While there are numerous positive opportunities offered to students through open pedagogical practices (OEP), it is also important to acknowledge and address student concerns when it comes to OEP.
Open Pedagogy is intended to be student-led, with students (supported by instructors) creating Open Educational Resources (OER) that can be shared online with an open license allowing for future adaptations.
Research shows that in the process of Open Pedagogy, students have concerns about the public sharing of self-created materials. These concerns can stem from their own levels of confidence with subject matter, the perceived accuracy of information they create, and the public sharing of their work. Instructors who collaboratively facilitate Open Pedagogy projects with students can openly address these concerns.
In this short presentation, join this student and instructor presenter team as they share a few best practices for addressing student concerns with Open Pedagogy.
In the OER creation process, instructors can use scaffolding strategies with students:
(1) Instructors can facilitate students to create an agreed-upon peer process. Peers can provide feedback and mutual aid and manage their own process, while instructors step back.
(2) Instructors can reassure students that the process includes safeguards. By the process of drafting and revising together as peers, students will find the inconsistencies that they might need to check. Students need to know that they can get an item double-checked by their instructor, without the instructor overly interfering.
(3) Instructors can reassure students that they can consent to public sharing with credit, or consent to sharing without being credited or even withdraw OER from the public sphere.
Although students do have concerns about Open Pedagogy, embedding these practices can lead to a more positive student experiences with open pedagogical practice. Instructors can support students to build their confidence and fulfill their central role in Open Pedagogy. Instructors can support an agreed upon peer process wherein students manage their own process and content. Also, instructors can offer students advice for public sharing so that students understand the benefits of doing so.
By attending this session, attendees will be able to:- Consider the views of a post-secondary student about student-led processes
- Consider the concerns of post-secondary students in Open Pedagogy
- Apply practices to encourage student-led, peer processes in Open Pedagogy
- Offer instructor reassurance, and help only where needed, when students create OER
- Honor the presence of students' lived experiences, contexts, diverse perspectives, and expressions in Open Educational Resources creation
