Pedagogy refers to the study of teaching methods, strategies and principles used in education. Different educators have unique approach’s to teaching and utilize different engagement and assessment strategies. For a deeper dive into Pedagogy refer to Blog 2.
Open pedagogy is a student-centered approach to education that shifts away from traditional teaching methods. Traditional classroom learning tends to be instructor-led, where students passively receive information. In Open pedagogy learning is collaborative, there is an emphasis on active participation, universal knowledge sharing, and co-creation of learning materials.
Open Educational Resources (OER) play an important role in Open Pedagogy as they allow free access to teaching and learning materials. To ensure educational materials are used responsibly and are not infringing on any copyright laws, open pedagogy relies on openly licensed materials.
Key Features of Open Pedagogy:
Open Planning: A collaborative effort is used to design a course before it begins and the process is openly shared.
- For example instructors may look at syllabuses and assignments from other teachers and utilize them in their own course.
- Instructors will be transparent the process they went through in designing their course. This allows others to learn from their approach.
Open Products: Students share their work outside of the classroom to aid in others’ learning.
- For example, students may post a research paper debating the usage of capital punishment. Other learners then have the ability to engage with their work by adding additional points and perspectives on the topic.
- This allows for collaboration between learners by encouraging open exchanges and discussions.
Open Reflection: Students are encouraged to continuously reflect on the course and their learning experience.
- For example, students complete course experience survey’s about what went well in the course and what can be improved.
- This can help to address challenges to accessibility in the course.
- This can also help other educators who are considering using a similar course design.
Open Process: Educators are transparent in the development of educational resources used in the course.
- For example, Instructors, can share how they made a podcast, and the online tools they used to create it.
The Role and Impact of OER:
Open Educational Resources play a significant role in transforming the educational landscape from exclusivity based on financial factors towards equitable and inclusive education. Open educational resources are free, openly licensed materials that learners can share, use, and adapt on. OER allows students to access high-quality educational resources online for free, and with educators and learners worldwide.
Advantages of Using OER in Learning and Teaching:
- Cost reduction: OERs are free of cost to learners and teachers, addressing issues of affordability in education.
- Adaptability: OER can be used in different learning environment to meet needs of various learners.
- Global access and community engagement: allows learners and teachers to share high-quality educational materials and learn from different perspectives.
- Customizability and Continuous Improvement: OER materials can be edited, adapted, and modified to fit different educational needs.
Examples of OER’s:
Bccampus Opened B.C. Open Collection | BCcampus
- Collection of Openly licensed textbooks, research papers, quizzes and educational resources.
- Online learning platform that provides instructional videos on subjects such as math and science.
- Includes interactive exercises and quizzes to reinforce learning.
- Website that provides high quality and freely licensed images.
Global Trends in OER:
One of the barriers to accessing higher education is the cost, these effects are felt by learners all over the world. For example, in China, the average cost of university education is equal to an individual’s annual income, meaning many individuals can not afford higher education. While, on average, university and college students in the USA spend about $1300 on textbooks each year (Kanwar & Mishra, 2019). These financial burdens demonstrate the limits in accessible learning individual’s feel all around the globe.
In many African countries, educational funding is scarce, and the lack of affordable textbooks and resources has led to a decline in literacy rates (Kanwar & Mishra, 2019). OER provides a solution to this by offering educational material such as free textbooks that can be accessed worldwide. By utilizing OER in these classrooms, literacy scores can be improved, and all learners can have equal access to educational materials
In 2019 UNESCO introduced a global policy framework that encouraged governments and institutions to utilize OER in education. The main goals are to make education more affordable, accessible, and inclusive. Based on reports from the Commonwealth of Learning, the following are some of the most impactful trends in OER.
Governments are starting to incorporate OER in education. .
- Canada: The government has introduced websites like the BCcampus open textbook, that provides free high-quality textbooks, quizzes, and journals for higher education students.
- China has begun to integrate OER into national education, recognizing the burden of high educational costs placed on families.
- Africa: Educational Organizations are working to provide more culturally relevant OER resources.
It’s been highlighted that many learners, especially in Asian cultures, are unable to access OER due to language barriers.
- China and India are developing OER materials in multiple Asian languages to support learners needs.
- African countries are also expanding OER to reflect diverse languages and cultures in the continent. This will ensure greater cultural sensitivity in education and steer away from a western-centered approach to learning.
Challenges and Opportunities in Global OER adoption
Challenges:
- Digital divide: Not all students have reliable internet or technology access that’s needed to use OER.
- Language and cultural barriers: The majority of OER are published in English and written by western individuals, limiting access to non-English speakers.
Opportunity:
- More government support and funding: Increased investment into OER has been shown to help reduce higher education costs by 30% (Kanwar & Mishra, 2019).
- Global knowledge sharing: OER promotes collaboration and diverse perspective taking. OER allows users from all over the world to create, modify, and share learning materials.
- Lifelong learning: OER supports lifelong learning, making it easier for individuals to have access to educational material at any point in their lives, regardless of whether they are currently in school or not.
Understanding Creative Commons Licensing: Responsible Sharing in Open Education:
Creative Commons (CC) licensing is essential for the success of (OER). It provides clear guidelines for using, modifying, and sharing educational materials legally and ethically. Without these licenses, sharing educational resources could be illegal and unethical, limiting opportunities for knowledge sharing.
There are 6 creative common licensing ranging from least strict to most strict rules:
- This is the most flexible license, it enables individuals to use, modify, and share content freely as long as the original author is given credit.
- Individuals are able to modify, adapt, and share work but any new work must publish under the same license. Proper credit to the original creator is also required.
- Content can be shared and used for NON-commercial purposes only. Proper credit must be given to the original creator.
- Essentially the same as CC-BY-NC, however any modifications or adaptations to work must be shared under the same license.
- Can share content, but no modifications or adaptations are allowed. Proper credit is required
- This licensing has the least amount of freedom in terms to adapting work. Individuals can share material but not adapt or modify it.
- Content can be shared and used for NON-commercial purposes only and proper credit must be given
Examples of Creative Commons licensing in my own work:
- Blog Posts: I often use CC-BY licensed images to enhance my work and give credit to the original creator.
- Research and Presentations: When writing research papers or creating presentations, I try to include information from research articles, textbooks, and journals that are CC-BT or CC-BY-NC licensed.
- Teaching: In a teaching position, I could adapt CC-BY-NC-SA math worksheets to fit the needs of my class, then publish under the same license and share them with my students for non-commercial purposes.
Attributes of Open Pedagogy:
As an educator, I would include aspects of open pedagogy in my teaching to create a more inclusive and accessible learning environment. I have personally benefited from collaborative learning. Group projects and discussion posts, for instance, have exposed me to diverse perspectives and counterarguments increasing my understanding of these topics. I would include collaborative work such as group assignments that allow students to create a presentation on an OER platform that is shared beyond the classroom. Learners from all over the world will be able to access and adapt their work, promoting the use of open products and global knowledge sharing. I would also utilize open educational resources such as free textbooks to ensure all students have equal access to materials regardless of their financial background.
In regards to transparency, I would incorporate key aspects of open pedagogy, such as open reflection. Throughout the semester, I would encourage students to fill out course experience surveys to report on what they felt went well in the course and what could be improved. These reflections will allow me to change areas of my teaching and course design to improve accessibility. I would openly share this information so other educators can learn about teaching strategies and engagement material that are effective.
References
What is Open Pedagogy | Program for Open Scholarship and Education
About CC Licenses – Creative Commons
Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice
Kanwar, A., & Mishra, S. (2019). Towards a global policy framework for open educational resources: Case studies from the Commonwealth. Commonwealth of Learning.
https://oasis.col.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e2d6d35d-f0c8-4730-8306-81311cd6d2c1/content
McGreal, R. (2017). Special report on the role of open educational resources in supporting the sustainable development goal 4: Quality education challenges and opportunities. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(7), 292–305. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1163203.pdf
100+ Learning Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash
What is pedagogy? Understanding teaching and learning | Hāpara