Fostering a culture of openness: enablers, tensions, and works in progress.

Dr. Childs used Research and Professional Development funds to examine student experiences in open education environments, this research was presented at Conference in Milan, Italy.

To date, there is little research that speaks to the student perceptions of open education environments. As higher education institutions change to meet the requirements of contemporary learners, there is a need to discuss the benefits and challenges of implementing open education practices in these spaces. This session will share a review of current literature focused on student perceptions of open educational practices and digital pedagogies implemented within open education environments. By open education environments, we refer to practices that include student and instructor use of institutionally supported open source blogging and other collaboration tools accessible on the open Web, as well as learner-chosen social media. Using the World Café format, the student experience in open education environments will be discussed, and promising practices for students working in these spaces in higher education will be identified. Through a series of questions, participants will examine key issues of (1) transitioning student and teaching roles; (2) evolving support requirements for student and faculty; and (3) developing networked scholars/practitioners. As these questions are explored, participants will be encourage to represent their thoughts using a variety of medium, and the table hosts will summarize and make connections to the other contributions emerging from the World Café. These summaries will be shared more broadly using an electronic whiteboard. Course developers and instructors will gain insights into the supports that are necessary for students and faculty working in these environments. In this session, we hope to foster interest in conducting global collaborative research, in order to better understand students’ needs and expectations when learning in open education environments.