Open learning: Reflections on topic 2



The second topic in the course focused on sharing and openness. 

The idea of sharing materials and ideas can be scary. I tend to worry about where the recordings of my lectures may end up for example. I guess things that we know little about are especially scary, so it was valuable to read about Creative Commons, for example. 

It was also good to discuss in this topic how to introduce the topic of openness to students. Teaching students how to appropriately and ethically use outside materials probably addresses our own fears: If people understand that it is important to cite sources and attribute ideas, then we instructors would be less fearful of sharing those resources. 

But I think the most challenging of open education for me, is openly sharing my own resources on public platform (accessible to everyone). Even to write this blog is not always easy, knowing it is your ideas that can be judged and criticised. As one article pointed out: 

"Individual determinations regarding openness often entail a succession of considered and nuanced decisions within specific contexts. Recognition of the complexities and risks of openness, as well as its potential benefits, should inform open education practice and policy. A critical and reflexive approach is essential."

This quote is from an article by Catherine Cronin who found that universities negotiate and try to find balance between privacy and openness at four levels: macro, meso, micro, and nano. I list them bellow as they helped me to identify the different process as I decide how to approach openness in my teaching. 

At a macro level, we decide whether to share knowledge openly. And at this point, some of us may decide that we do not want to do that at this point. But if we decide to share openly, then at the meso level we decide who to share the content with, at micro level we think of who I share as (e.g., teacher, researcher, colleague, etc.), and at nano level, we decide about particular content - will I share this particular piece? 

These conceptualisations highlighted for me the complexity of openness, and the various decisions that go into it. At the university level (macro) we may decide that openness is good, but then there are multiple decisions for specific courses, and even within courses on how to share, where, and when. 

Comments

  1. Lars HarryssonApril 22, 2022 at 1:23 AM

    Thanks for sharing these short reflections from topic 2 with us. But, how does this elaborate based in some of the readings and webinars available during the topic.
    /Lars

    ReplyDelete

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