The Manifesto of online Learning, Chapter 11, p. 50)

What does ‘openness’ in education mean?

“open” means according to Merriam-Webster online : free (of charge), accessible, unobstructed, cleared, clear. Antonyms amongst others are impassible, constricted, blockaded, barricaded, gated.

In terms of education, ‘openness’ or ‘open’ is commonly understood as free of charges or accessible online. MOOCs are identified in the Manifesto as a “prime example of the promotion of open education as freedom from” financial charges ,or free of the  academic barrier.  ‘Openness’ at the inside of the institution also might mean sharing content amongst faculty, or using open (freely accessible) tools on the internet for collaboration for students. Between institutions, it can mean collaboration of different representatives, like interdisciplinary  interest groups sharing their experiences or interests in an open – accessible – community. As stated in the Manifesto, there is no reliable definition of what ‘openness’ means exactly in the context of education. Or rather, there are many definitions and directions (p. 50).

Open education is political

Manifesto also speaks of an open education movement. In my opinion, this points to a certain activism within the academic community, a group of people who see in this form of education the desirable ideal: open, i.e. free and accessible education and courses online, independent of time and place, giving access to people who cannot benefit from academic education, for example for financial or geographical reasons. In this respect the movement is political, it can’t be neutral. It reveals the political demand for education for all.
Another political issue is raised when the authors refer to Atkins, pointing to his criticism that openness is perceived as removal of ‘unfreedoms’ like financial unfreedom – not being able to raise the necessary amount of money for your higher education – or the unfreedom of your birth place: living in the political South – being born in a second or third world country, where you need to surmount other barriers in order to be able to move in a country that provides academic education.

All these criteria show that Western higher education seems to be the measure of all things. An academic degree from a European or American university, or from another institution accepted by the Western world, which is also based on the Western model, is the ideal of education, as it is already suggested in the term higher education, as opposed to basic education or similar terms of basic education, which only leads to the acquisition of the most necessary skills. Higher education is highly regarded, on top of the scale of values, while basic education is at the bottom of the scale of values.

Can open education in our sense overcome inequality?

As long as western values transported in education in general are highly esteemed while other cultural conceptions of education are not even considered within the established higher education, openness can’t be an opener for more equality for. The movement neglects the fact that western citizens are more powerful financially than citizens of countries or continents with very different cultural codes. Westerners are used to cultural codes of western education – so to speak “fluent” – and fully competent to perform. Therefore, it is not given naturally that open education is education for all.

‘Freedom from’ instead of ‘freedom to’

The authors of the Manifesto mention that in order to offer free education the movement proclaims a “diminished institutional apparatus”, where students will have to be content with a course lacking supervision and support. Open education or MOOCs serve the motivated, self-directed ideal learner who is perfectly capable of fulfilling his/her individual needs in knowledge or skills. In this way there is no ideal education for all, but offers for the ideal learner in the context of educational (neoliberal) market.

Reference

Bayne, S. et. al. The Manifesto for Teaching Online (2019).

Comment by James Lamb

‘All these criteria show that Western higher education seems to be the measure of all things. An academic degree from a European or American university, or from another institution accepted by the Western world, which is also based on the Western model, is the ideal of education, as it is already suggested in the term higher education, as opposed to basic education or similar terms of basic education, which only leads to the acquisition of the most necessary skills. Higher education is highly regarded, on top of the scale of values, while basic education is at the bottom of the scale of values.’

This feels like a really important point, doesn’t it? We’ll talk more about this during the Open Everything block of the course (Weeks 8 and 9) where we will really dig beneath the surface of the some of the positive claims attached to open education. As digital educators (at least on this programme), we can celebrate and explore what digital resources can bring to education, but at the same time we need to step back and question some of these claims and think about the consequences. In this particular example, we might ask ‘what is the impact is of spreading Western-centric knowledge and ways of thinking’?