Tetyana Yaroslavivna Panychok
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor
Open Education: Systems, Environment, Tools.
Open Education is a movement in education that promotes the accessibility and widespread dissemination of knowledge and skills through the use of open resources, technologies, and methodologies. This approach is based on the idea that education should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their location, financial situation, social status, age, or other factors. The core idea of Open Education is to create and distribute copyright-free resources for learning and to ensure access to knowledge and skills for anyone who wants them, particularly for those who do not have the opportunity to receive a traditional education. This is achieved through the openness and accessibility of educational materials, which can be used free of charge and without restrictions, as well as through interactive online courses.
Open education involves the use of a variety of tools that help expand access to knowledge and skills. These tools may include open educational resources, which can be used free of charge and without restrictions; freely available courses and textbooks; open online courses; and technologies for collaboration and knowledge sharing among participants in the educational process.
There are currently a large number of open education projects, such as MIT OpenCourseWare, Khan Academy, Coursera, EdX, and others. These projects allow students from around the world to access freely available courses and materials from leading universities and experts in various fields of knowledge.
In addition, open education also involves the use of new approaches to organizing learning, such as the use of online platforms and social media for collaboration and interaction between students and instructors. This helps improve the quality of education and make it more accessible to everyone.
The topics covered by open education can vary depending on which aspect is being considered. However, in general, the main topics include:
Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials that are developed, stored, and distributed openly using free licenses and standards. These materials may be freely used, modified, distributed, and adapted by any user. Open Educational Resources include materials such as:
- textbooks for high school or college courses in various disciplines;
- recordings of lectures from renowned universities or video lessons from experts in a specific field;
- online courses consisting of video lessons, quizzes, and assignments for self-study;
- animations, diagrams, photos, and videos used to explain complex concepts;
- software products or code for use in teaching and research, as well as other educational materials, such as tables, graphs, statistical data, etc.
Open Educational Resources in a Foreign Language
Educational Online Resources | MEGU
Digital Repository (dnu.dp.ua)
NRAT – National Repository of Academic Texts, Ukraine
Free English courses for adults with a certificate (prometheus.org.ua)
Open Education Is… Concept, Essence, and Core Principles (what.com.ua)
MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials
Online Library and Publication Platform | Directory of Open Access Books (doabooks.org)
Free Online Courses from MIT OCW | Open Learning
Gutman Library | Harvard Graduate School of Education
University of Hawai'i OER – Open Education Resources at the University of Hawai'i (hawaii.edu)
OERinfo | Open Educational Resources Information Center (open-educational-resources.de)
Open Education Platforms are online services or websites that provide access to Open Educational Resources (OER) and other materials related to open education.
These platforms provide access to a variety of educational materials, such as textbooks, video lessons, practice exercises, audio and visual materials, online courses, and more. In addition, they may offer tools for creating custom educational materials and for user collaboration.
Open education platforms may offer both open resources developed and maintained by users themselves and materials created by well-known universities, colleges, and other educational institutions. Such platforms typically offer a variety of learning tools, such as quizzes, video conferences, forums, and other communication tools.
Some of the best-known open education platforms include:
- Coursera: This platform offers free and paid courses from renowned universities and companies around the world.
- edX: This platform, founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers courses in various disciplines, some of which are available for free and others for a fee.
- Khan Academy: This platform offers free lessons in math, science, programming, and other subjects for students of all ages.
- Open edX is open-source software that allows any organization to create its own open education platform.
- Moodle: open-source software for creating virtual learning activities
Top 8 Useful Platforms for Free Education in the Digital Field — mobizon.ua
Open Education Tools (OET) are a set of software tools that enable the creation and distribution of open educational resources, provide mechanisms for collecting and analyzing data on the learning process, facilitate interactivity and collaboration among users, and other functionalities necessary for the effective implementation of open education. Open Education Tools may include:
- Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas, Schoology, and others. They allow teachers to create and organize instructional materials, assign tasks, administer tests, and generate reports on student performance.
- Video conferencing systems that enable real-time virtual meetings and online classes. Examples include Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and others.
- Interactive websites and apps that allow teachers and students to engage with educational content and complete assignments. Examples include Kahoot, Quizlet, Socrative, Mentimeter, and others.
- Software for creating video tutorials and other visual materials that can be used for teaching. Examples include Camtasia, Adobe Captivate, Screencast-O-Matic, and others.
- Tools for creating open educational resources, such as Open Author, Pressbooks, H5P, and others.
GWUA Course. 2022–2023 (google.com)
Open Educational Resources | UNESCO
80 Resources for Open Education Developers (oedb.org)
Open Education – SPARC (sparcopen.org)
Open Educational Resources – Wikipedia
Introduction to Open Educational Resources – The OER Starter Kit (pressbooks.pub)
Open education models are various approaches to learning and access to educational resources based on the principles of openness and accessibility. Some of the most common open education models are described below:
The Open Educational Resources (OER) model: the distribution of free and open educational information and materials, such as textbooks, lectures, video lessons, quizzes, and other resources.
Open Courseware (OCW) model: access to a complete course, which may include lectures, assignments, and other materials, but without the option to earn a certificate or credit for completing the course.
The Open Courseware with Certification (OCWC) model: access to the full course, as well as the opportunity to earn a certificate upon completion and successful passing of the assessment.
The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) model: provides access to a complete course, which may include lectures, assignments, and other materials, as well as the opportunity to earn a certificate upon completion and successful passing of the assessment, but is designed for a large online audience.
The Open Universities Model: the creation of a university that provides the opportunity to obtain a comprehensive education based on the principles of openness and accessibility.
Open Education Data (OED) refers to open datasets that can be used to improve the learning process and develop new educational resources. Such data may include learning statistics, feedback from students and teachers, test questions, and other materials.
Open education is an approach that makes learning more accessible and effective through the use of open resources, technologies, and methodologies. It is an ongoing process that requires the efforts of many stakeholders: governments, educators, students, and civil society organizations.