Topic 3: Equity and Access

This week’s reading expands on the concept of open learning. An important tenet of open learning is the concept of fair and equal access, and making educational resources available to the public encourages individuals to pursue knowledge without the complexities of going to an educational institution or following special guidelines. In “A guide to making open textbooks with students”. the author came up with the concept of Open Educational Resources . When I think of open learning resources, the first come in my mind are articles and journals that are directly accessible online. These resources generally represent a wider range of online content and can be considered open educational resources. The authors propose that OER should be reusable, retainable, redistributable, revisable, and remixable. I believe this is perhaps the best encapsulation of open learning and open learning material.

From the learner’s perspective, a principle of open learning is the ability to learn and contribute from learning materials. Textbooks are required for many classes during our study years in Uvic, and textbooks provide excellent material for review and study. However, textbooks are very expensive compared to other books. Some people may not be willing to afford it. If students who are the main consumers of higher education textbooks, can suggest changes, or even provide opinions on the textbooks they use. You’ll have textbooks that inspire your students and mutate to accommodate different perspectives. The blogs we used in this class are an opportunity not only to contribute to our own learning material, but also to help other students who want to learn about it. We are actively learning and contributing to the same open learning structure that the course provides by providing reflective posts.

Reference

Mays, E. (Ed.). (2017). A guide to making open textbooks with students. Rebus Community.