Open to interpretation? Productive frameworks for understanding audience engagement with Open Educational Resources

Abstract

At the core of evolutionary trajectories in the digital networked media and Open Educational Resources (OER) landscape, the notions of 'educational and learners' communities' and open 'participatory pedagogy' become more complex. Combining notions of mediation from activity theory and communications studies to analyze a large body of literature and qualitative data offering insights on stakeholders motivations, perceptions, practices or uses, the paper considers the significance of OER as participatory learning media in a global context. It then draws on perceptions and uses of OER and open media by faculty, proposing a framework with dimensions of cultural and socio-technical mediation by this particular segment, with focus on two types of users: the teacher as active interpreter and salient user, and the teacher as digital publisher. The paper argues that the socio-technical and pedagogical affordances of OER hinder many tensions pertaining to: a) the definition of openness; b) quality; and c) moral authority regarding both context and adaptability.