Future Directions in OER

Abstract

AbstractOpen educational resources (OER) are revolutionary for shaping our distributed learning ecosystems (DLE), but only if we avoid technocentric narratives of OER as having effects themselves. Rather, we must focus on exploring the opportunities provided by open technologies and resources to allow us “to rethink what learning is all about, to rethink education” (cf. Papert, 1990) and actively work to reshape our institutions in concert with possible futures. This rethinking and reshaping are not only limited to how we understand the impact of OER but also how educators can more feasibly create and use OER and how we make a better and more equitable world. This chapter will explore some of the emerging possibilities offered by OER to rethink how we have approached education in the past and how we can use OER to move toward futures that allow for more sustainable generosity.