Constellations of OpenDr. Robert FarrowThe Open University, UK

OPEN EDUCATIONRESEARCH HUB

I. Constellations of OpenII. Findings from OER HubIII. Upcoming and Future Work

I. Constellations of OpenII. Findings from OER HubIII. Upcoming and Future Work

I. Constellations of OpenII. Findings from OER HubIII. Upcoming and Future Work

@philosopher1978

@oer_hub

I. Constellations of Open

Forthcoming in Deimann, M. & Peters, S. (eds.) (2016). The Philosophy and Theory of Open Education. New York: Peter Lang Publishing

History of open education

Peters and Deimann (2013) have demonstrated that the history of openness can be understood to stretch back before the institutionalization of education, even if the language of open was not always used. • Ancient knowledge transmission through apprenticeship• Guttenberg printing press (1450s) • Monastic tradition gave way to university institutions• Emergence of the public sphere (Habermas, 1962) and public

university systems

History of open educationBy the 1960s the open education movement had begun to coalesce around the idea of disestablishing cultural, economic and institutional barriers to formal education. The Open University in the UK was founded in 1969 to widen access to higher education by disregarding the need for prior academic qualification, and using the communication technologies of the time to ‘open up’ campus education though a “teaching system to suit an individual working in a lighthouse off the coast of Scotland” (Daniel et al., 2008).

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History of open education

• Industrialisation brought the rise of popular literacy and establishment of public libraries and distance education

• In the 20th century we have seen an extension of the belief that education is a right that can be extended to all

• It is mistaken to see this as a linear historical progression: (Peters & Deimann, 2013:12) observe that “historical forms of openness caution us against assuming that particular configurations will prevail, or that social aspects should be assumed as desired by default”.

History of open education

• Over the last decade – primarily in the form of Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) and Open Educational Resources (OER) – the open education movement has further expanded opportunities for education worldwide.

• Yet as opportunities for accessing educational materials increases, so higher education (in the West, at least) has increasingly seemed to be in a crisis of funding shortfalls, massive student debt, and a lack of graduate employment. This has led some to ask whether open education is the saviour of traditional education, or the herald of its demise.

“Open approaches are featured in the mainstream media. Millions of people are enhancing their learning through open resources and open courses. Put bluntly, it looks as though openness has won. And yet you would be hard pressed to find any signs of celebration amongst those original advocates. They are despondent about the reinterpretation of openness to mean ‘free’ or ‘online’ without some of the reuse liberties they had envisaged. Concerns are expressed about the commercial interests that are now using openness as a marketing tool. Doubts are raised regarding the benefits of some open models for developing nations or learners who require support. At this very moment of victory it seems that the narrative around openness is being usurped by others, and the consequences of this may not be very open at all.” (Weller, 2014: 14)

• Contextualist, not essentialist

• Defines itself against a status quo that restricts some activity: open lets you do X

• Fundamentally oriented towards freedom

• But what kind of freedom?

Negative Liberty: the absence of (external) restrictions on activity; freedom from interference

Positive Liberty: the capacity to act on the basis of one’s free will; implies rational agency, autonomy, active choice

Distinction made by Fromm (1941) and Berlin (1958)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Statue_of_Liberty_from_ferry.JPG

Characteristics of Constellation Method• Always reconstructive and historical

• Begins with actually existing examples of practice

• Intimately related to how language is used

• Move beyond binary judgements (e.g. open or not?)

• Anti-essentialist: “the constellation of moments is not to be reduced to a singular essence; what is inherent in that constellation is not an essence.” (Adorno, 1973:104)

• Recognises historical contingency without over-simplification or relativism

• Constellation does not prohibit possibility of other constellations, nor future re-interpretation

• Reflective open practice

Other work relating to this strand

• Deimann, M. & Farrow, R. (2013). Rethinking OER and their use: Open Education as Bildung. International Review of Online and Distance Learning 14(3). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1370/2542

• Farrow, R. (2015). Open education and critical pedagogy. Learning, Media and Technology. DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2016.1113991

• Farrow, R. (forthcoming 2016). Framework for an open ethics. Open Praxis

II. Open Education Research Hub

Prof. Martin Weller Dr. Rob FarrowDr. Bea de los ArcosDr. Beck PittNatalie Egglestone

• Research project 2013-2015 at The Open University (UK)

• Funded by William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

• Tasked with building the most comprehensive picture of OER impact

• Organised by eleven research hypotheses

• Collaboration model works across different educational sectors

• Global reach but with a USA focus

• Openness in practice: methods, data, dissemination

OER Research Hub

oerresearchhub.org oerhub.net

Keyword Hypothesis

Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction

Openness People use OER differently from other online materials

Access OER widen participation in education

Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies

Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice

Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions

Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER

Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support

Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study

Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies

Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER

Project Co-PILOT

• Research instruments applied consistently across collaborations:surveys, interview questions, focus groups, etc.

• Supplemented by integration of secondary research

• ‘Agile’ research, sprinting

• Thematic and methodological cohesion provided by research hypotheses

Research Process

Geographical spread of research participation

Some key findings

• 37.6% of educators and 55.7% of formal learners agree or strongly agree that OER use increases student satisfaction

• 27.5% of educators and 31.9% of formal learners agree or strongly agree that OER use improves student grades

• Impact appears to be greater for non-grade related aspects:

- 36.2% (n=254) OER improves student engagement ✓- 36.2% (n=254) OER promotes new ways of learning ✓- 35.2% (n=256) OER increases student interest in subject ✓- 35% (n=249) OER leads to student self-reliance ✓

• 55.7% (n=370) of formal students agree or strongly agree that OER increases student satisfaction

• Formal learners reported that increased interest in subject was the main outcome from using OER (60.1% n=398)

• Others included increased experimentation (49.4% n=398) and gaining confidence (48.6% n=322)

• For some cohorts (e.g. Saylor Academy) more than half of learners believed that they grew more confident, became interested in a wider range of subjects and felt their learning experiences improved

• 79.4% of OER users adapt resources to fit their needs

• 79.5% of educators use OER to get new ideas and inspiration

• Videos are the most common type of OER used

• 88.4% of learners say that the opportunity to study at no cost influenced their decision to use OER

• 40.9% of all formal learners in our sample believe that OER have a positive impact in helping them complete their course of study

• 79.6% of formal students think they save money by using OER

• 31.5% of non-formal learners say that their interest in using OER is a chance to try university-level content before signing up for a paid-for course

• Informal learners choose OER that are relevant to their particular needs, have a good description of learning objectives and outcomes, and are easy to find and download

• 31.3% say their use of OER influenced their decision to register for their current course

Impact of OER repository on likelihood of future study

Repository More likely to study formally Less likely to study formallySaylor

(n=1858)19.8% 19.9%

OpenLearn (n=583)

31.4% 13.9%

iTunesU (n=94)

23.4% 25.5%

iTunesU channel users were much more likely to be younger and were mostly male. They are often in full time education and use OER on an informal basis outside of their formal studies to pursue interest in a wide range of subjects

Saylor Academy users are more likely to be in employment and already in possession of a degree. They tended to be middle aged and primarily motivated by professional development.

OpenLearn users were more likely to be older, retired, and female, and had a higher proportion of users who were motivated mainly by personal interest (though 40% are in full time employment).

Aggregation

Inspiration

• learning experiences improved

Textbook access

Access to high quality content

Community building

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Strong evidence for savings when replacing textbooks with open versions

Evidence for other forms of cost savings is less clear

Summary of General Findings• There was a high degree of satisfaction with OER across all types of

user, with a large percentage willing to access further OER and to recommend them

• However, OER brand recognition was weak compared with other popular resource sites, and finding appropriate OER was a major obstacle

• Use of OER increases satisfaction and engagement with learning and is seen as saving students money

• Users look for relevance, reputation and clear learning outcomes when selecting OER

Summary of General Findings• OER (in English) is not confined to one or two disciplines, with all

subjects well represented, and a range of formats are accessed, although video remains the most significant

• An under-reported benefit for educators is the manner in which OER cause them to reflect on their own practice, and to broaden their teaching approaches

• Similarly underreported is the idea that the benefits may not be cost savings and improved performance but recruitment and retention of students

OER Evidence Report 2014

http://oerhub.net/reports/

OER Data Report 2013-2015

http://oerhub.net/reports/

oerhub.net/dissemination

III. Current and upcoming work… including ways to get involved

• Research into open education and strategies for building worldwide open education research capacity

• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)• Current projects include:

Open Education Research Hub

• Research into open education and strategies for building worldwide open education research capacity

• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)• Current projects include:

oerworldmap.org

The Opening Educational Practices in Scotland project aims to facilitate best practice in open education in Scotland through:

• the development of a peer support network

• an online hub and awareness raising activities

• collecting evidence of effective practice

oepscotland.org

go-gn.net

tinyurl.com/2016oraLatest results: oerhub.net

• Research into open education and strategies for building worldwide open education research capacity

• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)• Current projects include:

Thanks for listening!oerhub.netoerworldmap.orggo-gn.netrob.farrow@open.ac.uk@philosopher1978