6 Charting the Future of Open Pedagogy

The authors contributing to this book form an innovative community of educators and scholars dedicated to supporting students in developing Open Educational Resources (OER) that promote equalized access to knowledge and educational opportunities worldwide. This book advances educational practices emphasizing critical thinking, cultural sensitivity, and peer-to-peer learning. By promoting the creation and sharing of knowledge, the authors highlight practices that encourage students to take ownership of their learning and foster deeper connections between their coursework and real-world applications.

Drawing on theoretical frameworks and practical examples, the contributing authors demonstrate that OER is not just a tool for cost-saving but a powerful catalyst for making the learning process more active and inclusive. When embracing OER, educators promote new opportunities for collaboration, creativity, and sharing of resources. Aligning with The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (2013), the authors illustrate OER’s transformative potential, which includes:

• equitable access to knowledge, enabling all learners to benefit regardless of socioeconomic status
• lowering the overall financial burden of higher education
• improving learning outcomes
• personalizing educational experiences
• culturally relevant and inclusive instruction by encouraging content adaptation through translation and localization

These benefits exemplify OER’s impact on advancing education and reimagining how educators teach and learn.

This book commenced with the goal of exploring how faculty utilize OER and open pedagogy to equip students with the skills they need for active, engaged learning in an evolving educational landscape. As a result, this collection goes beyond conventional academic norms (e.g., assigning disposable assignments, as discussed in Chapter 2) to embrace an approach to teaching and learning that incorporates renewable assignments (e.g., Chapters 3 and 4) and experiments with generative artificial intelligence (e.g., Chapter 5). As the authors illustrate, many disciplines have adopted approaches encouraging student-generated content, which, when shared as open resources, has profoundly influenced teaching and learning (DeRosa & Jhangiani, 2018). These Open Educational Practices (OEP) offer students opportunities to share their work widely, engage in peer review, connect with broader communities, and reflect on their learning (Wiley et al., 2017)—practices central to this book.

A central theme of this book is that open pedagogy should be supported by institutions of higher learning as a means of enhancing skill development by allowing them to contribute to the learning process (see Chapter 5). The authors argue that integrating open pedagogy aids instructors in challenging students intellectually, spurring meaningful engagement with content, and increasing their learning investment. When students take ownership of their education—whether by contributing to course design (Chapter 1), engaging in meaningful discussions (Chapter 3), or applying course concepts to real-world scenarios (Chapter 4)—they engage more actively in their learning. Likewise, Chapters 2 and 3 illuminate how open pedagogy can stimulate critical thinking and assist students with examining the broader relevance of their coursework. The curriculum detailed in this book can be adapted to meet the needs of virtually any high school, undergraduate, or graduate course. To continue the growth of open educational practices and resources, the authors of this text hope to inspire readers to create assessments that generate open access content and share student work publicly under a Creative Commons license.

In using open pedagogy as a dimension of OEP, contributing authors offer techniques that educators can adopt to empower learners to engage with, create, or build on prior OER. Throughout the chapters, it becomes apparent that adopting open pedagogy requires redefining traditional teacher and learner roles, entrusting students to become knowledge producers or curators (DeRosa & Robinson, 2017). Further, open pedagogy redefines teachers as facilitators of learning experiences (DeRosa & Jhangiani, 2018) and democratizes access to knowledge (Casserly & Smith, 2008). To make the transition, instructors must embrace creative endeavors, and students need to be open to these innovative approaches.

Implementing these practices, especially when involving students in OER creation, can pose challenges, such as locating high-quality resources and managing the time-consuming process of content curation (Allen & Seaman, 2016; Petrides et al., 2011). DeRosa and Jhangiani (2017) advocate for faculty to share the barriers, difficulties, and problems that arise when implementing open pedagogy. One such recommendation is that students understand open licenses as a foundational element of co-creating and sharing open resources. Open licenses, such as those provided by Creative Commons, enable students to recognize the legal and ethical dimensions of sharing and reusing content. Instructors can incorporate workshops, interactive tutorials, or other instructional activities focusing on open access guidelines (Baran & AlZoubi, 2020). This approach empowers students and reinforces the principles of transparency underpinning the open education movement (Wiley & Hilton, 2018). Equipping students with a clear understanding of open licenses is an essential practical skill for open content sharing.

A second strategy is designing assessments that promote social justice by facilitating the inclusion of diverse perspectives often overlooked in traditional educational materials. Prompting inclusive education can amplify voices from underrepresented communities (Hodgkinson-Williams & Trotter, 2018) and enable students from marginalized backgrounds to acquire knowledge that reflects their experiences. Chapter 4, in particular, describes an assessment that elevates diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by encouraging students to draw from their cultural experiences, challenge dominant narratives, and contribute content that reflects a broader range of perspectives. These practices strengthen a sense of belonging and enrich open resources with authentic and varied insights. Such approaches demonstrate the transformative potential of open pedagogy in advancing educational equity and promoting social justice in learning environments (Bali et al., 2020). By designing assessments prioritizing inclusivity and social justice, educators, such as those whose work is featured in this book, challenge conventional educational practices, amplify diverse voices, and advocate for a more just educational system.

The authors’ works present the importance of OER and open pedagogy in reshaping teaching and learning across disciplines. For example, Hether’s Chapter 1 on collaborative syllabus design demonstrates how open pedagogy allows students to take ownership of their learning. This occurs as students contribute to course content and develop renewable assignments that benefit future cohorts (Katz & Van Allen, 2020). Creating and sharing knowledge aligns with broader themes explored in this volume, demonstrating how OER and open pedagogy support sustainability and equitable access to information. For instance, Lohiser’s Chapter 3 showcases how a student-developed OER, like observational research projects, can be utilized by future learners in numerous disciplines. She points out that this, in turn, creates a continuous learning cycle (Wiley & Hilton, 2018). Likewise, in Chapter 2, Hertzberg details her students’ efforts to work on flow visualization, and Steidinger’s Chapter 4 further illustrates how OER and open pedagogy empower students to create publicly accessible resources that transcend the classroom. These practices are essential for building an inclusive and participatory educational ecosystem grounded in collaboration, creativity, and transparency.

Furthermore, Hilburger argues in Chapter 5 that instructors should be supported in integrating open pedagogy. Namely, colleges and universities must provide intentional, ongoing resources that address common barriers instructors experience when implementing open pedagogy and OER. Instructors, for instance, often require time, training, and access to expert resources to feel confident implementing open pedagogy. Institutions can alleviate these challenges by offering structured professional development opportunities and promoting interdisciplinary partnerships among faculty, librarians, and instructional designers. Higher education can empower faculty to create transformative learning experiences by cultivating a culture that values openness and innovation. As Hilburger demonstrates in Chapter 5, an institutional commitment to the open education movement strengthens the adoption of open pedagogy and creates an ecosystem that encourages faculty participation. Additionally, colleges and universities should invest in infrastructure, including accessible repositories for OER and partnerships with libraries and instructional design teams. These efforts support faculty in adopting open pedagogy effectively and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and sustained engagement.

As I conclude this book, a key argument concerns the implications of open pedagogy. The authors establish the transformative power of OER and open pedagogy in reshaping the educational landscape while conveying the importance of involving students as co-creators of knowledge. Although open pedagogy encourages a deeper connection to course content, OER ensures broader access to resources that benefit current and future learners worldwide. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that by embracing OER and open pedagogy, educators can empower students to take ownership of their learning, address real-world issues, and contribute to a global educational community.

References

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Baran, E., & AlZoubi, D. (2020). Affordances, challenges, and impact of open pedagogy: Examining students’ voices. Distance Education, 41(2), 230-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2020.1757409

Casserly, C. M., & Smith, M. S. (2008). Revolutionizing education through innovation: Can openness transform teaching and learning? In T. Iiyoshi & M. S. V. Kumar (Eds.), Opening up education: The collective advancement of education through open technology, open content, and open knowledge (pp. 261–275). The MIT Press. https://www.cni.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/9780262515016_Open_Access_Edition.pdf

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Katz, S., & Van Allen, J. (2020). Evolving into the open: A framework for collaborative design of renewable assignments. In A. Clifton & K. D. Hoffman (Eds.), Open pedagogy approaches: Faculty, library, and student collaborations. Milne Publishing. https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/openpedagogyapproaches/

Petrides, L., Jimes, C., Middleton-Detzner, C., Walling, J., & Weiss, S. (2011). Open textbook adoption and use: Implications for teachers and learners. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(1), 39–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2011.538563

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (2013). Hewlett Foundation 2013 Annual Report. https://www.hewlett.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2013AnnualReport.pdf

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Wiley, D., Webb, A., Weston, S., & Tonks, D. (2017). A preliminary exploration of the relationships between student-created OER, sustainability, and students’ success. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4), 60-69. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i4.3022