This paper reports on a project which has embedded Open Educational Resources (OER) into the teaching and learning of students who are undertaking professional degrees in social work and nursing. It raises profound questions regarding the role and purpose of Higher Education by asking to whom does knowledge belong and who is permitted and able to produce knowledge in Higher Education? Historically professional training has been configured, led and taught by the professions themselves with little input from those outside. This paper will argue that a more democratic production and dissemination of knowledge is imperative in the changing context of Higher Education. The presentation will incorporate examples of OER developed by a range of non-traditional educators, such as students, practice assessors and service users/patients, and will explain how these are being used in learning and teaching to provide an inclusive, rich, diverse and varied learning environment

Crawford, Karin

Mathews, Ian

Simpson, Diane

English

University of Lincoln Institutional Repository

Higher Education as a public good: Pushing forward, pushing boundariesAbstractThis paper reports on a project which has embedded Open Educational Resources(OER) into the teaching and learning of students who are undertaking professionaldegrees in social work and nursing. It raises profound questions regarding the role andpurpose of Higher Education by asking to whom does knowledge belong and who ispermitted and able to produce knowledge in Higher Education? Historically professionaltraining has been configured, led and taught by the professions themselves with littleinput from those outside. This paper will argue that a more democratic production anddissemination of knowledge is imperative in the changing context of Higher Education.The presentation will incorporate examples of OER developed by a range of non-traditional educators, such as students, practice assessors and service users/patients,and will explain how these are being used in learning and teaching to provide aninclusive, rich, diverse and varied learning environment.IntroductionThis paper describes a creative, exploratory project at the University of Lincoln thatseeks to embed Open Educational Resources (OER) into the learning and assessmentof students who are undertaking professional degree programmes in nursing and socialwork. The paper addresses the conference theme in questioning what Higher Educationis for by probing to whom knowledge belongs and who is permitted and able to produceknowledge that is purposeful and credible in Higher Education? The project reported onin this paper has explicitly drawn on the knowledge and expertise of a range of non-traditional contributors and raises a debate about the production and dissemination ofknowledge. Historically professional training has been configured, led and taught by theprofessions themselves with little input from those outside. This paper will argue that amore democratic production and dissemination of knowledge are morally andeducationally imperative in the complex changing context and landscape of HigherEducation.The democratisation of knowledgeThe production of OER can be seen as part of a wider social movement (Winn 2012) thatseeks to move the advantages and knowledge of Higher Education outside of universitywalls and into the public domain. This paper will analyse how the project has embracedand encouraged the production and dissemination of knowledge beyond traditionalboundaries and promoted the concept of Higher Education as being accessible and freeto all who wish to learn. The potential for OER to widen participation to Higher Education,particularly amongst those in disadvantaged communities who historically do not accesssuch learning, is significant, especially in an era when university education is anincreasingly expensive commodity to purchase. Equally, OER are a key means ofsharing knowledge in a way that transcends national and international boundaries andenables learners in different countries to access high quality learning materials.The OER produced by the project have drawn on a range of knowledge and expertise beyond theconfines of academia and traditional sources of knowledge production. Thus whilst Deem etal (2007) discuss the notion that ‘knowledge work’ is potentially everyone’s business, theproject reported on in this paper puts that contested idea into practice in its widest sense.For example, contributions have been received from students, those who assessstudents in practice, practitioners, educators, managers and service users/patients. Thissocially inclusive explicit valuing of wider expertise in professional teaching and learninghas produced a number of benefits, not least the development of a community oflearners and educators who are willing to share their knowledge and experience.Knowledge production and the development of social capitalThis paper also recognises that this more democratic approach to knowledge productionproduces an investment by the public in professional learning and teaching. Thus whilst‘teaching as a public activity’ is known to ‘have a profound impact on the relationshipbetween teachers, students and the higher education curriculum’ (Bell 2012: 2), thispaper takes the debate beyond the confines of the institution to the wider stakeholdercommunity. Contributors invest in the training of the future professional by activelyshaping the evolution of their professional identity and persona by enabling access to‘their’ knowledge. This in turn leads to an increase in social capital, or ‘social wealth’(Winn 2012: 133), as tangible links and networks are created between professionals intraining and those they seek to serve.This sharing of knowledge and involvement in the shaping of professional learning corresponds toother drivers in education and wider society. In particular it resonates with the ‘student asproducer’ agenda (Neary and Winn 2009) but pushes the boundary further by incorporating otherknowledge producers. This work recognises how students can contribute to learning andknowledge as they not only have their life experiences, but a wider range of knowledge and self-understanding to share (Burawoy 2005). It also, more controversially, echoes the politicalambitions of the ‘Big Society’ proposals that seek to increase community involvement in allaspects of life.The OER projectThis paper and presentation will define OER and outline the process of working withinand beyond the institution to engage stakeholders in the development of multi-mediaOER to support students in their practice learning and assessment within professionaldegree programmes in nursing and social work. This will include consideration of howmaterials are licensed and made publicly available. The paper will also explore theshared goals and ambitions that led to and have supported the work, whilst alsoilluminating the challenges and concerns that emerged from different perspectivesthrough aspects of the project.  Within this, the presentation will incorporate examples ofthe resources that have been developed and will explain how these are being embeddedin learning and teaching to provide an inclusive, rich, diverse and varied learningenvironment.ConclusionThere is a growing international movement of educators and institutions that arepromoting the development and use of OER in what could be seen as a ‘radical form’ ofhigher education (Winn 2012: 133). This paper embeds itself within that movement as,through an exploration of a particular project, it examines how, in the complex changingcontext of Higher Education, a more democratic production and dissemination ofknowledge is a moral and educational imperative. In particular, the project reported onthis paper pushes the commonly accepted boundaries of knowledge production,particularly the usually tightly-guarded knowledge production in the professions, as itinvolves students, practitioners and the wider community in the development of learningmaterials to support learning.The project reported on in this paper was funded by the Higher Education Academy and supportedthrough their ‘Change Academy’ initiative.[934 words without reference list below]ReferencesBell, L. (2012) ‘Education as a Public Good’ in M. Neary, H. Stevenson and L. Bell (2012)Towards Teaching in Public: Reshaping the Modern University London: Continuum pp 1-3Burawoy, M. (2005) ‘For public sociology’ American Sociological Review 70 (1), pp. 4-28Deem, R., Hillyard, S. and Reed, M. (2007) Knowledge, Higher Education, and the NewManagerialism Oxford: Oxford University PressNeary, M. and Winn, J. (2009) ‘The Student as Producer: Reinventing the Student Experience inHigher Education’ in L. Bell, H. Stevenson and M. Neary (2009) The Future of HigherEducation: Policy, Pedagogy and the Student Experience London: Continuum pp 126-138Winn, J. (2012) ‘Open Education: From the Freedom of Things to the Freedom of People’ in M.Neary, H. Stevenson and L. Bell (2012) Towards Teaching in Public: Reshaping the ModernUniversity London: Continuum pp 133-147

Higher Education as a public good: pushing forward, pushing boundaries

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