Students’ perceptions of openness

Though there has been a long history and discussion of openness in education (Morgan, 2016), over the past decade there has been a move from educators and researchers to embrace and explore what are being termed open education practices (OEP). Researchers and educators alike have considered the role of open pedagogies in more effectively engaging learners in the co-creation of knowledge, critically considering how digital practices and open platforms can be used in practice. However, there are gaps in our understanding of learner experiences in various dimensions of openness, such as negotiating identity, privacy, visibility, literacy and the co-construction of knowledge. As educators we need to consider how the structures of these spaces will influence the open teaching practices we are using, both in how they may make our spaces permeable, and in how they might make them more impenetrable. In this roundtable discussion participants will be asked to critically examine personal practice and how they forefront openness with learners, as well as reflect on their own perceptions and beliefs, and share their experiences in learning with their learners in an open educational practice journey.