sharing. By making study materials accessible and using OERs, you can promote equality, improve student performance and satisfaction and make bridges between formal and informal education (Weller, 2014; see also Colvard et al., 2018)
• Sharing materials can actually be more beneficial (financially) and help building a (good) reputation of individuals, institutions and communities.
• Sharing materials and teaching enhance pedagogy and the students’ learning experience (Weller, 2014).

Open teaching provides individuals who might otherwise never have the opportunity to experience postsecondary learning a free and open chance to participate

Wiley and Green (2012: 88)

Should I do it then?

I don’t believe that promoting openness requires us to magically turn all our teaching around, nor would it make sense to be constantly on the hunt for only the pieces that make our puzzles complete. Having an open mind and honest curiosity towards the possibilities out there, such as those involving collaboration with other educators, can already steer us closer to building an academic community in which more people are included and not everything is behind closed doors. Personally, I’m ready for the change. Are you?

References

Colvard, N., Watson C. & Park H. (2018). The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262-276.

Ragupathi, K. (2020). Being open: Drawing parallels with the Coffee House model. [online]

Weller, M. (2014). Open Educational Resources. In M. Weller (Ed.), Battle for Open: How Openness won and why it doesn’t feel like a victory. London: Ubiquity Press, 67-88.

Wiley, D. & Green C. (2012). Why Openness? In D. Oblinger (Ed.), Game changers: Education and Information Technologies. Educause, 81-89.