“Social software offers the opportunity for narrowing the divide between producers and consumers. Consumers become themselves producers through creating and sharing.”¹

Learning Intention

“Instead of thinking of knowledge as something students need to download into their brains, we start thinking of knowledge as something continuously created and revised.”² In this approach, students can become participants in creating and revising knowledge alongside teachers.

Overview

This idea builds along the philosophy of Paulo Freire who challenged the “banking concept” of education, where instructors are depositors of knowledge into students’ heads.³ Using OER in the classroom can reframe the conversation around who holds knowledge and who doesn’t and invite students to become active participants in the creation and distribution of knowledge, not just the accumulation of knowledge. “Open Content involves a new relationship between producers and consumers.”¹

Definition

“The ‘open’ in open educational resources indicates that these materials are licensed with copyright licenses that provide permission for everyone to participate in the 5R activities” ⁵

1. Retain: OER distributes the right to “make, own, and control copies of the content beyond the author (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage).”

2. Reuse: OER provides the right to “use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video).”

3. Revise: OER allows for the right to “adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language).”

4. Remix: OER enables the right to “combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup).”

5. Redistribute: OER includes the right to “share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend).”

Considerations

• Reframe What Learning is: “Learning is not seen as the acquisition of knowledge by individuals, so much as a process of social participation.”¹

• Expand the Idea of the Teacher: Experts in the community hold knowledge, experience, and expertise, and so do students. “For Open Educational Resources, this means bringing together social practices from teachers and trainers, from learners and from educational technologists and software developers.”¹

• Bring in Other Voices: Bring local experts and industry professionals to your classroom, either in person or using technology tools like Google Hangout video chat.4 Also look for OERs like podcasts or Ted Talks where other speakers and leaders share expertise.

• Class-Created Syllabus^1,4: Have students help create course objectives alongside the instructor. Start off the quarter by asking students what they want to learn about and engage them in identifying outcomes and assessments that will facilitate that learning.

References

1. Attwell, B., & Pumilia, P.M. (2007).The New Pedagogy of Open Content: Bringing Together Production, Knowledge, Development, and Learning. Data Science Journal, 6(7). Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220390123_The_New_Pedagogy_of_Open_Content_Bringing_Together_Production_Knowledge_Development_and_Learning

2. DeRosa, R., & Robison, S. (2017). From OER to Open Pedagogy: Harnessing the Power of Open. In: Jhangiani, R S and Biswas-Diener, R. (eds.) Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science. Pp. 115–124. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc.i. License: CC-BY 4.0.

3. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.

4. Staton, M. (2019). Creating Lifelong Learners through Open Educational Practices. Innovative Teaching Showcase. Published online by the Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment, Western Washington University.

5. Wiley, D. & Hilton, J. (2018). Defining OER-enabled pedagogy. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(4). Available: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3601/4724