The Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) is a network of PhD and EdD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education (i.e. OER, OEP, MOOC). These doctoral researchers are at the core of the network; around them, over two hundred experts, supervisors, mentors and interested parties connect to form a community of practice. The Global OER Graduate Network is currently funded through the OER programme of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and administered by the Open Education Research Hub from the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK.
The aims of the GO-GN are to:
- raise the profile of research into open education
- offer support for those conducting PhD research in this area
- promote equity and inclusion in the field of open education research, and
- develop openness as a process of research.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, GO-GN has made a number of changes to better support the network. This presentation will detail ways in which the GO-GN pandemic response was coordinated around the concept of developing an informal - yet supportive - community of care, based on open values and practices. This included:
- In encouraging members to explore openness in their own context, GO-GN promoted moral values including autonomy, criticality, representation, equity and commitment to sharing
- Co-production of community openly licensed resources, including The GO-GN Research Methods Handbook and The GO-GN Conceptual Frameworks Guide as well as a special issue of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education which shared a range of international perspectives on open education with a global audience
- A continuing focus on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, particularly in Africa and Latin America
- Developing a Fellowship scheme to provide alumni with enhanced visibility and recognition and the opportunity to share their expertise with the wider network
- Co-chairing the OER22 conference in London, UK.
Through exploring the activities of the GO-GN network, this presentation will share one example a community of care. We will examine how the GO-GN example could potentially be used in other contexts and to support different communities. Central to the GO-GN community of care are open values and open research. During this presentation we will highlight examples of what these practices and values are and mean within the varied GO-GN context, thus highlighting doctoral researcher perspectives and contributing to the wider discussion in these areas.
By attending this session, attendees will be able to:- Have a better understanding of what a community of care is, and how the example of GO-GN could be applicable to other contexts
- Explore open values in practice through the example of GO-GN
- Gain a better understanding of open research in practice, within the doctoral researcher context
