Openness in higher education

Abstract

This special issue devoted to openness in higher education is the first one in a new stage in the history of Open Praxis. This ICDE publication has been relaunched as a scientific peer-reviewed journal in 2012, and the decision of dedicating the first issue to this topic is not casual. “Open” is part of the journal title and, thus, a main focus of the publication. Open Praxis is willing to provide an open forum for global collaboration and discussion of issues in the practice of distance and e-learning, focusing on research and innovation on open education and learning. It provides immediate open access to content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Besides this intrinsic motivation within the journal, openness is a key concern in recent times in higher education; experiences such as open access, open educational resources, massive open online courses, etc. are “hot topics”. The purpose of this Open Praxis issue is to contribute to the reflection and analysis on the concept of openness and its growth and use in higher education. In this frame, the call formulated the following questions: What is the meaning of “open” in education? Which aspects of education does openness refer to? How does openness lead to major changes in higher education? Which are the main challenges regarding openness in higher education? Which successful and relevant experiences of use can we identify? The call has been welcomed by a variety of academics, and the issue presents eleven papers covering different aspects regarding openness in higher education from different views: historical, theoretical, conceptual, contextual, political, among others. Three aspects have been the most addressed by the authors: access to higher education and the role of openness to increase it; assessment challenges in open education, and Open Educational Resources (OERs). The more recent phenomenon of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is also acknowledged. In the first paper, Sandra Peter and Markus Deimann ( On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction) share the need (present in the call for contributions) to not take openness for granted and to reflect on the concept itself and its meaning in higher education. They provide an historical perspective to build the debate upon historical roots and experiences of the concept, and claim for a deeper analysis of both technological and social-cultural aspects as drivers of the growth of openness. To look back on to the past remains a useful step to rescue lessons learned. The following three papers relate, in a sense, to “access” as a key issue to reflect on when referring to openness. Don Olcott Jr. (Access under siege: Are the gains of open education keeping pace with the growing barriers to University access?), as an advocator of open education, focuses on contrasting different myths around it and places the analysis in the political arena. He highlights contradictions and paradoxes that open higher education faces, especially regarding access, economic and quality issues. Despite the expansion of the open education movement, the author alerts about aspects to be considered in order to increase educational access.