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Conference Abstract

Conference Abstract—20% Write a 200 word (maximum) double-spaced description of an imagined presentation you wish to make that identifies a philosophical or theoretical problem, articulates a purpose or thesis statement, and from that point describes how you will respond to the problem.

EDIT: Instructor feedback in Red, except for typos, I just changed those.

Mapping Openness in Education

The term Open education (and related terms) has come to mean acquired a wide variety of things meanings depending on the context. To some, it reflects commitments to social justice and access in higher education (Funes & Mackness, 2018); to others, it is about concerns using openly licensed materials to reduce student costs (Wiley, 2017); and still others see it as a set of pedagogies that utilize open education resources to improve learning outcomes (DeRosa & Jhangiani, 2018; Paskevicius, 2017). While these are all important topics, the lack of a consistent definition has the could potentially to lead to reduced clarity and precision in research in the field on this topic[1]. In response to that problem, this review attempts to maps the primary definitions of open education in the literature in order to provide clarity and suggest a common foundation of for terminology. Rather than seeking a single definitive description, I will argue there is a multi-dimensional spectrum of beliefs, artifacts, and practices which that comprise the field of open education. This diversity and the need to be aware of it, grows out of the roots of open education as a multi-disciplinary endeavour initiated and developed by faculty and administrators who share a common set of values about improving access to high-quality learning environments in higher education.

[-1] I agree in general with this observation. Consider that it would be stronger if you explained why (in 1 sentence). For example, to follow your terms above, could a person be disappointed if they expect to read about social justice but instead find an article on pedagogy? Or are there other, less accurate and potentially undesirable uses of the term (i.e. “open access” that requires payment) that you have in mind here? No matter what your answer, though, putting some explanation here will increase the power of this moment in the abstract.

Version 2.0

Mapping Openness in Education

Open education (OE) has acquired a wide variety of meanings. To some, it reflects commitments to social justice and access in higher education (Funes & Mackness, 2018); to others, it concerns using openly licensed materials to reduce student costs (Wiley, 2017); and still others see it as a set of pedagogies that utilize open education resources to improve learning outcomes (DeRosa & Jhangiani, 2018; Paskevicius, 2017). While these are all important topics, the lack of a consistent definition could potentially lead to reduced clarity and precision in research on this topic. For example, educators might conflate OE with "good pedagogy". In response to that problem, this review maps the primary definitions of OE in the literature in order to provide clarity and suggest a common foundation for terminology. Rather than seeking a single definitive description, I will argue there is a multi-dimensional spectrum of historical and contemporary beliefs, artifacts, and practices that comprise OE. This diversity, and the need to be aware of it, grows out of the roots of OE as a multi-disciplinary endeavour initiated and developed by faculty and administrators who share a common set of values about improving access to high-quality learning environments in higher education.

References

DeRosa, R., & Jhangiani, R. (2018, March 16). Open Pedagogy. Retrieved October 15, 2018, from http://openpedagogy.org/open-pedagogy/

Funes, M., & Mackness, J. (2018). When inclusion excludes: a counter narrative of open online education. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(2), 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2018.1444638

Paskevicius, M. (2017). Conceptualizing Open Educational Practices through the Lens of Constructive Alignment. Open Praxis, 9(2), 125–140. Retrieved from https://openpraxis.org/index.php/OpenPraxis/article/view/519

Wiley, D. (2017, May 2). OER-Enabled Pedagogy. Retrieved September 24, 2018, from https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/5009