Openness in Education - Ideals and Challenges

Advances in web technology increasingly enable the classroom in terms of creating a more interesting and engaging environment. The challenge is how to take a product "off-the-shelf" and turn into something that both instructors and students like to use. Many institutions take a formal approach to eLearning by providing IT support and training. As eLearning has advanced from a classroom perspective, there have been an increasing movement towards more open education. In Europe, GDPR has brought an important aspect on privacy in the classroom - but there are other ethical points that also need to be addressed: Do instructors want their material open to everyone? Do students want their work open to everyone else in the course - or everyone who wants to browse the open content.

As a consequence of ethical considerations and regulations on privacy, it is becoming increasing important to engage with both instructors and students regarding how they participate in open learning. For the current ONL191 topic on open learning, our group is investigating two areas of concern:

1. Practical implications of open learning
2. Advantages and disadvantages of open learning

I will be joining the team that is working on practical implications and I have already been looking at regulatory and ethical aspects; however, I am also interested in understanding the thoughts that both instructors and students have towards participation in open learning.