Radical Solutions and Open Science by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811542763
Publisher: Springer Singapore

5.6 Conclusion

One of our main goals with this chapter is to demonstrate that open educational resources, like all digital or online technologies, are not neutral or apolitical. If they don’t make explicit their premises, projects or movements run the risk of finding themselves adrift, at the mercy of the winds existing powers. If technology is to provide educational and social benefits, and not mere efficiency gains or monetary gains, they should be configured explicitly for these ends. There are risks in applying the “open” concept in a naive way, especially when it’s configured by incumbent market actors. The delocalization of the production of teaching materials, the concentration of profit, and the strengthening of the position of big corporations are examples of these risks. In a paradox characteristic of globalization, OER from “the center” become ubiquitous, leading to atrophy of the capacity of the periphery to produce and to disseminate its voice.

When OER are financed by private interests and hosted on platforms owned by oligopolies that feed of their metadata and the personal data of their users, the mere possibility de jure of adaptation and remix won’t save the local production of educational resources. A global commons that is structured on the terms of transnational corporations won’t attend to the necessities of local communities of schools, educators, and students around the world.

OER and the ideas sustained by the various open movements like those of Open Access, Open Science, Transparency and Open Government or Open Data can and should be used to promote the autonomy of educators, a diversity of ideas and the creation of collaborative spaces. As pointed out by Peters and Britez (2008), OER mean freedom, citizenship, knowledge for all, social progress, and the transformation of individuals. Can a critical analysis of the project and an honest assessment of its limitations help realize the potential of this valuable movement for education? We sincerely believe so.

Acknowledgments

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