The Global OER (Open Educational Resources) Graduate Network (GO-GN) was founded in 2013 to support and connect doctoral researchers on OER worldwide and to promote open education research and its ...potential impact on society. In its ten-year history GO-GN has brought together doctoral students, experts, and educators from all five continents. GO-GN organises face-to-face events, online webinars and other activities that promote support and collaboration among its members. The pandemic impacted on GO-GN members and the network; this research shows how the network moved from a community of practice to a community of care.
In recent years, hopes that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) would make access to education fairer faded in the light of research showing MOOCs favoured the already educated and relatively ...advantaged. This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature from 2014 to 2018. The aim was to investigate the extent that MOOCs and other free open education programs provide equitable forms of online education to address global widening participation agendas. The literature fell into two main groups: empirical reports on outcomes for students, and those providing policy or practitioner guidance. A globally diverse set of 46 studies and reports were examined, including 24 empirical evaluations of programs reaching over 440,000 disadvantaged learners in both distance and blended learning settings. Most literature claimed an interest in advancing student equity (enrolled or tertiary preparation learners) and/or social inclusion (community learners) with low-skills, low confidence, and/or low levels of previous education. In contrast to the existing literature, this study found that there was a flourishing of multi-lingual and Languages other than English (LOTE) programs and those addressing regional socio-economic disadvantage. Most cases involved MOOCs and free online resources combined with additional forms of support, including face-to-face study groups. Contrary to the existing debate in the open education literature, the review also found that the legal status of the learning materials (copyright or openly licenced) was of little consequence so long as it was free to the end user. What seemed to matter most was the intentional and collaborative design for disadvantaged cohorts, including the provision of digital or face-to-face personal support. Successful design collaborations often featured learner-centred, non-technical partnerships with community groups which increased the understanding of the needs of particular marginalised learners, while also providing more sustainable and distributed learner support. The review concludes that MOOCs which aim to widen participation in education are an alternative global practice that exists alongside more commercial MOOC offerings. Recommendations are provided for addressing gaps in offerings, and improving design and research.
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•Global review of free, online programs reaching 449,403 learners, with 320,7263 pieces of learner data, and 28, 198 survey results.•Multi-lingual and non-English MOOCs enable diverse regional learners with low levels of previous education.•Open and proprietary technologies used, often integrated with class-room based technologies and extra learner supports.•More equitable learning opportunities for enrolled learners (student equity) and also community members (social inclusion).•Improved research needed to track the progress of under-represented learners in courses including women in STEM.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and open education are key areas in the current development of educational systems internationally. However, little is known about the general perspective of ...what has been addressed about EDI in open educational contexts to date. To address this gap, this paper presents a systematic literature review of 15 papers where we examined the current state of the art and the main suggestions for EDI implementation. Results indicate that practitioners should involve all stakeholders, including institutions, faculty members, and students, in EDI development to enhance open educational practices as well as in the cocreation of open educational resources which need to consider culture, language, and location, among others. This review of literature contributes an evidence base to support the future development and adoption of EDI in open educational contexts by organizing relevant literature into coherent themes that can inform future research.
Open education resources (OER) and accompanying open education practices (OEP), are changing the education landscape. For educators to take full advantage of the opportunities OER offer they must ...engage in learning activities to facilitate the extension and adaption of their practice. This paper forms part of a larger study exploring how adult educators learn from and through their engagement with OER in the contexts of their work. Following a quantitative investigation of the learning behaviours of 521 educators around OER use, follow up interviews were conducted with 30 participants. The interviews explore in greater detail the ways knowledge is being (re)generated and used by the educators as they learn new practices with and through OER. Six broad knowledge types were identified as supporting the expansion of practice. The data suggest educators not only require multiple types of knowledge, but also must be able to move fluidly among these different types of knowledge.
This study empirically evaluated Universitas Terbuka students' political participation. This study used a quantitative approach with a survey research design. Data was collected through the ...distribution of questionnaires to Sociology Study Program students of the Universitas Terbuka in Malang. The analysis technique utilized descriptive statistics. The study results showed that the average level of student political participation is quite high. Open and distance education had the potential to strengthen the political participation of Indonesian citizens through various activities. Measuring student political participation in universities with an open and long-distance system still needs to be carried out, especially in Indonesia; therefore, the authors recommend that future researchers develop a more credible measurement tool and study it uses a more comprehensive approach.
Introduction
Most of the recent reviews of literature on open education practices (OEP) seem to be limited in their scope, inhibiting their capacity to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the ...concept of OEP. Hence, this systematic literature review was conducted with the purpose of analysing past research on OEP in an effort to identify how OEP is theorised and defined in the existing literature.
Methods
Employing a systematic protocol, the literature search was conducted using the Dimensions database. A total of 30 publications were considered for the qualitative analysis, which engaged a thematic approach.
Results
The findings indicated that the concept of OEP can be explained with a combination of three major components: open education resources, an open teaching and learning process, and open research and scholarly practice. The findings also showed that these components should be grounded in six principles: accessibility, flexibility, shareability, affordability, innovation, and academic freedom.
Discussions
The findings imply that, in order to meaningfully execute open education practices, each of the three components must be given equal importance and that these practices be well grounded in the identified six principles.
Open education has existed for more than 6 decades. In its beginnings, it consisted of removing various controls that made it difficult for students to enter and remain in the educational system. ...Today, it involves characteristics such as accessibility, flexibility, and adaptability, in environments beyond academics. The student-centered teaching approach has now shifted its focus, prioritizing student learning and giving rise to the concept of open learning. In 1972, the National Autonomous University of Mexico announced the beginning of its Open University System (in Spanish, Sistema Universidad Abierta) with the purpose of offering opportunities to incorporate large segments of the population into higher education through the decentralization of university services and the renewal of teaching methods. In this article, we review some of the university's initiatives and solutions within the framework of open learning. Specifically, we analyze the changes necessary to renew and update the Open University System after 50 years.
Student-faculty partnerships can drive innovation in parasitology education and outreach. We provide recommendations for building successful partnerships during the design, implementation, and impact ...assessment stages. We also introduce a new series of freely available educational and community outreach materials available on a platform that the parasitology community can contribute to.
Student-faculty partnerships can drive innovation in parasitology education and outreach. We provide recommendations for building successful partnerships during the design, implementation, and impact assessment stages. We also introduce a new series of freely available educational and community outreach materials available on a platform that the parasitology community can contribute to.
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