What is Open Pedagogy?

I am really enjoying the “Teaching with WordPress Course.” It is beginning with the question “what is open pedagogy? I appreciate this. I kind of expected a course on setting up WordPress as an alternative to the LMS but we start (and rightly so) with the question of pedagogy – we are keeping this about teaching and learning. So what is “open pedagogy”? It is not really defined yet. David Wiley said that “open pedagogy” include:

  • Teaching and learning practices that are possible with you adopt OER but are impossible when you adopt traditionally copyrighted materials
  • Use of OER
  • Student work in the open: create and share their work

The Challenge: “…we need at least 15 – 20 more examples before we can have a substantive conversation about open pedagogy.”

This course hopes to provide more examples to help work out the definition. Right now I have this idea that I have participated in a number of courses that utilized an open pedagogy (DS106, CCK08, etc.) but getting a clear idea of what exactly makes those courses open will be an important part of moving forward. We have the opportunity to help shape this definition in this course.

In the discussion of Open Pedagogy, there is a matrix of openness that I think needs more fleshing out with more categories. They expressed a problem with using the word “effective” – I think that the words “engaging” or “interactive” could be used in its place. Maybe the matrix could also rank materials by the relative openness of the licenses going from public domain, through the creative commons licenses and then commercial standard copyright.

The matrix could examine degrees of openness with assignments – I love Wiley’s term “disposable assignments” – ones where the students are all doing to the same one, the teacher is the only one that reads them, and then they go in the trash. The matrix can measure degrees of openness between “learning centered design” and “teaching centered design” that could include “student choice,” “reflective practice,” “flexible,” “real world application” and I would include “collaborative.”  I understand that the current matrix is meant to be used in a brainstorming activity, but I find the idea of measuring openness intriguing.

Week 1 recap

It’s been a great start to Teaching with WordPress from our perspective. Here’s a brief summary of this week’s activity on the blog hub and Twitter discussion:

Please feel free to add your own summary – tag a post with twpweek1 (see all posts with this tag on our Week 1 discussions page), comment on this page (if you prefer) and (if you like) engage in a personal reflection.

Let’s keep the interactions going in comments on blogs, on Twitter, and here on our site as we move into week 2 soon!

 

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One Response to What is Open Pedagogy?

  1. Good points here about expanding the categories. I think it might be particularly useful to include more categories between “teaching-centred” and “learning-centred,” since, as you note, there are many different kinds of each (particularly the latter). And then it would be useful for educators to see particular examples in each of these categories. I, for one, would find this a great resource, as I look for examples of assignments. Right now there are some very cool courses listed in the “open pedagogy” section, but I would love more specific assignments to look at and consider trying!

    That google doc was made by the presenters for week 1, for a particular purpose; but perhaps we could create our own, building off of that one? I think they wouldn’t mind if we took what they have and build on it on a separate document (I can ask). If you’re interested in starting such a thing, let me know and I can ask them! I bet we’d get some good contributions from people in #TWP15!

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