Open Educational Resources (OER) provide openly licensed alternatives to commercial instructional materials. Proponents of K-12 OER suggest that their benefits include cost savings, increased access, improved quality, and increased teacher professionalism or empowerment. While the small body of K-12 OER research is growing, perceived benefits of K-12 OER usage have not yet been proven. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand whether certain potential benefits were being realized by a group of secondary teachers using open science textbooks. In surveys and interviews, teachers were asked to describe their classroom practice before and after adopting an open textbook, including practices relating to openness. Teachers were also asked to rate the quality of open textbooks they were using in contrast to textbooks used previously. Most participants reported changes to practice, and the most commonly cited changes could be attributed to a combination of openness and online format. For example, participants described linking textbook content to other online resources. In comparisons of current to previous practice, however, teachers did not report increases in the open practices of collaboration, revising, or adapting.

The main purposes of the study were to (A) analyze the relationships between teachers¡¦ demongraphic variables, professional growth motivation and their implement of open education, and (b) to investigate the relationships between teachers¡¦ implement of open education and their pupils¡¦ critical- and creative-thinking abilities. The participants included 101 teachers and 556 students in elementary schools from kaosiung city and Tainan city. This is a two-stage study. The instruments employed at the first stage were The Appraisal of Teaching for Elementary School Teachers and The Questionnaire for Teachers¡¦ Professional Growth, and those employed at the second stage were the revised edition of the Test of Critical-thinking Skills for Primary and Secondary school Students and the new edition of the Test of Creative Thinking. The applied analysis methods included descriptive statistics, Hotelling¡¦s T2, multivariate analysis of variance, and multiple stepwise regression. The results of the study were as follows: 1. The teachers¡¦ teaching experience had positive effects on their implement of open education. 2. The teacher who graduated from general universities did not have higher degree of implementing open education than those who graduated from normal universities. 3. The teachers¡¦ professional growth motivation had positive effects on their implement of open education. 4. The teachers¡¦ experiences of participating workshops about open education had positive effects on their implement of open education, while their experiences of general in-service study had not. 5. The teachers¡¦ professional growth motivation, experiences of participating workshops of open education, and experiences of in-service study could effectively predict their degree of implementing open education. 6. The teachers¡¦ degree of implementing open education had positive effects on their students¡¦ critical- and creative-thinking abilities.

Nous cherchons dans ce travail à qualifier et quantifier les différentes formes d’attrition prévalant dans les MOOC. En sus du retrait volontaire, dont nous détaillons les différentes formes, l’attrition est dominée avant tout par différentes formes de non-participation : la majorité des inscrits ne se connectent jamais à la formation, ou n’y réalisent qu’un nombre minimal d’actions, sans intention de s’y investir. La prépondérance de cette forme d’attrition s’explique en partie par l’existence sur les plates-formes d’hébergement d’une offre abondante, qui incite les utilisateurs à s’inscrire à plus de cours qu’ils n’ont la possibilité de suivre. Un certain nombre de participants s’investissent dans la formation jusqu’à son terme bien qu’ils n’obtiennent pas le certificat. Ils représentent néanmoins une forme d’attrition marginale. Il en va de même pour l’échec académique, compris comme l’incapacité à répondre au niveau d’exigence des activités évaluées. Les MOOC sont le plus souvent de niveau introductif, les participants peuvent le plus souvent recommencer des activités auxquelles ils auraient échoué. La plupart des utilisateurs suivent le cours avec l’intention d’en réinvestir le contenu dans leur vie personnelle ou professionnelle. L’incapacité des dispositifs à répondre à cette logique, qui correspond à certains égards à un projet d’apprentissage, explique vraisemblablement une partie significative du retrait volontaire. La plupart des répondants souhaitent obtenir le certificat de la formation, bien qu’il ne représente que rarement la principale motivation sous-tendant l’inscription. Cet intérêt ne relève pas systématiquement de buts de performance. / We aim at describing, quantifying and understanding the diversity of situations that explain the low completions observed in MOOCs, based on learning analytics, registration data from the French MOOC platform FUN, course structures, surveys and semi-structured interviews. Most of the attrition is explained by different types of non-starts, and to a lesser extent by voluntary withdrawal: most registrants do not show up in the cours, or do a minimal number of actions, with no intention to engage in the course whatsoever. The existence of an abundant catalog in most platforms drives users to register to more courses than they can follow. Some users view most of the videos of the course without engaging in the tasks required to obtain the certificate, but they represent a small part of the attrition. Academic dismissal is likely to be limited given the fact that most MOOCs are of introductory level, most evaluations are automated and multiple attemps are allowed. Most users follow the course with the intention to apply its content in their personal or professionnal life; a MOOC is most often the equivalent of a learning project. The inability to answer the needs of such learning projects may explain a significant proportion of the voluntary withdrawal. Few learners register in order to obtain a certificate, but most of them are interested in it.

Published Article / The aims of this article are to describe the findings of the author over the last decade regarding traditional distance education which eventually became Open and Distance E-Learning (ODEL) at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) and secondly, the integration of Open Education Resources (OER) within ODEL. Up for debate in Perspectives in Education is the question whether ODEL and OER have not already stimulated a new constellation for higher education? After attending several international conferences of the International Organization for Open and Distance Education (lODE), the National Association for Open Distance Education of South Africa (NADEOSA), Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA) as well as the South African Association for Research Development in Higher Education (SMRDHE), it became evident to the author that global trends forced a number of changes onto the South African higher education system. Subsequently, the CUT also had to reconsider the role of distance education within the Free State and Northern Cape provinces where it operates. In 2004 for example, students enrolled for distance education countrywide already constituted between 4% and 32% at traditional face-to-face universities while for universities of technology the figure was only 4,74% (CHE, 2004:185-186). However, universities of technology since expanded tremendously in using ODEL.

Thesis advisor: Juliet Schor / The relationship between learning and labor has long been a topic of concern for sociologists of education. In this dissertation, I conduct an ethnography of open learning in the United States following the 2008 economic crisis and argue that a new style of learning is emerging amidst changes in the labor market. I call that new style of learning the pedagogy of precarity and emphasize that it challenges credentialism (Collins, 1979), or how U.S. society confers status, jobs, and life chances according to one’s accumulation of academic qualifications. This study is the first sociological ethnography of open learning conducted from the vantage point of learners (Ito et al, 2009) and offers a perspective of how mostly digitally mediated learning practices are utilized within the growing precarity of the new economy. In this dissertation, I show how a sample of open learners sought a different way to connect their learning to their labor when neither felt valuable after the 2008 crisis and subsequent recession. Engaging literatures in the sociology of education, economic sociology, and cultural sociology, this dissertation expands upon the concept of the precariat (Standing, 2011; Gill and Pratt, 2008) in order to explain how “entrepreneurial vagueness” emerges from lived experiences of precariousness. Entrepreneurial vagueness works to buffer subjective status aspirations amidst dwindling objective life chances in the new economy (Bourdieu, 1984a; Sennett, 1998; 2006). In my study, precarity becomes pedagogized (Bernstein, 1996; 2001) and participants “labor to learn” rather than learn to labor. The pedagogy of precarity relies upon autodidactic communalism (Pearce, 1996), a model for learning that puts the burden of self-education on the individual and the community that she can access by successfully adopting a “habitus of trainability” (Bourdieu, 1984a; Bernstein, 1996; 2001). This burden is hard work, but is also described as enjoyable and life giving. The pedagogy of precarity instilled quasi-dignity as participants learned to embody the habitus of trainability. The habitus of trainability entailed developing a taste for usefulness, a taste for craftsmanship, and a taste for association. However, these tastes are not separate from a taste for risk (Neff, 2012; McMillan Cottom, 2017), and thus the pedagogy of precarity lacks sustainability. The findings are relevant to other studies of institutional challenge through peer-to-peer connection as well as work regarding the future of higher education in the new economy. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

The main aim of this field study is to review, analyse and interpret the research literature on open education. The study also attempts to define and illustrate the concept open education. In addition the study has aimed to produce a set of resource materials which illustrate open education, namely, what it is and how it is manifested in schools. From an initial empirical review and content analysis of the research literature, it is apparent that certain common themes emerge when defining the concept of open education. In an attempt to ascertain, clarify and derive meaningful conclusions, eight themes have been derived from the scan and content analysis of the literature. The work of appropriate authors has been discussed and analysed within this framework. The eight themes identified from the literature defining the concept of open education are:- (a) Aspects of implementation of 'openness' and open schooling; (b) Open space, open planning, the focus on spatiality and openness in architecture; (c) Philosophy of Open Education; (d) Goals of Open Education; (e) The Origins of Open Education in Australian Schools; (f) Assumptions and Beliefs of Open Education; (g) Characteristics and Criteria of Open Education; (h) Descriptions, Anecdotal definitions and interviews concerned with Open Education. These themes are discussed individually with reference to the relevant authors. From the analysis and discussion of the relevant research literature, it would appear that it is not only plausible but possible to define the concept of open education. The defining characteristics of open education are identified through: - the degree of openness of a school program; - the focus on spatiality and openness in architecture; - the philosophical goals, assumptions and beliefs intrinsic in the concept of open education; - the observable characteristics and criteria manifested by open education. The concept open education cannot adequately be defined in terms of a statement but in terms of observable sets of criteria which are present at varying times and in varying degrees ranging backward and forward along a continuum of degree of openness. Open education can therefore be defined by assessing the extent to which a specified set of criteria are present or absent. An aspect of the curriculum may then be ranked with respect to those defining characteristics of open education. Even though the content may vary, the specified set of criteria remain intrinsic and inherent in the concept.

PART I Open education is defined operationally in terms of the Roland Earths (1971) open education scale plus Bob Young's curriculum scale based upon Basil Bernstein's classification of educational knowledge (collected versus integrated codes). Young's scale on the organization of curriculum knowledge is considered to make explicit ideas partially implicit in the Barth Scale as well as adding a new dimension. This definition of open education has three unifying closely related principles: (i) respect for students as persons (ii) a view of knowledge being in part a personal construct (iii) the extent by which the contents of the curriculum stand in open relation to each other. The limitations of the study and its relevance to ACT schools are stated. The literature on open education is reviewed and criticism is examined. The most important writers on open education influencing the development of the authors ideas were - Roland Barth, Tinsley Beck, Basil Bernstein, Hugh Petrie, Herbert Walberg and Susan Christie Thomas, and Bob Young. PART II A short personal history of the study is given. This outlines the development of the author's ideas and explains how the survey was conducted (plus its problems). An extensive analysis of the survey data was undertaken in terms of ten research questions posed. These related to:- (i) characteristics of respondents (ii) representativeness of the samples (iii) reliability of the instruments (Barth, Young) (iv) unity of the total Barth-Young scale (v) differences between primary teachers, secondary teachers and parents' responses (vi) factorial composition of the scales (vii) a comparison of the logical and factorial dimensions of the scales (viii) comments of respondents (ix) implications of the research (x) further research required. In general the survey data was consistent with the theory in Part I, though it also indicated there was a need for further development of the Barth-Young Scale.

This thesis considers the various perspectives of universities, academic staff and publishers to the copyright ownership of teaching and research outputs produced by UK universities, with a particular focus on how this affects the provision of online and/or open access to those outputs by university libraries. It presents ten papers written over a twenty year time frame that consider these issues within the context of a number of practitioner research projects and demonstrate how practices are changing over time. The papers employ a range of methodologies including questionnaire surveys, comparative design studies, interviews and content analyses. The key findings relating to research outputs (the scholarly royalty-free literature) are that rights are still mainly relinquished to academic staff by UK HEIs, although some HEIs are beginning to assert the right to re-use those works in various ways. Whilst academics are relied upon to either retain copyright or communicate their HEI s copyright policy terms to publishers, in most cases they (reluctantly) assign copyright to publishers. Publishers are increasingly allowing green open access to their scholarly works in some form, but under a growing array of restrictions and conditions principally embargo periods. Publishers terms of re-use for such works (when made explicit) are often restrictive, however most academics would be happy for their works to be re-used non-commercially as long as their moral rights remain protected. This situation creates challenges for both Institutional Repository Managers and copyright clearance staff in Libraries to manage access to, and re-use of, these outputs. The key findings relating to teaching outputs are that copyright mainly lies with HEIs although there are signs that HEIs are moving towards a shared ownership position through licensing. Academics seem to expect some degree of shared ownership, but as with research outputs, are principally concerned that their moral rights are protected. UK HEI copyright policies in this area are fledgling and do not comprehensively address either moral rights issues or other key copyright issues pertaining to OERs. Failure of universities to address these issues is impacting on the motivation of academics to share OERs.

Despite the fact that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been seen as a new global education phenomenon over the last decade, MOOCs are still in the early stage of its development in Sweden. MOOCs are being adopted into the Swedish context through the application of translation theory. This process of translation has been a slow process in Sweden.  The aim of this thesis is to describe how a global idea is translated to Swedish context, and explore the reasons behind the slow pace of that process in that country, thus contributing to empirical research of the role of actors in the process of translating an idea. Why and how does a university respond to an emerging global idea? In the process of translating and spreading the MOOCs phenomenon at Swedish HEIs, what has been the role of various actors, and their activities involved in this process? Qualitative research is based on one case study, with abductive reasoning.  The translation of MOOC in Sweden is an active, complicated process, and involves a number of actors such as professors, researchers, government, education authorities and students whose activities actively edit, contextualize, and circulate the concept of MOOCs into Swedish HEIs. The findings indicate that the translation process is still slow and undirected due to the lack of support for management and leadership at all levels. However, indicators are that MOOCs will eventually be fully implemented at Swedish Higher Education Institutions, and will be developed as a national platform in Sweden.

abstract: During the 2017-2018 academic year, I worked as Program Manager for a government-funded post-secondary organization in Ontario, Canada. A core part of my professional role was creating awareness and increasing the use of open educational resources (OER) in partnership with Ontario educators. I conducted this work with the support of colleagues and OER advocates at public colleges and universities. Collectively, we focused on the use of OER as an opportunity to: (a) reduce the cost of post-secondary resources, (b) diversify the types of resources used in teaching and learning, and (c) explore opportunities to create assessments and activities that empowered learners as co-creators of knowledge. Alongside my professional role during this year, I engaged in a mixed-methods action research study using change management strategies and Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior. The purpose of the study was to determine the usefulness of an awareness and support strategy designed to increase the use of OER among post-secondary educators in Ontario. For many of the participants in the study (n = 38), OER were new elements in their teaching practice. I engaged in focused and meaningful dialogue with them as part of professional development sessions in order to fully explore their perspectives about use of OER. I chose two facilitation designs as the action of my action research. The first was a pair of face-to-face workshops, and the second was an open online course commonly called a MOOC (massive open online course). These were the interventions (and innovations) for the study. From the perspective of the participants, the awareness and support strategies were determined to be useful for increasing their use of OER. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2018