Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science
The end of March 2017 saw the publication of âOpen: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Scienceâ. Edited by Rajiv Jhangiani (Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Canada) and Robert Biswas-Diener (Noba, USA), the chapters within the book look at how education becomes more accessible, affordable, and flexible, knowledge and skills act as tools for the empowerment for the worldâs poor, with studies pointing to education as being key factor relating to better health, improved well-being, and increased economic empowerment. With the advance of technology, the open education movement offers one possible remedy to educational inequality, through the removal of barriers to educational resources. The book âOpenâ shares the principal voices, motivations, and practices of the open movement, with contributions from academia, private and non-profit sides of debate.
One month since its publication, the book has been viewed or downloaded 2000+, helping to actively demonstrate the advantage of publishing an educational resource on an open access platform. Below, we hear a little more from the editors of the book (RJ/RB-D), on their expectations, experience and outcome of the publication:
UP: Tell us a little more about the project. How did the subject of open education formulate into a book, with yourselves leading the team of contributors?
RJ/RB-D: We began collaborating with one another on the NOBA project. Through that advocacy of open educational resources we discovered  that there was a general lack of awareness--or worse, misconceptions--about open and how to use it. We conceived this book as a way of making explicit the strong connections between grassroots movements in teaching and research, and to showcase diverse examples of highly successful initiatives.
UP: What was the process for selecting contributors/chapters? With such a wide subject matter and potential contributors, how you find it difficult to find a common narrative through the book?
RJ/RB-D:Â Editing a book is a bit like creating a roster for an all-star game. You want some big name players, and you also want people who may be less famous but can offer a substantive contribution. We used three basic criteria for selecting our authors. First, we wanted well-known voices in the open movement. We offered the book as a chance to showcase their most recent thinking. Second, we wanted to include the voices of people representing open infrastructure. This includes, for example, people involved with Creative Commons and with foundations that fund open initiatives. Last, we wanted to make certain we were including people representing all aspects of open as it is applied in the real world. We wanted textbook and journal publishers, librarians, scientists, and teachers. We felt that this would be one of the most distinguishing features of the book: to treat open very broadly and include practical advice regarding its use.
UP: Â Did you encounter any particular hurdles to overcome during the writing and editing process?
RJ/RB-D:Â There are always small difficulties when editing a book. One of the peskiest of these is the organization editing demands. It is difficult to keep track of the dozens of invitations, co-authors, rough drafts, and revisions of each chapter. Fortunately, our colleague Nadia Lyubchik assisted us in this monumental task. She was able to notify us when a deadline was approaching or a draft of a chapter was overdue.
UP: What were your goals for the book when the project began, and did these change as it progressed?
RJ/RB-D:Â There was, interestingly, a natural evolution that unfolded as we edited Open. When we first conceived of the project we had our eyes focused specifically on the field of psychology. We wanted to create a book that addressed psychology textbooks, psychology journals, psychology research, and psychology departments. As we progressed, however, we saw that the content was just too good to be confined to a single discipline. We changed the title, and some of the language in the chapters to reflect this broader focus. Even so, careful readers will recognize the stamp of psychology on this book. The main lessons and insights extend across education.
UP: Following from this, how are you gauging success, post-publication, and how does this compare with your original goals?
RJ/RB-D:Â We are delighted to see how many times the book has been viewed and downloaded in its first month since publication. These numbers alone have surpassed our expectations. Of course, as with any open access publication it is likely that these numbers represent conservative estimates as the book and individual chapters may be distributed directly between readers and within networks. The book was recently reviewed positively in the widely-read Chronicle of Higher Education, which will hopefully widen its audience further. Ultimately, we are interested in the book having an impact. We hope, therefore, that scholars interested in forming a new open access journal will find and read the chapter by Aaron Jarden and Dan Weijers, that researchers interested in deterring questionable practices will read the chapter by Brian Nosek, and that educators interested in sharing their work will read the chapter by Jessica Hartnett. Moving forward, it would be terrific to see the book translated into other languages. After all, the open license is an invitation to readers to adapt the book to suit their context.
UP: Who do you think will benefit most from this publication?
RJ/RB-D:Â When we put this volume together we envisioned a fairly broad audience. We especially wanted to reach people in all fields (and administration) who are interested in open education but perhaps not expert in it. We wanted to be able to explain openâs history, definitions, and infrastructure. We wanted to address concerns about quality and offer advice about how to use open resources. We imagine these readers are academics and instructors who are passionate about teaching. Who are invested in increased accessibility. Who want to keep abreast of the latest trends. Since its publication we have also encouraged our colleagues to share this information widely with graduate students. We believe that they will become the next generation of open advocates. By educating them today we hope to make open the default tomorrow.
UP: Apart from the fact that the book is knitted to the open access movement, what benefits or restrictions did you consider when publishing open access, when compared to a more traditional model?
RJ/RB-D:Â The open education movement is in many ways a social justice movement. By removing the financial barrier to obtaining the book we hope that the book has a wider impact and is able to get into the hands of those who wish to read it. At the same time, the adoption of a CC-BY license (and no clause forbidding the creation of derivative works) is an explicit choice and invitation for the book or individual chapters to be adapted and repurposed to serve different contexts.
UP: What pieces of advice would you give to potential book authors/editors out there thinking of starting their own open access project?
RJ/RB-D: Consider the many moments when you might have thought âI wish there was a resource thatâŚâ If the resource you referred to falls within an area that you are especially passionate about and would be useful to a great many people, be courageous and take the next step. Find a collaborator who shares your vision and within whom you love to work, look for support within your institution or discipline, and draft a concrete proposal. The funny thing about openness is that it requires you to overcome some inhibition, including a natural terror of failing in public, in order to serve. In doing so you often liberate yourself.
Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science is available to download for free as PDF, epub, mobi, and to read in-browser at https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc. The book is also available to buy in print from retailers.
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