Slides available here: www.bitly.com/OpenEd21-shared-projects-of-learningAs both a set of practices and a philosophy, Open Education works towards a more just, equitable future in higher education and beyond. Open Research aims for a similar future, one that is rooted in knowledge equity and just approaches to make (and keep) research findings accessible beyond the proverbial ivory tower.
Despite their clear alignment, these two movements can often feel miles apart, like ships passing in the night. This session seeks to name and explore this disconnect, with the goal of creating space to discuss the contact zones and opportunities to advance both, together.
In the first half of the session, the presenters will make an argument for what a more closely aligned model for Open Education and Open Research could offer. Specifically, we reframe the two movements as shared projects for learning that center equity and justice within knowledge-producing ecosystems. Reconfiguring education and research as spaces for learning has the potential to counter issues such as gatekeeping, Euro-centric bias, and superimposed hierarchies, in more than just the classroom setting.
The presenters will call upon their own experiences to identify what they see as the artificial separation between Open Education and Open Research, and analyze how the two may have evolved as distinct movements (e.g. prestige and competition in higher education, feminisation of teaching, valorisation of sole researcher versus collective student bodies). The first part of the session will conclude with listing the alignments that already exist between the two movements, cementing the common ground between the movements’ trajectories.
In the latter half, the presenters will facilitate discussions with attendees in order to set forth a vision for a shared future, by asking the question “how might we act as advocates for both Open Education and Open Research simultaneously?” The purpose of this discussion is to develop strategies that navigate within and between the two spaces. Notes will be taken in the form of a GoogleDoc or equivalent.
While the session will be guided by the experiences of the presenters, they claim no authority and instead seek to bring an important conversation to the forefront for the purposes of encouraging all community members within Open Education/Research to chart a path forward together. As such, a significant portion of the session will be open to the audience to share their experiences and reflections on the issue, as well as to contribute their own ideas on how to move forward.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
- Identify situations where there is an artificial separation between Open Education and Open Research
- Analyse the unique affordances of each as well as the common ground that Open Education and Open Research share
- Generate discussion and develop strategies to navigate within and between the two spaces
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