Fostering Open Educational practices in cross-cultural contexts

The open content movement is breaking down traditional barriers to learning and resource sharing by promoting free access to Open Educational Resources (OERs) such as digital educational content and technological tools for teaching and learning. OERs have the potential to enable learners to champion their own learning by providing free access to educational content and tools that enable them to create, use and share knowledge. However, the design and uptake of OERs is often hampered by limited understanding of issues relating to the context in which learners access and use OERs. This paper discusses some of the approaches taken to foster open educational practices in learner use of OERs offered by The Open University’s open content initiative, OpenLearn. Drawing on these experiences, we then consider future ideas about supporting open educational practices in cross-cultural contexts, and, in collaboration with Tshwane University of Technology, examine potential impact of OERs in Africa

A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education

This review focuses on the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education. It provides a synthesis of the research literature in the field and a series of illustrative examples of how these tools are being used in learning and teaching. It draws out the perceived benefits that these new technologies appear to offer, and highlights some of the challenges and issues surrounding their use. The review forms the basis for a HE Academy funded project, ‘Peals in the Cloud’, which is exploring how Web 2.0 tools can be used to support evidence-based practices in learning and teaching. The project has also produced two in-depth case studies, which are reported elsewhere (Galley et al., 2010, Alevizou et al., 2010). The case studies focus on evaluation of a recently developed site for learning and teaching, Cloudworks, which harnesses Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate the sharing and discussion of educational practice. The case studies aim to explore to what extent the Web 2.0 affordances of the site are successfully promoting the sharing of ideas, as well as scholarly reflections, on learning and teaching

Researching collaborative artistic practice.

In this paper we offer discussion of collaboration in artistic practice, based on a two-and-a-half-year-long research project undertaken by artists/researchers at the University of Waikato, working in collaboration with local performers. Grounded in kaupapa M¯ori, feminist and phenomenological research methodologies, this research project provided a context for exploring existing understandings of collaborative processes in the arts, and for immersion in and development of alternative processes, across artistic mediums and cultures. Drawing on contemporary understandings of cross-cultural and intercultural practices in the arts, we discuss how shared conceptualisation of ideas, immersion in different creative processes, personal reflection and development over extended periods of time were found to foster collaboration. In this paper we will explore the value and nature of relationships within collaboration, and discuss how selfdetermination or tino rangatiratanga might be maintained within the context of collaborative performance art

Beizam Triple Hammerhead Shark: Animatronic technology and cross-cultural collaboration in the Torres Strait

Research into Beizam Triple Hammerhead Shark: Animatronic technology and cross-cultural collaboration in the Torres Strait, was to further establish and test institutional recognition of cross-collaborative inspired Indigenous/non-Indigenous art within the emergence of a multimillion-dollar Torres Strait Islander arts industry. The success of mainland Aboriginal artists paved the way for Torres Strait Islanders to develop their own contemporary art movement, largely responsible for the cultural revival in which Indigenous communities now participate. Amid this revival, there is limited information on non-Indigenous involvement among these artists and works. The research presented in this thesis expands this area of knowledge. The main premise of my argument questions institutional and Indigenous arts industry downplaying of cross-cultural collaborative engagement among the Torres Strait Islander contemporary art movement. This is supported by demonstrating a history of cross-cultural engagement within the constructs of contemporary art making and cultural practice predating Western influence. I demonstrate how my work with Dr Ken Thaiday Snr (Thaiday) serves to promote cross-cultural engagement and in line with Sasha Grishin’s article on the Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial[1], poses questions to curatorial and art market agendas that segregate Indigenous art from the broader context of contemporary Australian non-Indigenous art. One of the arguments I have had with the two earlier shows and continue to have with the present one is with the concept of race-based segregation as the underlying basis for an art exhibition. Is indigenous art in Australia still in need of affirmative action and a sheltered environment for it to grow and survive?[2] The thesis questions curatorial and art market agendas that have misinterpreted our cross-cultural collaborations, segregating them from the broader context of contemporary Australian art through the dismissal of my involvement in the works. An investigation of technology inspired artistic collaborations between Thaiday and myself over the research period of five years is used as a platform to raise questions on the peripheral complications of my non-Indigenous participation in the co-creation of works connected to Torres Strait Islander culture. Our artistic collaborations merge animatronic technologies and automated production systems that integrate with Thaiday’s material culture. Thaiday and I have developed an artistic engagement combining our art practices to produce hybrid, performative works of contemporary art. The aesthetic is a combination of both our styles of work. Thaiday provides the historical context, uniquely styled cultural content and the framework for the collaborative concept to build from based on his past dance machines and centuries of material culture. I provide a connection to a digital realm, introducing technology and the format of a new contemporary aesthetic borne from automated processes and references to my art practice. The newly formed work is digitised bringing the collaborations to life, the works are jointly enhanced by our shared knowledge of the marine environment. The research and collaborative works draw from long-lasting traditions, of collaborative engagement with outsiders including and incorporating new ideas and technologies into the fabric of their own traditional practice and cultural development. A brief historical account of this contemporary art movement and key artists creates the context for three major works undertaken by Thaiday and myself that were shown in prominent exhibitions locally and internationally. The final collaborative work, Beizam Triple Hammerhead Shark 2016 produced for the 20th Biennale of Sydney, forms the major work for the research. This research documents and discusses, the production and reaction, to publically displayed co-created works between Thaiday and me, focusing on perception and understanding of our Indigenous/non-Indigenous artistic collaborative engagement. The thesis advocates a platform that allows our collaborative works to continue contributing towards the promotion of Indigenous cultures, Australian contemporary arts and sharing of cultural ideas and knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. [1] Grishin, Sasha. (June 7, 2017). Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/defying-empire-3rd-national-Indigenous-art-triennial-20170606-gwlkgb.html [2] Grishin, Sasha. (June 7, 2017). Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/defying-empire-3rd-national-Indigenous-art-triennial-20170606-gwlkgb.htm

Reflective practice: Dance-making and image narratives.

In this paper I discuss the identification and representation of embodied knowing, focusing on how it is evidenced through reflective practice in dance-making. Grounded in a phenomenological hermeneutic approach, the research from which this discussion is drawn included the development of a model specific to reflective practice in dance-making and an exploration into alternative means of representing embodied knowing in dance-making. The outcome of this exploration is an image narrative which brings together dance-making, images and reflective journals

Knowledge management and communities of practice in the private sector: lessons for modernising the National Health Service in England and Wales

The National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales has embarked upon a radical and farreaching programme of change and reform. However, to date the results of organizational quality and service improvement initiatives in the public sector have been mixed, if not to say disappointing, with anticipated gains often failing to materialize or to be sustained in the longer term. This paper draws on the authors' recent extensive research into one of the principal methodologies for bringing about the sought after step change in the quality of health care in England and Wales. It explores how private sector knowledge management (KM) concepts and practices might contribute to the further development of public sector quality improvement initiatives in general and to the reform of the NHS in particular. Our analysis suggests there have been a number of problems and challenges in practice, not least a considerable naïvety around the issue of knowledge transfer and 'knowledge into practice' within health care organizations. We suggest four broad areas for possible development which also have important implications for other public sector organizations

Uncovering everyday learning and teaching within the quilting community of Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Arts at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This thesis explores the social and cultural phenomenon of everyday learning and teaching within the communal activity of quiltmaking. Home-sewn quilts are rarely associated with the needleworkers’ high level of knowledge and skill; yet, the quilters’ act of knowing is practical, inherently social, and intentional. This research study examines the collaborative processes of “quilting together” to understand cultural patterns of participation; and investigates the participants’ meaning-making experiences to facilitate an analysis of collective knowledge practices. Using an ethnographic methodology, this research investigated the lived experiences of quilters within the situated context of two quilting groups, located in Aotearoa New Zealand. Observations were made of participants’ engagement in quilting activities as they interacted with each other, material artefacts and quilting tools. These observations took place during regular quilting sessions and special events. Interviews were conducted with founding members to gain an understanding of cultural-historical processes, as well as a purposively selected sample of ten participants who shared their personal quilting experiences. Observation notes, conversation commentaries and interview transcripts were analysed in relation to the research question and two guiding questions. Key findings are related to a variety of contextual issues surrounding the process of informal learning and teaching as it materialised through the quilters’ engagement in idiosyncratic community practices: the practices of which are generative of quilting knowledge and vice-versa. Firstly, through social integration quilters developed a sense of belonging and responsibility. Secondly, cultural patterns of social interaction consisted of multi-directional learning with quilters having complementary roles. Thirdly, due to the tacit nature of quilting knowledge, embodied experiences and material mediations were essential for thinking and communicating with others. Fourthly, a constellation of knowledge practices co-existed in the quilting community. Finally, the quilters’ informal learning was organised and supported within the community. The study contributes to a body of locally-based and international research concerned with informal learning and teaching theory, situated in a quilting community-based setting. The emerging conceptual framework, “Apprenticeship Model of Craft Community Learning”, develops and extends participation-based approaches to learning. In addition, the quilters’ collaborative designing process of inquiry advances understanding of knowledge creation within craft maker cultures

Collaborative Development of Open Educational Resources for Open and Distance Learning

Open and distance learning (ODL) is mostly characterised by the up front development of self study educational resources that have to be paid for over time through use with larger student cohorts (typically in the hundreds per annum) than for conventional face to face classes. This different level of up front investment in educational resources, and increasing pressures to utilise more expensive formats such as rich media, means that collaborative development is necessary to firstly make use of diverse professional skills and secondly to defray these costs across institutions. The Open University (OU) has over 40 years of experience of using multi professional course teams to develop courses; of working with a wide range of other institutions to develop educational resources; and of licensing use of its educational resources to other HEIs. Many of these arrangements require formal contracts to work properly and clearly identify IPR and partner responsibilities. With the emergence of open educational resources (OER) through the use of open licences, the OU and other institutions has now been able to experiment with new ways of collaborating on the development of educational resources that are not so dependent on tight legal contracts because each partner is effectively granting rights to the others to use the educational resources they supply through the open licensing (Lane, 2011; Van Dorp and Lane, 2011). This set of case studies examines the many different collaborative models used for developing and using educational resources and explain how open licensing is making it easier to share the effort involved in developing educational resources between institutions as well as how it may enable new institutions to be able to start up open and distance learning programmes more easily and at less initial cost. Thus it looks at three initiatives involving people from the OU (namely TESSA, LECH-e, openED2.0) and contrasts these with the Peer-2-Peer University and the OER University as exemplars of how OER may change some of the fundamental features of open and distance learning in a Web 2.0 world. It concludes that while there may be multiple reasons and models for collaborating on the development of educational resources the very openness provided by the open licensing aligns both with general academic values and practice but also with well established principles of open innovation in businesses

Community Dimensions of Learning Object Repositories

This paper outlines some enablers and barriers in the use of learning object repositories (LORs) to support learning within a range of communities. Key dimensions of use of LORs as well as relationships between LORs and the learning communities that they aim to support are discussed. The LORs and communities analysed in the paper are SIESWE Learning Exchange (formerly Stor Curam), JORUM, IVIMEDS, and DIDET. Guided by the Activity Theory perspective, the LORs and the communities are analysed as sociocultural activity systems. Based on this analysis, some initial barriers and enablers for the use of LORs to support learning are outlined and implications for the future use of LORs are discussed