1. Constellations
of Open
Dr. Robert Farrow
The Open University, UK
OPEN
EDUCATION
RESEARCH
HUB

2. I. Constellations of Open
II. Findings from OER Hub
III. Upcoming and Future Work

3. I. Constellations of Open
II. Findings from OER Hub
III. Upcoming and Future Work

4. I. Constellations of Open
II. Findings from OER Hub
III. Upcoming and Future Work

5. @philosopher1978
@oer_hub

6. I. Constellations of Open
Forthcoming in Deimann, M. & Peters, S. (eds.) (2016). The Philosophy and
Theory of Open Education. New York: Peter Lang Publishing

7. History of open education
Peters and Deimann (2013) have demonstrated that the history of
openness can be understood to stretch back before the
institutionalization of education, even if the language of open was not
always used.
• Ancient knowledge transmission through apprenticeship
• Guttenberg printing press (1450s)
• Monastic tradition gave way to university institutions
• Emergence of the public sphere (Habermas, 1962) and public
university systems

8. History of open education
By the 1960s the open education movement had
begun to coalesce around the idea of
disestablishing cultural, economic and institutional
barriers to formal education. The Open University
in the UK was founded in 1969 to widen access to
higher education by disregarding the need for prior
academic qualification, and using the
communication technologies of the time to ‘open
up’ campus education though a “teaching system
to suit an individual working in a lighthouse off the
coast of Scotland” (Daniel et al., 2008).
load.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Louisbourg_Lighthouse.jpg

9. History of open education
• Industrialisation brought the rise of popular literacy and establishment
of public libraries and distance education
• In the 20th century we have seen an extension of the belief that
education is a right that can be extended to all
• It is mistaken to see this as a linear historical progression: (Peters &
Deimann, 2013:12) observe that “historical forms of openness caution
us against assuming that particular configurations will prevail, or that
social aspects should be assumed as desired by default”.

10. History of open education
• Over the last decade – primarily in the form of Massively
Open Online Courses (MOOC) and Open Educational
Resources (OER) – the open education movement has further
expanded opportunities for education worldwide.
• Yet as opportunities for accessing educational materials
increases, so higher education (in the West, at least) has
increasingly seemed to be in a crisis of funding shortfalls,
massive student debt, and a lack of graduate employment.
This has led some to ask whether open education is the
saviour of traditional education, or the herald of its demise.

11. “Open approaches are featured in the mainstream
media. Millions of people are enhancing their
learning through open resources and open courses.
Put bluntly, it looks as though openness has won.
And yet you would be hard pressed to find any signs
of celebration amongst those original advocates.
They are despondent about the reinterpretation of
openness to mean ‘free’ or ‘online’ without some of
the reuse liberties they had envisaged. Concerns are
expressed about the commercial interests that are
now using openness as a marketing tool. Doubts are
raised regarding the benefits of some open models
for developing nations or learners who require
support. At this very moment of victory it seems
that the narrative around openness is being usurped
by others, and the consequences of this may not be
very open at all.” (Weller, 2014: 14)

12. • Contextualist, not essentialist
• Defines itself against a status quo that restricts some activity:
open lets you do X
• Fundamentally oriented towards freedom
• But what kind of freedom?

13. Negative Liberty: the absence of (external)
restrictions on activity; freedom from
interference
Positive Liberty: the capacity to act on the
basis of one’s free will; implies rational
agency, autonomy, active choice
Distinction made by Fromm (1941)
and Berlin (1958)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Statue_of_Liberty_from_ferry.JPG

14. Characteristics of Constellation Method
• Always reconstructive and historical
• Begins with actually existing examples of practice
• Intimately related to how language is used
• Move beyond binary judgements (e.g. open or not?)
• Anti-essentialist: “the constellation of moments is not to be
reduced to a singular essence; what is inherent in that
constellation is not an essence.” (Adorno, 1973:104)
• Recognises historical contingency without over-simplification
or relativism
• Constellation does not prohibit possibility of other
constellations, nor future re-interpretation
• Reflective open practice

15. Other work relating to this strand
• Deimann, M. & Farrow, R. (2013). Rethinking OER and their
use: Open Education as Bildung. International Review of
Online and Distance Learning 14(3).
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1370/25
42
• Farrow, R. (2015). Open education and critical pedagogy.
Learning, Media and Technology. DOI:
10.1080/17439884.2016.1113991
• Farrow, R. (forthcoming 2016). Framework for an open ethics.
Open Praxis

16. II. Open Education Research Hub
Prof. Martin Weller
Dr. Rob Farrow
Dr. Bea de los Arcos
Dr. Beck Pitt
Natalie Egglestone

17. • Research project 2013-2015 at The Open University (UK)
• Funded by William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Tasked with building the most comprehensive picture of OER impact
• Organised by eleven research hypotheses
• Collaboration model works across different educational sectors
• Global reach but with a USA focus
• Openness in practice: methods, data, dissemination
OER Research Hub
oerresearchhub.org  oerhub.net

18. Keyword Hypothesis
Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction
Openness People use OER differently from other online materials
Access OER widen participation in education
Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies
Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice
Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions
Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER
Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support
Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study
Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies
Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER

19. Project Co-PILOT

20. • Research instruments applied
consistently across collaborations:
surveys, interview questions,
focus groups, etc.
• Supplemented by integration of
secondary research
• ‘Agile’ research, sprinting
• Thematic and methodological
cohesion provided by research
hypotheses
Research Process

23. Geographical spread of research participation

24. Some key findings

25. • 37.6% of educators and 55.7% of formal learners agree or strongly
agree that OER use increases student satisfaction
• 27.5% of educators and 31.9% of formal learners agree or strongly
agree that OER use improves student grades
• Impact appears to be greater for non-grade related aspects:
- 36.2% (n=254) OER improves student engagement ✓
- 36.2% (n=254) OER promotes new ways of learning ✓
- 35.2% (n=256) OER increases student interest in subject ✓
- 35% (n=249) OER leads to student self-reliance ✓

26. • 55.7% (n=370) of formal students agree or strongly agree that OER
increases student satisfaction
• Formal learners reported that increased interest in subject was the
main outcome from using OER (60.1% n=398)
• Others included increased experimentation (49.4% n=398) and
gaining confidence (48.6% n=322)
• For some cohorts (e.g. Saylor Academy) more than half of learners
believed that they grew more confident, became interested in a
wider range of subjects and felt their learning experiences improved

27. • 79.4% of OER users adapt resources to fit their needs
• 79.5% of educators use OER to get new ideas and inspiration
• Videos are the most common type of OER used
• 88.4% of learners say that the opportunity to study at no cost
influenced their decision to use OER
• 40.9% of all formal learners in our sample believe that OER have a
positive impact in helping them complete their course of study

28. • 79.6% of formal students think they save money by using OER
• 31.5% of non-formal learners say that their interest in using OER is a
chance to try university-level content before signing up for a paid-for
course
• Informal learners choose OER that are relevant to their particular
needs, have a good description of learning objectives and outcomes,
and are easy to find and download
• 31.3% say their use of OER influenced their decision to register for
their current course

29. Impact of OER repository on likelihood of future study
Repository More likely to study formally Less likely to study formally
Saylor
(n=1858)
19.8% 19.9%
OpenLearn
(n=583)
31.4% 13.9%
iTunesU
(n=94)
23.4% 25.5%

30. iTunesU channel users were much
more likely to be younger and were
mostly male. They are often in full
time education and use OER on an
informal basis outside of their
formal studies to pursue interest in
a wide range of subjects

31. Saylor Academy users are more
likely to be in employment and
already in possession of a degree.
They tended to be middle aged and
primarily motivated by professiona
development.

32. OpenLearn users were more likely to be older, retired, and
female, and had a higher proportion of users who were
motivated mainly by personal interest (though 40% are in
full time employment).

33. Aggregation
Inspiration

34. • learning experiences improved
Textbook
access

35. Access to high
quality content
Community
building

36. https://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/3366720659
Strong evidence for savings when replacing textbooks with open versions
Evidence for other forms of cost savings is less clear

37. Summary of General Findings
• There was a high degree of satisfaction with OER across all types of
user, with a large percentage willing to access further OER and to
recommend them
• However, OER brand recognition was weak compared with other
popular resource sites, and finding appropriate OER was a major
obstacle
• Use of OER increases satisfaction and engagement with learning and is
seen as saving students money
• Users look for relevance, reputation and clear learning outcomes
when selecting OER

38. Summary of General Findings
• OER (in English) is not confined to one or two disciplines, with all
subjects well represented, and a range of formats are accessed,
although video remains the most significant
• An under-reported benefit for educators is the manner in which OER
cause them to reflect on their own practice, and to broaden their
teaching approaches
• Similarly underreported is the idea that the benefits may not be cost
savings and improved performance but recruitment and retention of
students

39. OER Evidence Report 2014
http://oerhub.net/reports/

40. OER Data Report 2013-2015
http://oerhub.net/reports/

41. oerhub.net/dissemination

42. III. Current and upcoming work
… including ways to get involved

43. • Research into open education and strategies for building
worldwide open education research capacity
• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)
• Current projects include:
Open Education Research Hub

44. • Research into open education and strategies for building
worldwide open education research capacity
• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)
• Current projects include:

45. oerworldmap.org

46. The Opening Educational Practices in Scotland
project aims to facilitate best practice in open
education in Scotland through:
• the development of a peer support network
• an online hub and awareness raising
activities
• collecting evidence of effective practice
oepscotland.org

47. go-gn.net

48. tinyurl.com/2016ora
Latest results: oerhub.net

49. • Research into open education and strategies for building
worldwide open education research capacity
• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)
• Current projects include:

50. Thanks for listening!
oerhub.net
oerworldmap.org
go-gn.net
rob.farrow@open.ac.uk
@philosopher1978