At the core of evolutionary trajectories in the digital networked media and OER landscape, the notions of 'educational and learners' communities' and open 'participatory pedagogy' become more complex. Combining notions of 'mediation' from activity theory and communications studies to analyze a large body of literature and qualitative data offering insights on stakeholders motivations, perceptions, practices or uses, the paper considers the meaning of Open Educational Resources (OERs) as participatory learning media in a global context. It then draws on perceptions and uses of OER and open media by faculty, and structures dimensions of cultural and socio-technical mediation by this particular segment and focusing on two types of users: the teacher as active interpreter and salient user and the teacher as digital publisher. We argue that the socio-technical and pedagogical affordances and OERs, hinder many tensions pertaining: a) the definition of openness; b) quality; and c) moral authority regarding both context and adaptability

Keywords

audience · mediated learning · OER mediation · open media · prod-use · quality · use of OER