The OER Knowledge Cloud makes use of cookies. By continuing, you consent to this use. More information.
Supporting Authentic Higher Education through Sustainable Open Learning Design
Snow, Kathy

Published2020
Book titleThe Finest Blend: Graduate Education in Canada
Chapter 7, Pages 219-242
PublisherAU Press
EditorsParchoma, Gail · Power, Michael · Lock, Jennifer
CountryCanada, North America

ABSTRACT
According to Tony Bates (2017), a leading Canadian researcher in the field of online learning as well as one of the key investigators of the Canadian National Online Digital Learning survey, which interrogates the implementation of technology for learning within postsecondary institutions, two key issues arise from the 2017 Canadian National Survey of Online Learning that have implications for open learning in higher education. First, many institutions in Canada lack clear documented strategies for open education. Second, where strategies are found, the most effective are those tied to the strategic mission and vision of the particular institution. It is particularly challenging in small teaching-intensive universities to set aside funds and personnel for formal strategic planning specific to open education and the creation or adoption of open resources. In this chapter, I examine the development of a strategy for open education at Cape Breton University (CBU) through a series of small-scale developments that might offer insights for similarly scaled universities in their own processes of sustainable open education policy development.

First, I frame the discussion presented here in a review of current literature related to open education and a definition and typology of institutional approaches. Next, I examine the importance of positioning: to what degree does the purpose of opening education affect the design of open education? This is aligned with the mission of CBU, which acts as a case study for policy development in context. Next, I share illustrations of open education approaches chronologically, discussing each in turn in relation to the impacts on faculty time, teaching experience, and resource needs. I then present analyses through comparisons of approaches, illustrations of the common themes that arose from each example, and how they contributed to the long-term strategy for open education implemented in 2016–17. Finally, I discuss implications for the future, with the aim of presenting evidence for other small universities evaluating their own open education strategies. The central bias presented by the case example, rooted in the mission and vision of the university, is relationship building—students with one another, students with the university, and the university with the local community. The development of the open education strategy fundamentally guided by relationship building and how CBU was able to balance this goal against institutional constraints form the thesis of this chapter.

Keywords open education · strategy · design

LanguageEnglish
ISBN9781771992770
RefereedYes
RightsCC BY-NC-ND
URLhttps://www.aupress.ca/books/120295-the-finest-blend/
Export optionsBibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar



AVAILABLE FILES
120295_99Z_Parchoma_et_al_2020-The_Finest_Blend.pdf · 1.8MB



Viewed by 30 distinct readers




CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.

Click a star to be the first to rate this document


POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS

Interpreting fair dealing: An exploration of distance instructors' perceptions of Canadian Copyright Law
Henderson, Serena
Copyright law in Canada has been confusing for content users for many years. Educators and course developers need to understand these laws to ensure they take full advantage of their user rights, while not infringing on ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

Open educational resources: A reality check
Contact North
In 2007, educators from around the world gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, to challenge the educational world to adopt and use Open Educational Resources (OER) to increase access to and success in education and to ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

Open Pedagogy and the Inclusion of Marginalized Students
Maultsaid, Deirdre
Is Open Pedagogy by its nature inclusive? I think so. As a KPU Open Education Research Fellow, my multi-institution research project will provide insight on if and how open pedagogical practises can be inclusive and ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

Open enough? Eight factors to consider when transitioning from closed to open resources and courses: A conceptual framework
McNally, Michael; Christiansen, Erik
Transitioning from closed courses and educational resources to open educational resources (OER) and open courseware (OCW) requires considerations of many factors beyond simply the use of an open licence. This paper ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

Content is king: An analysis of how the twitter discourse surrounding open education unfolded from 2009 to 2016
Paskevicius, Michael; Veletsianos, George; Kimmons, Royce
Inspired by open educational resources, open pedagogy, and open source software, the openness movement in education has different meanings for different people. In this study, we use Twitter data to examine the ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

The Open University
Soles, A. E.
I thought what I would do this evening is to talk briefly about the Open University - under several different headings. First, let me give you the background of the development and I will try to do this without driving ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

A recipe for a successful institutional open education initiative
Jhangiani, Rajiv
Excerpt "My University is a Proud Leader in the Open Education Movement. But first, let’s provide some context: KPU is the leading institutional adopter of open textbooks and other OER in Canada. We launched the ...
Match: open education; Canada; North America

Getting to openness at a closed institution: A case study of evolving and sustaining open education practices
Morgan, Tannis
This study examined a Canadian post-secondary institution in the period between 2010 and 2014, with a follow-up assessment in 2018 in order to understand its evolution with open educational resources (OER) and open ...
Match: strategy; Canada; North America

Eight patterns of open textbook adoption in British Columbia
Barker, Jennifer; Jeffery, Ken; Jhangiani, Rajiv; Veletsianos, George
Since the launch of the BC Open Textbook Project in 2012, the adoption of open textbooks has steadily grown within public post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, Canada. An analysis of adoption records over a ...
Match: Canada; North America

Cours en ligne ouverts et massifs : État des lieux et adoption au Canada français: Guide et bilan de l'impact des cours en ligne ouverts et massifs (CLOM) au Canada Francophone
Grégoire, Robert; European Association for Distance Teaching Universities
Match: Canada; North America