No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Free open online resources in workplace and community settings – a case study on overcoming barriers
Abstract
This paper explores whether, in the light of ubiquitous digital technology and the availability of free online courses, it is helpful to revisit well-established understandings of the barriers facing non-traditional students. We begin with brief reviews of the literature on barriers to higher education and the largely distinct literature relating to digital inclusion. We then report on a large-scale action research project that has aimed to understand whether it is necessary to rethink barriers to participation in a world of pervasive digital technology. In particular we focus on work undertaken with a group of Union Learning Representatives (ULRs), which illuminates some of the complexities of thinking about barriers in this context. Through the findings of this research we reflect on the opportunities and challenges involved in using Open Educational Resources (OER) in workplace settings, whether it is necessary to reconsider the way in which barriers to participation are conceptualised and suggest some areas for further research.
... There is, however, a lack of evidence that open courses or resources have delivered a substantial widening of participation in HE (Falconer, McGill, Littlejohn, Boursinou, & Punie, 2013). Without attention, they may instead proliferate existing barriers (Lane 2012;Cannell & Macintyre, 2017). ...
... However, a focus on massive scale in open online learning comes into tension with the need to engage and support diverse learners. New relationships between providers and other organisations could deliver this support (Cannell & Macintyre, 2017). ...
... The initial quantitative findings suggest that the courses have had some impact in generating engagement amongst the intended populations. A broad challenge to the effectiveness of open online courses for widening participation is the lack of personal tutoring or peer support (Falconer et al., 2013;Cannell & Macintyre, 2017). While the courses themselves were designed for independent study, there are a variety of ways in which LRPs could provide personal support: ...
Open online courses could provide stepping stones for audiences that are under-represented in higher education (HE). However, there are concerns that these instead proliferate forms of exclusion and do not address known difficulties for widening participation. We explore how organisations that represent the perspectives of particular underserved audiences for HE can act as 'Learner Representative Partners' to support the creation of appropriate courses and to highlight practices that exclude. Six course development processes where a university worked with different partners are analysed using interviews, documentation of resource use, and data on learner behaviour. The analysis utilises previously identified challenges to widening participation and collaborative course creation. Getting partners to directly engage in authoring the course was particularly beneficial but all partners prompted critical thought and greater understanding of the intended audiences. We suggest principles to support such partnerships effectively. These include adapting to a variable capacity of partners to contribute, to encourage reuse or creation of resources by partners, and to facilitate partners to feel confident in expressing their views.
... While there is a tendency to focus on the online experience of OER, it can be at their most useful when combined with face-to-face teaching and support. As Cannell and Macintyre (2017) argue, partnerships that provide for physical, face-to-face activities to introduce learners to OER and build confidence are important because there is a danger that if we only make online learning opportunities, we are likely to reinforce digital and educational divides. ...
... In considering the freedoms afforded by an openness and the pedagogic implications that flow from this we have drawn on work around OER and Widening Participation, in particular action research into the social, structural and situational barriers to learning suggests a focus on partnerships and participatory approaches helps situate practice and understand the place of openness in peoples learning journey (Cannell & Macintyre 2017). From this we learnt a great deal about how the freedoms of OER have been and continue to be constrained, but not necessarily what we needed to do to deal with those barriers. ...
This paper outlines a collaborative approach to the design of open educational resources (OER) with community stakeholders so they can be shared with other community practitioners openly, online and repurposed for other contexts. We view curriculum not as something that educationalists provide but rather something that emerges as learners engage with an educational context. We draw on a Project consisting of a partnership between five European Institutions of Higher Education and a range of community stakeholder groups. The partnership will develop a suite of OER for community workers who are implementing assets based approaches in different contexts. We argue that these approaches are negotiated in that one cannot decide how they might operate in a given context without engaging in deliberative discussion. The challenge for us as open education practitioners is how to turn those deliberations into OER and to highlight the important pedagogical aspect of the design process.
... In considering the freedoms afforded by an openness and the pedagogic implications that flow from this we have drawn on work around OER and Widening Participation, in particular action research into the social, structural and situational barriers to learning suggests a focus on partnerships and participatory approaches helps situate practice and understand the place of openness in peoples learning journey (Cannell & Macintyre 2017). From this we learnt a great deal about how the freedoms of OER have been and continue to be constrained, but not necessarily what we needed to do to deal with those barriers. ...
For a fifth consecutive year, Open Praxis has partnered with the Open Education Consortium for the publication of selected papers among those presented in the 2018 Open Education Global Conference, held in Delft (The Netherlands) from 24 to 26 of April, 2018. After the peer-review process, seven papers were accepted for publication.
The 2019/20 Level 4 mathematics cohort at the Nottingham Trent University sat a full set of mid-year assessments in January 2020 under completely normal circumstances. However, the Covid-19 lockdown meant that their end of year assessments, along with all of their teaching and learning from March 2020 onwards, moved fully online. This has given us a unique opportunity to understand how the same cohort perform in contrasting situations. In this study we consider the issue of attainment gaps and find that the attainment gap closed in this cohort for black and minority ethnic students but that students from a lower socio-economic background may have been put at a disadvantage by the move to online teaching, learning and assessment. We use a linear mixed effect models approach to present statistical evidence to support these two claims as well as investigating the specific aspects of the move online, which may have caused these results.
This reflective article explores the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) Rich Pictures within the learning design. It introduces SSM as part of a broader interest in systems within education and positions SSM as part of a broader family of participatory approaches within a range of fields. Based on learning design practice with organisations looking to (re)connect with learners, the paper sets out a scenario where participants are asked to draw of a Rich Picture of the “ideal learner”, where questions of future selves and ideal forms highlight are used to highlight the non-representative nature of representative forms. It reflects on questions of power on deliberative decision-making tools like Rich Pictures and suggests ways of addressing this in practice. It argues that care needs to be taken lest the value of Rich Pictures is the visual representations made rather than the process, and suggests that practitioners should remember that the image is not the outcome.
Numa sociedade e numa economia que recorre cada vez mais ao digital e que disponibiliza o conhecimento pela tecnologia, o domínio de competências digitais é importante para a promoção da inclusão social. Tendo esta problemática como foco, a pesquisa identifica contextos e usos de tecnologias digitais nos processos de aprendizagem ao longo da vida de adultos em situações de vulnerabilidade social e potenciais efeitos para a inclusão social a partir da análise de artigos alojados na base de dados EBSCOhost, publicados em revistas académicas entre 2012 e 2017. A análise revela como mais referenciados os contextos de formação, seguindo-se a tecnologia/ferramentas usadas, com destaque para a aprendizagem online, dispositivos móveis e aplicações offline. Menos referenciadas são as práticas pedagógicas e os formandos envolvidos nas aprendizagens, essenciais para a inclusão social. Palavras-chave: Educação de adultos. Inclusão digital. Aprendizagem ao longo da vida. Tecnologias digitais. Participação social.
ABSTRACT
In a society and economy that increasingly uses digital technology and provides knowledge through technology, the domain of digital skills is important for the promotion of social inclusion. Having this problematic as a focus, the research identifies contexts and uses of digital technologies in the processes of lifelong learning of adults in situations of social vulnerability and potential effects for social inclusion from the analysis of articles housed in the EBSCOhost database, published in academic journals between 2012 and 2017. The analysis reveals how more referenced the training contexts, followed by the technology/tools used, especially online learning, mobile devices and offline applications. Less referenced are the pedagogical practices and the trainees involved in learning, essential for social inclusion.
RESUMEN
En una sociedad y en una economía que recurre cada vez más a la digital y que proporciona el conocimiento por la tecnología, el dominio de las competencias digitales es importante para la promoción de la inclusión social. Con esta problemática como foco, la investigación identifica contextos y usos de tecnologías digitales en los procesos de aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida de adultos en situaciones de vulnerabilidad social y potenciales efectos para la inclusión social a partir del análisis de artículos alojados en la base de datos EBSCOhost, que se publican en revistas académicas entre 2012 y 2017.
El análisis revela como más referenciados los contextos de formación, siguiendo la tecnología/herramientas usadas, con destaque para el aprendizaje online, dispositivos móviles y aplicaciones offline. Menos referenciadas son las prácticas pedagógicas y los estudiantes involucrados en los aprendizajes, esenciales para la inclusión social. Palabras-clave: Educación de adultos. Inclusión digital.
Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. Tecnologías digitales. Participación social.
In a society and economy that increasingly uses digital technology and provides knowledge through technology, the domain of digital skills is important for the promotion of social inclusion. Having this problematic as a focus, the research identifies contexts and uses of digital technologies in the processes of lifelong learning of adults in situations of social vulnerability and potential effects for social inclusion from the analysis of articles housed in the EBSCOhost database, published in academic journals between 2012 and 2017. The analysis reveals how more referenced the training contexts, followed by the technology/tools used, especially online learning, mobile devices and offline applications. Less referenced are the pedagogical practices and the trainees involved in learning, essential for social inclusion.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.