Openness: Student perceptions

This short paper describes a research project which aims at investigating how students conceive and use open educational practices (OEP). A recent definition by Cronin (2017) emphasizes collaboration, participation and learner empowerment to encompass “collaborative practices that include the creation, use, and reuse of OER, as well as pedagogical practices employing participatory technologies and social networks for interaction, peer-learning, knowledge creation, and empowerment of learners” (2017, p. 4). Researchers and educators alike have considered the role of OEP in more effectively engaging learners in the co-creation of knowledge, critically considering how digital practices and open platforms can be used in practice. Early research on OEP focused on adoption and development of OER (Cronin & MacLaren, 2018), but has recently shifted student perceptions of impact (Jhangiani, Dastur, Le Grand, & Penner, 2018, Lin, 2019) and improved student learning and empowerment (Hodgkinson-Williams & Trotter, 2018). However, there are gaps in our understanding of learner experiences in other dimensions of openness, such as negotiating identity, privacy, visibility, literacy and the co-construction of knowledge. As educators we need to consider how the structures of these spaces will influence the open teaching practices we are using, both in how they may make our spaces permeable, and in how they might make them more impenetrable. If we want our learners to be able to explore what we as educators see as the benefits of open practices, such as co-creation and sharing of knowledge, then we need to explore both their perceptions and direct learning experiences. The focus of this project will be on students' perceptions of openness in education, exploring their identities as open educational practitioners and how they negotiate their open educational spaces. Participants will be situated in an online graduate program (including multiple courses) designed around open educational practices, including open platforms and open educational resources, and endeavouring to include learners in critical digital pedagogical practices. To explore learner practices, the following research questions will be explored using a virtual ethnographic case (Hine, 2008): What are learners’ understanding of open educational practice? How do they see themselves navigating open platforms, open digital pedagogies and practices and critical digital perspectives? What practices, values and/or strategies are shared by learners who are working within an open educational practice framework?