Image by Felix Wolf from Pixabay

Our readings this week were on various types of Opens: scholarship, data, online courses, and research. Veletsianos & Shaw’s article focused on information about the imagined audience and research on how those who post edit their posts based on the type of social media used and who they imagine their readers to be. The point of article was that educational institutions could create more effective policies to support networked participation of their constituents and therefore the increase in openness of information sharing. Atenas, Havemann, & Priego’s article focused on how using open data can be great for teaching. Skills developed included critical thinking and research, as well as mathematical skills in statistics and data information management and curation as well as data visualisation skills. Rohs & Ganz’s article discussed how Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are not the leveler or answer for inequalities in education. Even in our nation, electricity access, internet access, computer access, contextual information (not all are native English speakers or have the background to understand contexts provided), and capacity of cheaper computers to run programs or apps affect access to MOOCs. On top of these concerns is the level of media competence and self-regulation skills required by any user, which are difficult to overcome in weaker learners, even if the course design attempts to overcome weak media or self-regulation skills. Couture’s article emphasized the need for publishers not to be in control of open access journals.

So What?

As part of our Hypothes.is comments, Ben posted an article about the value for a back channel for learners. This is equivalent to the chatter that takes place in and outside a regular classroom environment, and although instructors may not like being excluded and some students may not be included, this is a valuable part of any educational experience.

In our breakout group, it was noted, not just by me, how everything comes down to money. As knowledge and educational resources move towards open access, the companies that made money from them need to find a different method of making money. A couple of journal publishing companies have started open journals to, in my opinion, experiment with how they can continue to find a money-making solution. As teachers, open scholarship and journals are both a blessing and a curse. Now, our schools can subscribe to particular journals and we know our students are accessing information that has been vetted by knowledgeable people. Once this information is openly available, how can we ensure our students are accessing valid information? Yes, access to the information costs less and we have more information available, but how reliable is that information? How can we find the time to check the authenticity of the information that our students find? The data on most government sites, can be useful in some courses but may be too complicated for the average secondary student to decipher. How will all these resources be made age-appropriate in language and relevancy for elementary students? How will the copyright and work attribution be affected when there is so much available that is similar? I don’t question that openness is a positive movement, but there are many hurdles to overcome before it becomes the norm.

Now what?

For my project, I have identified some areas of significance. As I am planning to embark upon an online open resource for high school math students, there are many considerations that these readings have identified.

  1. Veletsianos & Shaw’s article – I must remember that my imagined audience is not knowledgeable but also does not need talking down to. Some of the BCEd videos for online math courses that I saw about five years ago were embarrassing – they made students felt like they were morons as they were watching the instruction. Plus, students do not need artificial cheeriness. Also, I need to be sensitive that the resource is for a varied audience – not just already motivated students but language learners and math Learning Disorders (LDs). I wonder if a more “choose your own adventure” approach is needed rather than listening to a long discourse which students can tune out: ask a question, students have a choice for answer which leads them through the inquiry at a pace appropriate for them. Possibly add a screen capture tool so they can make their own instructional video? Or a summary video that is accessible once the inquiry is done? Or should it be always available? Hmmm. So many questions and too big a project. I will need to narrow it down to a smaller amount at a later point in time.
  2. Atenas, Havemann, & Priego’s article – I need to use some open data sources and ensure students understand how to find reliable and valid data, how to interpret the data, and how to display and make use of the data.
  3. Rohs & Ganz’s article – I need some tools that address less computer literate students – possibly a set of screenshots downloadable to print, use of clear simple language with possibly diagrams/images for clarity, and self-regulation help. I also need to address auditory LDs and reading LDs. Yikes.
  4. Couture’s article – not much relevancy for me at this time.
  5. Back Channel for learners – whether this is for learners to contact each other or just for a private line to me is yet to be figured out. How much will I actually be available? How useful will learners contacting each other be if it is not a synchronous course? Is this going to be my retirement volunteer work focus?

Resources

Atenas, J., Havemann, L., & Priego, E. (2015). Open Data as Open Educational Resources: Towards Transversal Skills and Global Citizenship. Open Praxis, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.7.4.233

Couture, M. (2017, July 12). Academic Publishing at a Crossroads. University Affairs. Retrieved from http://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/academic-publishing-crossroads/

Koenig, Rebecca. (2019, October 19). ‘Backchannel’ tools let students ask questions anonymously. And that brings more voices. Retrieved from  https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-10-24-backchannel-tools-let-students-ask-questions-anonymously-and-that-brings-more-voices

Rohs, M., & Ganz, M. (2015). MOOCs and the Claim of Education for All: A Disillusion by Empirical Data. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(6). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2033/3527

Veletsianos, G., & Shaw, A. (2018). Scholars in an increasingly open and digital world: Imagined audiences and their impact on scholars’ online participation. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(1), 17–30. http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2017.1305966