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Key research themes
1. How can Open Educational Practices (OEP) be conceptualized and advanced to move beyond mere free access to knowledge?
This theme focuses on the ongoing evolution of open education from initial models centered primarily on free access to educational resources (OER) toward more engaged, participatory, and transformative Open Educational Practices (OEP). The importance lies in recognizing that open access alone does not guarantee meaningful educational innovation. Instead, pedagogical transformation, equity, inclusivity, sociocultural contextualization, and critical reflection on openness are essential to realize the full potential of open education in enhancing learning experiences and social justice.
Key finding: Articulates that transitioning from Open Educational Resources to Open Educational Practices is necessary to produce educational innovation; merely making content openly accessible is insufficient. The paper stresses... Read more
Key finding: Highlights two major strands in OEP research: one focused on OER creation and adoption, and another relating OEP to broader constructs such as open scholarship, open pedagogy, and open learning. The study identifies a... Read more
Key finding: Warns against uncritical optimism and advocacy of openness, pointing out that openness is often taken as a morally authoritative value without considering its sociopolitical implications. The authors argue for critical... Read more
Key finding: Provides a multifaceted conceptualization of openness in education as a praxis encompassing sharing, inclusion, equity, empowerment, social justice, and cultural sensitivity. Through collective narratives, it underscores that... Read more
2. What are effective frameworks and challenges for integrating technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge in Open Education platforms?
This theme investigates how educator competence and technological infrastructure intersect to enable meaningful Open Educational Practices. It focuses on frameworks like TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) for understanding necessary educator knowledge, skills, and dispositions to engage with open education critically and effectively. Additionally, it explores practical implementations of open online social learning platforms and the challenges posed by reliance on third-party commercial tools versus open-source institutional infrastructures.
Key finding: Conceptualizes OEP through the TPACK framework, emphasizing that educators require integrated knowledge of subject content, pedagogy, and technology, alongside dispositions such as intentionality and care to negotiate... Read more
Key finding: Describes the design and implementation of an open social online learning platform developed on open-source, campus-based infrastructure to combine the social and interactive benefits of commercial social media with academic... Read more
3. How does platform openness and governance affect innovation and ecosystem growth in open software and public sector platforms?
This theme explores the strategic and organizational dimensions of platform openness—how openness decisions influence participation, innovation, and control in ecosystems—addressing both technological and governance aspects in open source and public sector contexts. It examines models that balance openness to encourage developer engagement while maintaining control for appropriability and growth, and the organizational challenges public sector platforms face when transitioning to open collaborative development with open source software and open data.
Key finding: Develops a formal model assessing how platform sponsors’ decisions about when and how to open resources and bundle enhancements affect ecosystem developer participation, profits, and innovation. Findings indicate that optimal... Read more
Key finding: Through an exploratory case study of a Swedish public sector platform provider, identifies cultural, organizational, and process challenges in adopting open collaborative development for open software and open data... Read more
Key finding: Presents a case study of a large-scale open source software infrastructure deployment in a major Irish public hospital, highlighting motivations such as principle and pragmatism and benefits like significant cost savings. The... Read more