Reflections on Topic 2 - Open learning - Sharing and Openness

 Reflections on Topic 2 - Open learning - Sharing and Openness 

         Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Well, this topic was huge !!! 

The discussions spanned across various paradigms and perspectives. What began as an initial discussion on the need for openness and sharing in higher education soon converged into a debate on the pros and cons embedded in the system related to knowledge sharing. Somewhere down the line, we started speaking about the seemingly unethical practices regarding article processing charges (APC) to make knowledge 'open source' and how it inevitably creates categories among researchers seeking to publish - one, those who can afford to pay the fees and garner attention; and two, the others who did not have the funds or the possibility to pay and therefore run the risk of remaining unnoticed. The group was clearly divided in this - those who saw this as inevitable due to processing costs and involved remunerations. The others who thought that APCs have become a new business model that is supported by a lack of transparency and clarity. To this, we added the keywords from the preceding webinar - ownership, credibility, freedom of expression, nature of use, applications and consequences, data openness, knowledge sharing, judgment, critiques, fear of over engagement and under engagement, etc. etc. All in all, we as a group opened up on many aspects that seemed relevant to the topic for the week. Finally, it was decided that the group would study it through the lenses of 

1. Opportunities

2. Solutions /Support systems 

3. Dangers 

Each aspect was further noted from the perspective of teachers, students, institutions, and an umbrella or common perspective that would affect all three. The result was a beautiful generation of a triangulation approach keeping the three lenses in the three corners of the triangle and leading to possible connections between dangers and solutions.  

We presented the idea in MIRO, which was also interesting for me since I had never worked on it before.  

For me, this exercise has actually opened a lot of big and small doors and windows to reflect on the antecedents and consequences of open data - sharing and learning. While there appear to be some common issues among teachers and students, such as fears about ownership and credibility, others are more specific. For example, teachers see promise in the values of knowledge exchange, cultural immersion, and possibilities for innovative active learning but there is also a strong underlying fear related to the failure of teaching models due to online mismanagement and lack of digital participation. Students on the other hand could question the credibility and validity of online education and also have grave concerns about the fees of such courses and programs. On a common platform, there are obvious concerns regarding security, privacy, access to resources, ownership and many more. 

My concern is rather on the need for transparency and clarity. Although it sounds very idealistic I feel that this could be solved by a systematic approach where global higher education could follow a common code of conduct regarding What to share, Where to share, and How to share information on the open learning platform. 

Is it possible to have common global policies regarding digital platforms and open sharing so no stakeholder to this virtual system feels threatened, bullied, or compromised? Could we ensure a future where open learning is safe, secure, fun and exciting? 

I am not saying that the systems today are nonfunctional, but we must remind ourselves that hackers enjoy such confusing situations, that a seemingly secure system like Zoom gets hijacked to the embarrassment of all and security nets crash. So instead of relying totally on digital and algorithmic platforms, we the people could be safer if we respected each other and the contributions made by people all over the world to the mission of growth and development. 

I see more promise in this inside-out approach.