International Journal of Open Educational Resources Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2019/Winter 2020 | Page 184

International Journal of Open Educational Resources
In this regard, a number of
scholars have highlighted the vast potential
for OER. Gardner Campbell
(2012), Associate Professor of English
and Special Assistant to the Provost at
Virginia Commonwealth University,
used the term “opening education” to
describe teaching in new ways with new
technology. He contrasted it with “open
education,” which is doing old things
with new (OER) technology (Campbell,
2012). Education that is opening
“challenge[s] and develop[s] students
in owning their learning, engaging with
others in their learning, and in innovating
...” (Hogan, Carlson, & Kirk, 2015,
Toward Innovative Pedagogies section,
para. 3).
Similarly, David Wiley (2013),
who developed the 5Rs framework for
OER (reuse, revise, remix, redistribute,
and retain; Wiley, 2014), illuminated
the potential of OER in ways that align
with Campbell’s opening education:
Using OER the same way we used
commercial textbooks misses the
point. It’s like driving an airplane
down the road. Yes, the airplane
has wheels and is capable of driving
down on the road (provided
the road is wide enough). But
the point of an airplane is to fly
at hundreds of miles per hour –
not to drive. Driving an airplane
around, simply because driving
is how we always traveled in the
past, squanders the huge potential
of the airplane.
Finally, Ebba Ossiannilsson
(2018), Vice-President of the Swedish
Association for Distance Education,
recognized the potential of OER to emphasize
21 st century competencies and
capabilities, including metacognition
(p. 106). She argued that OER is an important
vehicle for establishing life and
work competencies as identified by P21,
Partnership for 21 st Century Learning
(2016):
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self-Direction
• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
• Productivity and Accountability
• Leadership and Responsibility
Thus, moving beyond a static
textbook as a source of learning to a
more expansive use of OER opens the
door for a wide range of activities that
shift the paradigm from student as content
consumer to student as content
creator and even to student as director
of their own learning. These activities,
under the label of open educational
practices (OEP), give substance to Wiley’s
airplane image. Catherine Cronin
(2017), a key researcher in the field,
summarized OEP based on an in-depth
literature review as “moving beyond a
content-centered approach, shifting the
focus from resources to practices, with
learners and teachers sharing the processes
of knowledge creation” (p. 17).
Definitions and conceptions of OEP
vary. Potential components include
“Use/reuse/creation of OER and collaborative,
pedagogical practices employing
social and participatory technologies
for interaction, peer-learning,
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