Introductory Framework
Approaching Open Pedagogy in Community and Collaboration
Caroline Sinkinson and Amanda McAndrew
Authors
- Caroline Sinkinson, University of Colorado Boulder
- Amanda McAndrew, M.A. Ed., University of Colorado Boulder
Project Overview
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Institution Type: public, research, undergraduate, postgraduate
Project Discipline: Faculty/Staff Professional Development
Project Outcome: Faculty Learning Communities
Tools Used: Reclaim Hosting, Google Drive, WordPress, Omeka, LibGuides
Resources Included in Chapter:
- Planning and Scheduling Materials
- Recommended Readings
Introduction
In the 2008 Cape Town Open Education Declaration, signatories envisioned that openness in education would foster a “new pedagogy where educators and learners create, shape and evolve knowledge together” (Cape Town, 2008). Today, the global open education community continues to pursue these pedagogical visions. This was captured at a recent gathering of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) member state representatives, who work to encourage international collaborations to improve education, science, and culture. In a series of draft recommendations for open education, they affirmed the ongoing aim to realize pedagogical innovations that engage “both educators and learners to become more active participants in educational processes and creators of content as members of an inclusive knowledge society” (UNESCO, 2018). As we, a librarian and an academic technology consultant, increasingly participated in open education, these pedagogically-focused goals resonated with our professional roles and inclinations. Motivated to more fully explore these possibilities, we set out to expand local dialogue and awareness of open pedagogies. We invited a community of educators together to investigate the pedagogical possibilities of open education and to dwell on questions about learners’ agency and ownership of their education.
In this chapter, we describe our partnership that formed through mutual investment in reshaping approaches to teaching and learning within our local university setting. We provide the theoretical background of the project as well as share the structure, essential elements, and strategies employed to form a series of faculty learning communities focused on open pedagogy.
Context
These learning communities were formed at the University of Colorado Boulder, which is a public research university that offers more than 3,900 courses in approximately 150 subject areas to over 30,000 students each year (University of Colorado Boulder, 2018). Across the campus, educators have individually pursued open education projects. Perhaps most notable is the Physics Education Technology (PhET) simulations (University of Colorado, 2019), which are interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations developed by a cohort of faculty and researchers in the department of Physics. Mor