Student perceptions of open education, both open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy, are typically reported as positive in research studies. However, there is a need for controlled research to better understand the specific effects of open education. Furthermore, it is not understood how faculty gender, often noted to be influential in…

Navigating through the Faculty of Education as a teacher educator in Canada is complex and complicated. Research literature calls for an intentional focus on media and digital literacies, and technological competencies, in teacher education. Program directions are confounded by technological trends emerging in kindergarten to grade twelve…

The primary objective of this research is to ascertain the manner in which higher education institutions offering open and distance education incorporate the concept of openness into their vision, mission, core values, and tactics. This study employs a descriptive research design to ascertain the current state of affairs. The research methodology…

Partnerships are central to the awareness, implementation and development of open and distance learning (ODL). It is an attribute that is distinct in the higher education sector, where ODL has made a large footprint by dispelling the notion that university enrolment is reserved for a narrow and elite demographic. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL)…

This collaborative self-study examines how five higher education institutions in British Columbia (BC), Canada, have achieved momentum with openness and are implementing and sustaining their efforts. A goal of this research was to see whether an institutional self-assessment tool--adapted from blended learning and institutional transformation…

As a response to the increasing commercialization of postsecondary education, educators argue for a practice of care in education. Open pedagogy (OP) seems like an ideal practice where care, trust, and inclusion can be realized. OP is characterized as a democratic and collaborative pedagogical practice, in which students and teachers work to…

This paper presents the findings of our exploration of our open educational practices (OEP) with graduate students. As reflective practitioners, we used a self-study methodology and collaborative autoethnographic methods to interrogate our open approaches to teaching and supervision. We draw on our developing competencies to support the wisdom,…

This book describes the history, structure and institutions of open and distance education in six countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US. It discusses how open and distance education is evolving in a digital age to reflect the needs and circumstances of national higher education systems in these countries, and explores…

In their role as support to faculty in the course development process, Instructional Designers (IDs) can play an important part in alleviating some of the well-known barriers of open education practices (OEP): faculty time, institutional or faculty resistance to change, and institutional support for faculty (Annand & Jensen, 2017; Barker et…

The experiences of course facilitators in connectivist-type MOOCs are poorly reported. Yet there is evidence that the values and beliefs of facilitators have an important impact on the learning experiences of participants, and that reducing their interactions with students may also reduce the effectiveness of the course. This study aimed to…

In this paper, we adopt a critical lens to investigate educators' understanding of both traditional and alternative textbooks and examine how open pedagogy may call for a rethinking of textbooks and how they are used in a pedagogical setting. Within the context of open pedagogy, including open textbooks, we conducted workshops that involved…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implementation and evaluation of knowledge management and e-transformation strategies of higher educational institutions in distance education. After an evaluation of higher educational practices in different countries, distance education was considered a different strategy and was emphasized…

This paper explores the integration of Open Educational Practices (OEP) into an institutional strategy to develop distinctive excellence in teaching, learning and scholarship. The institution in the case study is a public polytechnic university serving a metropolitan area in Canada. If emerging Open Educational Practices are to flourish at our…

This book describes the history, structure and institutions of open and distance education in six countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US. It discusses how open and distance education is evolving in a digital age to reflect the needs and circumstances of national higher education systems in these countries, and explores…

The proliferation of Internet-based networks linking small schools in rural communities in some countries challenges the appropriateness of teaching exclusively in the closed environments of traditional classrooms. The development of Internet-based school networks, facilitating the creation of virtual classes, has implications for the professional…