Week 2: EDCI 339
After exploring the concepts of open and distance learning, specifically the benefits and challenges of both Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) through the readings, and how these aspects can contribute to open and distance learning in ways that benefit students’ learning while also posing challenges, OER aims to provide educational content that is available and easily accessible to students, as well as reusable content. OEP, on the other hand, aims to go beyond the content and directly focus on the openness to pedagogy, which aims to allow the learners to go beyond the content and provide students with the opportunity to foster their agency, creativity and openness in understanding how the learning happens using open approaches.
Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices Introduction
These articles made me question and rethink what open education is and what it means for something to be “open.” Looking into the differences between OERs and OEPs, I am interested in uncovering if these OERs are considered open due to the implication of who gets to contribute to the knowledge students learn through these resources. What information is it? And who is producing the information? After looking into OEP, as a future educator, I am interested in the active participation part of the students learning and, as a teacher, how I can, rather than deliver content using notes and textbooks, how I can better provide an open learning space where students can have a level of agency regarding what they are learning and how they are learning it. When I am a teacher, I want to incorporate OEPs. Due to the demand for specific learning requirements and curriculum in education, entire classes would be challenging to implement entirely OEP. Still, there are many opportunities to incorporate OEP into classrooms where students can express their voices and work through open learning. Doing so, especially in the elementary classroom where I specifically want to teach, can teach students at a younger age to express their voices and learn that they have agency in their education. This can spark curiosity and creativity in students at a young age, as well as how I can implement the 5 Rs in open learning.
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