Open pedagogy is the practice of engaging with students as creators of information rather than simply consumers of it. It's a form of experiential learning in which students demonstrate understanding through the act of creation. The products of open pedagogy are student created and openly licensed so that they may live outside of the classroom in a way that has an impact on the greater community.
Open projects frequently result in the creation of open educational resources (OER). OER are free teaching and learning materials that are licensed to allow for revision and reuse. They can be fully self-contained textbooks, videos, quizzes, learning modules, and more. UTA Libraries sponsor a grant program that supports open pedagogy and OER adoption/modification/creation projects.
Open pedagogy is a high-impact practice that empowers students by providing them an opportunity to engage in information creation through the use of renewable assignments. As creators of information, students in these courses gain a greater understanding of the rights and responsibilities associated with information ownership so they may make informed decisions about their own intellectual property. Practitioners of open pedagogy embrace collaboration, student agency, and authentic audiences while recognizing the differences in privilege and progress that impact how students balance the benefits of sharing and a need for privacy. This open educational practice challenges traditional teaching roles and has the power to transform the educational experience for both teachers and students.
From "Free + Freedom: The Role of Open Pedagogy in the Open Education Movement" by Rajiv Jhangiani and Robin DeRosa
Open Pedagogy refers to collaborative teaching and learning practices that help educators to advance a culture of sharing and active learning through OER.
Below is a framework for Open Pedagogy, proposed by Bronwyn Hegarty. Developing "openness" can be challenging. For example, educators may be uncomfortable sharing their work or inviting peer review in open platforms. Open Pedagogy does require a change in mindset to develop openness and work in a specific way; however, most educators already collaborate and share, and the attributes listed below are about extending that current practice.
Bronwyn Hegarty’s Eight Attributes of Open Pedagogy, Podcast Transcript, from the Alberta Open Educational Resources Initiative, licensed under CC BY SA; What is Open Pedagogy Wikieducator, licensed CC BY SA; Eight attributes of Open Pedagogy (PDF)
Adapted from the Nebraska OER Toolkit—the toolkit was developed with assistance from the College Libraries Ontario (CLO), the Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS) the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME).
Miranda Dean, a senior majoring in film studies at Keene State College, describes how her experiences in an open pedagogy course taught her about herself and changed how she understands and interacts with the world and with the information that is shared within it. Miranda was a student in Dr. Karen Cangialosi's Evolution and Human Behavior (BIO302) course in spring 2017. In addition to teaching an open pedagogy course, Dr. Cangialosi facilitated the Open Pedagogy Faculty Learning Community and writes about open education on her blog.
Global Open Educational Resources Logo by Jonathasmello, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Down below, you will find a round up of OER resources at UNM.
Contents of this guide were shaped by the work of Dr. David Wiley, who reminds us that education is about sharing, and Dr. Robin DeRosa, who gave us the phrase, open education is "about reducing barriers to education, empowering learners, and connecting the academy to the world that it serves."
This guide is adapted from Introduction to Open Pedagogy by University of Arlington Texas Libraries and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
