Blended Open Education

Advocates of open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) are frustrated that these approaches do not get the recognition they deserve. The many obstacles discouraging instructor involvement in pursuing these innovative approaches have been well documented save one: the inclination of the open education community toward an all-or-nothing approach to open education. Many aspects of open education, especially in the realm of OER, have adopted maximalist positions that leave little room for diversity or compromise.

This presentation will introduce the notion of “blended open education” to draw attention to the mixed nature of open education reality. Like blended learning, blended open education brings new approaches to augment and modify traditional practices. By creating a space for those who wish to integrate aspects of OER and OEP into their teaching, blended open education might attract new interest in open education as a whole.

A key feature of the presentation will be the discussion of an open education spectrum that illustrates the variety of approaches possible when adopting the blended open perspective. Time in the presentation will be set aside to give participants the opportunity to consider how their own practice fits into the blended open education model.