From openness to permeability: reframing open education in terms of positive liberty in the enactment of academic practices

Abstract

This paper explores the idea of open education, focusing specifically on the concept of openness. Previous discussions of open education are reviewed, using Knox's discussion of ‘unfreedoms' as a critical lens. Contrasts are then drawn with the concept of ‘flexibility’, to illustrate ways in which openness could be developed. This leads to consideration of ideas from sociomaterial theory, focusing on networks and boundaries. A case study is then used to illustrate how these new developments play out empirically. The discussion then elaborates this in terms of ideas about mobility and fluidity. The paper concludes by arguing that the simplistic binary implied by ‘openness’ is largely irrelevant to the academic practices of teachers and learners. It is proposed that, instead, it should be replaced by a version that recognises the way individuals use infrastructures in pursuit of positive liberty. Such an alternative would help account for the various ways in which Universities are permeated by the personal, and vice versa.

Keywords:

• open education
• positive liberty
• sociomateriality
• boundary objects
• academic practice

Acknowledgements

I am particularly grateful to the anonymous reviewers for improvements to this draft, and particularly for encouragement to begin exploring the fluidity of technology in relation to permeability.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Martin Oliver is Professor of Education and Technology at the London Knowledge Lab, a research centre within the UCL Institute of Education. His research interests include how technology is understood and used, particularly within Higher Education. He is a part editor of Learning, Media & Technology, and of Research in Learning Technology; and he is a past president of the Association for Learning Technology.