Tag Archives: open learning

‘Open squared’ – learning the lingo

Posted on by
1

Weller’s (2014) account of the history of open learning aligns it with the free and open source software movement.  However, it concerns me that this connection is overlooked when phrases like “open technologies” (Weller, 2014, p.94), “open tools” (Cronin, 2017, p.8) and “open online spaces” (Perryman, 2023, Step 2.13) are used.  In these contexts, the word ‘open’ conveys the idea of being outside of the physical and virtual boundaries of an educational institution, rather than the licensing of the software.  Examples of open educational practices (OEP), such as the use of Twitter [now X] (Weller, 2023), link the practices with Big Tech’s “killer apps” which have been associated with data exploitation and neglect of privacy amongst other abuses (Fowler, 2021).  The main exception to this is blog sites built on WordPress 🙂 .

In addition, resources for educators (for example, Ritter, 2021; Salmon, 2014) ignore ethical considerations in their guides on using social media services for different educational purposes.  The only nod to ethics I have been able to locate is the inclusion of Security and Privacy as the final S in the SECTIONS model designed to help inform the choice of technology (Bates, 2022, section 10.9).

This really troubles me. Do I really have to use Big Tech’s services in order to be an open educational practitioner and open learner?  Should I really expect ‘learners’ to use those services in order to connect with and interact with me?  Do we really need to use the same platforms to socialise with family and friends; educate; and, learn?  Are these spaces actually conducive to learning with all the noisy marketing and monetised posts?

Continue reading →

Feedback

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve just realised an oversight in relation to the end of my last post (Learning in the open).  It’s a bit of a paraphrase, but I concluded that blogging was an activity that I primarily do ‘for me’.  In that moment, I probably alienated my ‘audience’ – potentially made readers feel as if they were being nosey reading my posts!

In those final paragraphs, there was something I overlooked.  If blogging is something I do ‘for me’, then why am I interested in the number of people who have read each blog and the number who ‘Like’ it.  Furthermore, why is it so pleasing when I realise others have republished the material more widely (within the terms of the creative commons license, of course).  And why am I so pleased when someone takes the time to comment.

The point is that ‘for me’ doesn’t take place in isolation.  It’s interdependent with ‘for us’ and ‘for them’ because it is enhanced by feedback.  I like to know if my ideas have reached other people. I like to know if they have found them helpful because I assume that I am not alone in thinking the way I think.  And I like receiving comments/feedback because that can then open up another reflective space for me.

So ‘for me’, ‘for us’ and ‘for them’ and not mutually excusive routes – that choosing one negates the other.  They coexist and depend on each other.  Although online, asynchronous communication may not be the most speedy way of achieving feedback, it is one of them.

PS this isn’t a request for likes and comments, it’s just a train of thought I wanted to get down!

Learning in the open

Posted on by
Reply

For someone who studies and works at a university with ‘open’ in the name, I’ve kind of always assumed that I was therefore involved in open education.  But this is only the case if you interpret ‘open’ in relation to the fact that there are no entry requirements and no selection procedures.

But recently, I have been studying material on ‘open education’ which has opened(!) up my thinking about what I understand open to be.  Now this is a BIG topic with lots of jargon like ‘open pedagogy’ and ‘OER-enabled’ and I can’t cover it all in one post.  Today I want to focus on the ‘openness’ of the artefacts that learners produce as we learn just to see where it takes me.

Continue reading →