Open Pedagogy

Open pedagogy is about engaging students as creators of information rather than passively receiving information. While there are a few established methods for this, you may find that practices you already engage in are actually a part of open pedagogy.

What is Open Pedagogy?

When we apply the core principles of open education to teaching practices, we get open pedagogy.

At its core, open pedagogy leverages the “open” nature of open educational resources (OERs) to facilitate learning and emphasizes community, collaboration, and sharing resources, ideas, and power.

Engaging in open pedagogical practices centre

agency, consent, care, compassion
opportunities for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI);
embraces students creating content; and
provides scaffolding for tools and assignments.

There are a lot of different definitions of open pedagogy floating around, and depending on your personal teaching beliefs and style it will look slightly different when you apply them to different teaching practices. It may be helpful to focus less on a specific definition and more on what open pedagogy looks like in practice.

If your teaching practices

incorporate feedback
provide options
encourage taking ownership
have value beyond knowledge
share with others

then you are engaging in open pedagogy. These characteristics can be applied to any teaching practice, to varying amounts. You might find that some characteristics aren’t appropriate for a particular teaching practice but are great for others.

As with open educational resources (OERs) and open licensing, open pedagogy exists on a spectrum. The more of these characteristics your teaching practice uses, the more deeply you are engaging in open pedagogy.

Resources

Open Pedagogy Notebook – examples of open pedagogy
Open Pedagogy Portal – examples of open pedagogy (OEN)
Attributes of open pedagogy: a model for using open educational resources [PDF]

A common teaching practice to apply open pedagogy to is assignment design, and there are lots of examples of these assignments

When an assignment has characteristics of open pedagogy, it’s called a “Renewable Assignment”, as opposed to traditional, disposable assignments that are transactional in nature (a student does the work, hands it in, it gets marked, and then it goes in a drawer and no one ever looks at it again).

Click the plus signs on the image below to see how the characteristics could be applied to assignment design, turning it into a Renewable Assignment.

Resources

Building-in Student Buy-in: Disposable vs Renewable Assignments
Non-Disposable Assignments – key readings and examples of non-disposable assignments
DOER Fellows Renewable Assignments – collection of renewable assignments
UN Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship – collection of renewable assignments related to the UN SDGs

Further Training

If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of open pedagogy, below are some professional development opportunities.

Foundations in Open Education

Hosted by: KPU

This 7-hour asynchronous course invites participants to delve into the foundational principles of the Open Education movement. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how to integrate Open Education principles into their courses. This integration is facilitated through the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) and innovative teaching practices known as Open Pedagogy. This supports the ultimate goal of Open Education in fostering inclusivity, accessibility, and innovation in higher education. Join us on this journey to transform your teaching practices and create a more open and inclusive learning environment!

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Open Pedagogy Learning Circle

Hosted by: Open Educational Network

The Open Pedagogy Learning Circle is a collaborative, resource-rich learning environment. The OEN facilitates seven synchronous, virtual one-hour sessions every semester. Join our Learning Circle to share, learn, discuss, and create open pedagogy. Sign up on the interest list to be emailed details the next time they offer an Open Pedagogy Learning Circle.

Add your name to the interest list

Open Educational Practices Certificate

Hosted by: Open Educational Network

The Certificate in Open Educational Practices is a supportive professional development experience. It inspires you to create accessible, inclusive, student-centered pedagogy. You’ll work in pairs as one librarian and one faculty member, collaborating to make education more equitable and sustainable through innovative pedagogy.

In the year-long program, our instructors will introduce open educational practices and work with you to create a personalized action plan. The action plan will become your customized map for implementing an impactful open educational practice project with your students the following term.

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Support at KPU

KPU Open is available to answer any questions you have about open, to provide training and resources, and to consult on how you can incorporate open practices.

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