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What is Open education

Open education is philosophy how people could produce, share, and build on knowledge and a way of carrying out education using digital technologies.

Open education is an educational movement founded on openness, with connections to other educational movements such as critical pedagogy, and with an educational stance which favours widening participation and inclusiveness in society. Open education broadens access to the learning and training traditionally offered through formal education systems and is typically (but not necessarily) offered through online and distance education. The qualifier “open” refers to the elimination of barriers that can preclude both opportunities and recognition for participation in institution-based learning. One aspect of openness or “opening up” education is the development and adoption of open educational resources in support of open educational practices.

Open Education. Digital Public Goods and Digital Commons

Education. Open Source Solutions

An example of an institutional practice in line with open education would be decreasing barriers to entry, for example, eliminating academic admission requirements. Universities which follow such practices include the Open University in Britain, Athabasca University and Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning in Canada and the Open University of Catalonia, in Spain, among many others (see full list here). Massive open online courses (MOOC) and OpenCourseWare are among the most recent and visible approaches to open education, adopted by universities worldwide. Although many MOOC’s have free enrolment, the costs of acquiring a certification may be a barrier. Many open education institutes offer free certification schemes accredited by organizations like UKAS in the UK and ANAB in the United States; others offer a digital badge.

The most recent emergence of open education is related to the ability to share resources on the web at little cost compared to the distribution of copy righted material common within higher education. Early examples of this are the OpenCourseWare program, established in 2002 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which was followed by more than 200 universities and organisations, and Connexions, established at Rice University in 1999, which transformed into OpenStax. Similar to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities from the Open Access movement, are the goals and intentions from open education specified in the Cape Town Open Education Declaration. MOOC is a more recent form of online course based on principles of openness which has gotten increasing attention since the early 2010’s, exemplified by online platforms such edX, Coursera and Udacity.

Common features of open education

Open education is often considered an unequivocal good, part of a larger movement of openness in society (i.e. open knowledge, open government, open access, open data, open source, and open culture). However, critical approaches to open education have also been developed which underline differing perspectives and the need for a nuanced examination of the contexts of openness, a focus on issues of participation, power and social justice, a move beyond the binaries of open and closed as well as examining relationships between formal, non-formal and informal forms of open education and the relationships between teachers and learners. Openness in education is considered both a comprehensible and a contested term with multiple layers and dimensions.

It can be characterised as an adaptive, flexible, and evolving concept. Advocates of openness in education argue that to fully realise the benefits of open education, there is a need to focus on open educational practices (OEP).

Common features of open education in practice attempt to build opportunities for learners to:[8]

  • access education, open educational resources, open textbooks, and open scholarship
  • collaborate with others, across the boundaries of institutions, institutional systems, and geographic locations
  • create and co-create knowledge openly
  • integrate formal and informal learning practices, networks, and identities

Theoretical foundations of open education

“Initial conceptualisations of open education were characterised by independent study, where learners are independent of time and space through asynchronous learning, but also independent in developing their own learning strategies and practices, focused on personalised learning and learner autonomy and agency.”

Technology utilized

Since open education usually occurs at a different time and different place for most individuals across the world, certain technologies need to be utilized to enhance the program. These technologies are primarily online and serve a variety of purposes. Websites and other computer-based training may be used to provide lecture notes, assessments, and other course materials. Videos are provided and feature speakers, class events, topic discussions, and faculty interviews. YouTube and iTunesU are often used for this purpose. Students can interact via computer conferences using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Skype and others, as well as email, online study groups or annotations on social bookmarking sites. Other course content can be provided as notes, pdf files and printed materials.

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open education is founded on Open Educational Resources (OER) comprised or learning, teaching, and research sources. With Open Education, the costs of textbooks which surged over three times the rate of inflation for many years must not hinder education.

OER can possibly address this problem since materials are free online and economical in printed form. Resources intended for buying textbooks can be rechanneled towards technology, enhancing the medium of instructions, and lowering debt. Research studies also showed many students learn more because of their access to quality materials. Technology also has unlimited potentials in raising teaching and learning to a higher level.

Open source software and Open Education

The more open source software being applied in the education industry. This is no surprise since its specific advantages make it extremely attractive for educational institutions such as schools and universities.

Open source software is a type of software whose code is publicly available. The source code transparency brings very specific advantages to the table. From flexibility to the power of community behind every open source project, open source software has been applied across industries.

Education is one of the most laggard industries when it comes to digitization. Less than 4% of overall expenditure is allocated to digital spending. Moreover, education as a whole is not drawing on enough private capital to fund the digital transformation.

Benefits of open source technology for higher education institutions

  • 1) Flexibility

    A big challenge that universities have when it comes to digital transformation is the complexity and uniqueness of their systems. From a technological point of view, this makes it harder for universities to adopt technologies that are not built with their specific requirements in mind.
    Moreover, almost 70% of public sector employees believe that their digital skills are poorer than those of their private-sector colleagues, making them harder to adapt to completely new systems.
    Since open source software is free to inspect and use, it can also be easily modified to match the exact needs of its users. This is often of critical importance to universities whose complex IT infrastructure requires a high level of flexibility when adding new solutions.

  • 2) Security

    Open source software has publicly available code. This means that it’s available for everyone to see and inspect.
    Open source community members then gladly intervene in the code and suggest changes to it. A lot of times, the suggestions make the app more secure.
    All in all, open source software has the whole community behind its back as contributors.
    Moreover, with the introduction of GDPR, European businesses and universities alike have had to adapt to stricter data privacy regulations.
    More and more companies are looking for self-deployment options to ensure complete data sovereignty, thus facilitating data protection.

  • 3) Cost-effectiveness

    The cost of open source software varies, but it is cheaper than proprietary software as a rule of thumb. Users usually opt for free trials or install community versions of the software at hand, which is usually free. This gives higher education institutions a good insight into how a specific open source software would fit into their complex infrastructure.
    Furthermore, open source software customization can be done in-house and doesn’t have to be expensive. On the other hand, proprietary software vendors usually charge extra for customization.
    Last but not least, open source software users avoid vendor lock-in. This is a situation where universities become dependent on a vendor for products and services and can’t get out of a deal with them, yet the vendor can increase the price of their services.

Using the open source principles in education

In a lot of ways, the open source world is similar to academia. Developers selflessly propose changes to open source software code in order to improve it, just like academics share their work with academic communities, thus enabling the knowledge on the subject to grow.
That’s why many open source enthusiasts propose applying open source principles in education. What are they, and how can teachers bring open source principles to classrooms?

Open source principles that can be apllied in education

  • Collaboration

    Education does no longer only imply teachers are teaching students. To truly embrace open source principles in education, teachers should embrace the fact that they co-create the learning experience with their students.
    Moreover, teachers can also learn from their students, not only vice versa!

  • Transparency

    The transparency of the open source software contributes to its improved performance. Just like that, more transparency between teachers, students, and parents can lead to better educational outcomes.
    For example, clearly communicating expectations at the beginning of the school year is a great way to reflect on an open source principle in education.</li.

  • Meritocracy

    This open source principle can really thrive in online education. There are numerous teaching and learning methods available in digital education. Therefore, students have more ways at their disposal to innovate, showcase their ideas, and get awarded for them.
    Therefore, teachers should encourage their students to a diverse range of expressing their ideas and create a safe and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

  • Community

    Open source world relies on open source community. This principle is very important in education, since everybody needs a community in order to succeed.
    Teachers should inspire students to give back to the academic community, and universities should promote activities that make students feel like they a part of the greater whole.

  • Release early and often

    This open source principle refers to the practice of creating a tight feedback loop between developers and users of the software. In education, it translates to continuous feedback that helps students to improve every step of the way. Also, it stands for frequent communication between all parties involved in the educational process with he purpose of improving it.

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