The topic 2 is about open education resources (OER) and how to provide an equal learning environment to everybody. Among the participants the working premises differ but we have had fruitful discussions! And this is the best part of PBL work: I am learning!:)
In 2012, David Wiley wrote an enlightening article about OER, its possibilities and obstacles, and reflected upon what it is going to be like in the future. He concluded that only time can tell. In my opinion, that future is already present and just like online teaching and learning, the OER have come to stay and is developing very fast (fascinating to read in a Swedish newspaper today that similar processes are seen in the media environment where journalists find themselves “threatened” by other communicating instances – and it is not only an issue of information and desinformation). Probably the universities have to “join the race” of OER instead of resisting it. And I think the content of our courses is no secret, so I don’t have any problems with sharing it in an open environment. But I do hope – like we also said in the group – that the university as a governmental institution will provide support. If not, a lot of teachers will end up in the same situation as when online education started: teaching had to be done but the technical and economical support was almost non-existent.
Furthermore, the teachers who share need to be aware of some aspects like sharing the content of a subject without being manipulated to discuss issues with those who read our material and without using the environment as a political platform, for instance.
As a conclusion, whether OER will develop or will be substituted by something else, education is being created and recreated continuously. The interesting article by David Wiley (see below) was shared in the PBL group and indeed it is worth reading. Thank you!
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2012/5/chapter-6-why-openness-in-education
3 svar på ”Topic 2”
I agree. Institutional support is crucial, as there are so many aspects of opening our content and courses that we cannot control alone. Someone else in my group pointed out that that support can also come from learning communities (https://kirstyjfreeman.blogspot.com/2020/10/blog-2-open-learning-sharing-and.html ), I thought it was an interesting approach as well.
Thank you, Diana! Relevant to our next topic:)
I think your comment regarding sharing and not been forced to discuss with those who use our learning materials for their own political purposes if worth while. We discussed ethical issues relating to open online learning in our group a lot. I feel that we tend to forget the dangers of sharing when we blindly ascribe to the values that sharing is good. We discussed the issue especially in regard of protecting our students from forced sharing of contents that might be harmful for them, for example sharing blogs or their assignments in general in any politically hot topics (climate change, minority rights, sexual orientation etc., immigration). For example, students (and faculty) might become targets of cyber bullying and also coercive governments often monitor their citizens abroad and threaten those students and their families who do not stay true to official state policies. For example, prestigious universities like Harvard have this year made sure that all assignments in international policy course are turned in anonymously so that no other students even in a close course environment can know who have written the text they need to read or comment upon in order to protect their students. I think educational institutions should have practices in place that would protect students as well as the faculty from the negative consequences of sharing.