167 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Open Education and the Hidden Tariff
This paper explores the promise of that Open Educational Resources (OER) would democratise access to education and ennui of many within the movement as the revolution is always just around the corner. It develops from earlier work which asked whether OER is a challenge to, or a product of, neoliberalism within education, which questioned the reification of the self in OER and the focus on particular types of content which seemed to create open education in the image of the academy. The paper uses the idea of digital labour to explore digital inclusion, who does digital labour, who has the skills to perform digital labour and who and how do people benefit from digital labour. It suggests seeing education as an exchange of labour and reward makes visible the hidden aspects of work, in particular it highlights the skills required to do education as digital labour and the unequal access and distribution of those skills contributes to unequal access to education, even when it is freely available and openly licensed online. Uncovering the hidden tariff within OER allows us to see where and how might address these inequities. In particular how we can learn from older traditions of open education which see it as a common good. Developing models of Open Educational Practice (OEP) to overcome the visible and hidden barriers and realise the benefits of open education
Recommended from our members
Open education P’s at the OU in Scotland: partnership, practices and the development of open educational policies
This paper explores the role of partnership and practice in the development of open educational policies within an Scotland wide project managed by the Open University (OU) in Scotland. It begins by exploring the open educational practices (OEP) of the OU in Scotland, in particular how partnerships have informed our approach. This is placed in the context of the OU UK, and looks at the role of having central and coherent policy as a platform for practice, while also considering the destabilising effect on innovations. This review of our present approach leads onto an exploration of the broader Scottish educational policy context. It introduces a new three year HE wide project led by the OU in Scotland, and the paper will review narratives emerging from the initial phase focusing on practice, partnership and policy at an organisational, with a view to understanding the development of these at a national level
Recommended from our members
Uncertainty, learning design, and interdisciplinarity: systems and design thinking in the school classroom
This paper explores aspects of learning design for design thinking within a small (circa 100) remote rural secondary (12-18 year old) school in the Highlands of Scotland. It introduces action research school teachers and final year (17-18 year old) pupils which explored how “real world” learning experiences can be brought into the classroom. It does so by joining two areas that are often treated as distinct practices. These are, the use of system theory and community development approaches to identify and map complex issues (Bell and Morse 2012), and the use of ideas from co-design to include non designers in the design process (Sanders and Westerlund 2011). The paper takes a grounded approach to the application of these ideas, simply asking “do they work”, and then “what”, “how” and “why”. In exploring those questions the paper tries to be open and transparent about learning design as a messy, uncertain and emergent proces
Recommended from our members
Open Education as Disruption: Lessons for Open and Distance Learning from Open Educational Practice
This paper reflects on what Open and Distance Learning providers might learn from the Open Educational Resources/Practices (OER/OEP) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It is based on experiences working on OER and OEP first at the OU in Scotland (OUiS) and more recently under the auspices of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) funded Open Educational Practices Scotland (OEPS) programme hosted by OUiS. The paper by exploring the disruptive potential of MOOCs and OER within Higher Education. While it acknowledges lessons for HE it argues the focus on access and scale has obscured other lessons ODL might learn from opening up educational practices. Much of our work has centred on OEP and partnership with organisations outside the formal education sector. As such it has taken the possibilities offered by openness as an invitation to look at the relationship between the formal and the informal. The paper traces OEPS journey as it explores less apparent but no less important lessons around designing and creating open content through partnership in a way that is cost effective and context relevant
Recommended from our members
Reflecting on Open Educational Practices in Scotland
This paper reflects on the work of Open Educational Practices Scotland (OEPS) a Scottish Funding Councils (SFC) programme to promote the development and use of free and open online educational resources within the informal and formal education sectors in Scotland. Hosted by the Open University (OU) in Scotland (OUiS) it leverages OU experience of Open Educational Resources (OER) in relation to the OUiS long history of working in partnership.
OEPS joins two distinct but overlapping open traditions. Work on OER on the affordances of free and open online content, considerations of licence, platform functionality and the designing digital learning objects in for and through Open Educational Practices (OEP). With approaches from older traditions of open education, based on education as a common good and narratives on equity and social justice. For OEPS the merging of these discourses is based on a decade of OUiS work engaging in a series of diverse partnerships with employers, formal and informal education providers to support those diverse needs.
The paper introduces examples of what this means in for and through practice. Exploring work we have done with Parkinsons UK to develop a series of OER focused on neglected area of curriculum Then looks at the work have done with the Scottish Union Learn (SUL) to promote use of free and open resources by learners in the workplace. Through these examples we explore possibilities of partnerships to bring new voices into the academy, to create supportive structures based on shared values and trust to support uncertain learners. It is our sense this approach allow the benefits of openness to be shared in a just and equitable manner. It then reflects on the issues that arise when you work in-between two senses of open
Recommended from our members
Approaching Participatory Design in "Citizen Science"
This paper explores the use of participatory design methods in engaging older people in Citizen Science. Based on a pilot in a small Scottish town it looks at the application of designerly practices to bringing lay knowledge into professional practices around biological recording. Charting our journey, our initial focus on enabling people to collect biological data, with a focus on participatory methods and design thinking, and its evolution into work about what collecting biological participants enabled for participants. It captures reflections on well-being, mobility, changing environments and communities, and a growing confidence in themselves as experts in their own lives. The paper closes with some personal reflections on what we learnt as facilitators about the use of participatory methods. In particular the role of our own (and participants) tacit assumptions in framing approaches, and the need to open and flexible, to frame and reframe as process and outcomes shift
Recommended from our members
Towards Open Educational Practice
Significant claims are made for the potential of Open Educational Resources (OER) to widen access to higher education. Most recently, the very large numbers of individuals enrolling on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has dominated discussion in universities and beyond. Advocates such as D’Antoni (2013) have written persuasively of how OER can potentially open up access to education and redefine the boundaries between institutions and society. However, the evidence from the first wave of MOOCs suggests that the participants are primarily individuals with prior experience of higher education. While this indeed widens access, there is no evidence that it is widening participation from those distanced from education (Lane et al, 2014). Indeed there is limited evidence of significant impact on widening participation by OERs (Falconer et.al, 2013).
The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, however, has longer and deeper roots (Lane, 2012: 140), roots that are about more than licensing and has engaged in educational practices that break down barriers to education. This paper explores recent examples from Scotland of partnership-based approaches to the development, design and delivery of OERs. Drawing on this experience and ideas from the academic literature on educational technology, pedagogy and widening participation, we draw some provisional conclusions on an approach that combines key elements from all these fields. In particular we note that openness is not simply a matter of barriers to access related to licenses or technological aspects, but are inherently cultural, social and situational. We conclude that while the OER movements early focus on licenses and technology was useful, widening participation requires a shift in emphasis, a shift that accounts for peoples, places and the practices of open educatio
Recommended from our members
Opening up Spaces to Support Rural Business in Scotland
The Open University has a commitment to releasing core curriculum openly, while we have always edited for “the open” tailoring has been minor. Rural Entrepreneurship in Scotland is a different model. It is based on material to develop your business idea from across our academic programme. However, the material has been revised significantly to place it in a rural Scottish context. Setting up a business or social enterprise is a complex and personal undertaking. It is about more than knowing the right steps, it is about applying that knowledge in context. The module materials are designed around “real” case studies developed with key stakeholders within rural Scotland. One of the benefits of releasing curriculum in this way is the ability to evaluate how it works in the world and adapt it accordingly. For example, we are using the analytics to track topics of particular interest and looking at how we can enhance and improve those components. One of the benefits of low cost reversioning content for less populated curriculum areas is the ability to invest resources in supporting and understanding how resources are used in practice. Through these workshops with rural entrepreneurs we are able to assess how open education operates in practice for practice. We have learnt from working in the open, our analytics suggest the finance component is of crucial, while our outreach work suggests we need to develop a new component on generating entrepreneurial ideas
Recommended from our members
Approaching work and learning indirectly
This paper approaches work and learning indirectly. It is part of a mixed method longitudinal study that looks at the articulation from Higher National (HN) to part time Higher Education (HE). Since 2003 the Open University in Scotland (OU) has been collecting quantitative and qualitative data on students who have HN qualifications. This paper looks at the experiences of those students and the central place of work in those journeys.
The paper beings with a statistical overview. HN Students that come to the OU tend to be older, the majority are in employment, they tend to reside in more deprived areas, and are often motivated by career aspiration. Their HN qualifications tend to cluster around the applied subjects as do the subjects they chose with the OU (Engineering and Technology, Education, and Health and Social Care). The picture is of widening HE participation in applied subjects.
The paper then looks at the interview data from the 2011-12 study. Choosing a vocational pathway is not always determined by exam results (some had HE entry qualifications), expectations and opportunities are important. Critical incidents at the end of school (births and deaths) were part of that narrative, as were family expectations around the “safe place” provided by vocational pathways, along with the sense that HE study was not for them. Overall participants narrated “bumpy” interrupted transitions between education and employment. Stories that emphasised social and structural barriers, personal autonomy, and stories that seemed to call into question how useful it is to talk about definite transitions between education and employment.
The vocational focus of most HN study means it is normal to regard work as the natural place for learning. This focus on practice means participants think of competence as something that develops formally and informally at and through work after they “qualify”. Interviewees seemed to accept that there was no job or role for life. The paper also considers the motivations for engaging in HE study. For these students work remains the principal focus. Just like HN, part-time distance learning is considered a “safe place” as people can balance study and work. “Getting on” or “getting out” feature strongly. For example, participants found themselves in roles that required HE qualifications, and sought the security and “mobility” that aligning their experience with a qualification would bring. Many cited personal factors; they looked back to “missed opportunities” with regret. However, it became apparent that what starts as personal leads to reflections on career progression and change as studies progress. The paper concludes with some reflections on the ways that articulation between HN and part-time study widens participation in HE. For those in work it also destabilises notions of smooth or appropriate transitions, and questions the boundaries between the personal and the professional
Remote from what? Perspectives of distance learning students in remote rural areas of Scotland
Distance learning is seen as the obvious answer for remote learners, and the use of online media is expected to overcome any access difficulties imposed by geographical distance. However, this belief may be obscuring our understanding of the role that location and individual circumstances have in shaping student experience. This paper explores the variation in experiences of remote rural students who study with the Open University (UK). The researchers found that perceptions of remoteness depended on geography, but were also relative to individual circumstances. With respect to students’ sense of connection with university staff and peers, most mentioned their contact with their personal tutor. Networks with peers were less common, a matter of concern if peer networks are integral to fostering improved retention and progression. In this particular context, distance education may be playing an important and distinctive role for remote students by providing opportunities for connections with like-minded people
- …