The concept of “Open,” particularly when it comes to Open Access, is something that we’ve written a lot about here at Profhacker. In fact one could make the argument that part of our Ethos here is build around the idea of openness; we write openly about our pedagogies, our practices, and our struggles. Increasingly, however, “open” is being turned into the latest buzzword around education and education reform (transformation, disruption, revolutionize, leveraging, etc). The word, then, is losing it’s meaning, in a lot of important ways.
That isn’t to say there isn’t a great deal of critical and important work that has been done and written about. But, like any subject, knowing where to start can be a challenge. Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science, edited by Rajiv Jhangiani and Robert Biswas-Diener, which has just been published Open Access (of course) by Ubiquity Press, is an invaluable resource for getting started in understanding what “open” is, as well as how it has been applied and practiced across multiple types of institutions, disciplines, and educational settings.
What I really like about this book is that it takes a really broad approach to open, including Open Pedagogy, Open Teaching, Open Access, and Open Data. There are chapters that argue for the quality of OER resources, for the utility of Open Pedagogy, and for the transformational potential of these approaches and resources. There are also “how to” guides describing how scholars and educators implemented their approach to open in their particular setting. But, perhaps most importantly, it sets the tone with a serious philosophical and critical discussion of the notion and practice of open.
I’ve been remiss, as well, not to have mentioned earlier OpenLearning ’17, which has been taking place since January. Sponsored by the AAC&U, it is “a connectivist MOOC” around open learning. There are a number of ways to participate, including Twitter chats, AMA, and Hangouts. It’s a little more than half-way finished, so there is still time to participate and even go back through the archives for more resources. Last week was Open Educational Resources week, and this week is Participatory Culture.
What are some of your favorite “open” resources?
Image Opening Up by Sonny Abesamis licensed CC-BY 2.0
