As a teacher in the 21st century, open matters to me personally. Teaching and learning in the 21st century has evolved from the use of the traditional classroom to the virtual classroom. With this evolution it has become necessary for teachers to share and collaborate. We can do with with open access.
It is quite frustrating when you are researching and cannot access an article. So for me, open means getting access to learning materials without registrations, payments and software downloads.
Thank you for sharing this. I had heard about various organizations making statements in response to COVID-19 about OER, but this is the first time I have actually seen the text of one. I think one of the most encouraging things about this discouraging time is how many people are all working to support education and students in the abrupt shift to distance learning and OER can certainly be an important part of this.
- Does open matter for you personally? Share your reasons why open does or doesnāt matter for you.
As an educator, open matters to me - I want my students to have access to high-quality information in ways that are accessible and open to them. It also matters in terms of thinking about sharing my own research and pedagogical practice. One question I keep coming back to is how academics can recreate or support one another with a new form of peer review for OER. I know some of this is underway for OER textbooks, but I would like to see even more support and recognition for taking peer review out of the hands of commercial journal publishers.
Personally open matters to me in the context of learning in a digital age. I have come across resources that really suits my interest but having full access to it is limited. There is always a fee bound to it or permission from the author for use which do really takes long. This in some ways really affect our learning and is always a hassle.
Your comment on slapping copyright laws on PowerPoint presentations,hilarious but so true. Education should be about sharing knowledge, not all these restrictions.
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As an educator OER matters for me both personally and professionally.
Personally, I see education as a way to improve the world and providing greater access to education provides more opportunities for individuals to improve themselves and the world we share.
Professionally, I see OER as a way to reduce the costs of education. Some students cannot afford the very expensive texts available and so do not buy them. A free option would eliminate this very real problem.
Open access matters to me because many of our students in Eurasia and North Africa do not have money to access articles for their course work. Thus they opportunity to learn which costs them no money.
We have learned there are ways around many of these sites, especially true for students in Central Asia and we encourage them to use those tools. We also are looking for ways to help students access articles through Google/pdf, but not all which are needed are available there.
I work in the BC post-secondary sector and fully believe in and see the benefit of open. Open matters because it provides equal opportunities for students, faculty, and institutions that have less funding or resources. The more we make open the more access people have to build knowledge. Knowledge sharing creates opportunities to learn, innovate, and develop. If folx want to support learning then they should consider making their research and resources open so others can learn and then share as a result of those that have shared previously.
Agreed - and working collaboratively in higher education will help us to cross the chasm from Sharing to Learn ā Learning to share 
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Dear distinguished scholars, I am Maruff from Nigeria. First, I am happy that I am getting it right gradually as I am now able to find my way into this ongoing scholarly discourse. As an expert in Open-Distance and e-Learning, OPEN really matters, especially in the era of digital age. The importance of OPENNESS becomes more pronounced with the outbreak of COVID-19 which has re-echoed the indispensability of e-learning. E-learning has made openness more necessary as various pieces of information are now readily available online. This does not however, mean that we should infringe on copyright law. I think this is where #LiDA 103 becomes highly essential.
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Knowledge of copyright and open licensing is a precondition for teaching and learning with OER. As we increase online learning options - all educators will need this knowledge.
Exactly! This is the reason I said that knowledge of OER will enable one to perform excellently well in online learning environment. And this is the way to go post-pandemic era.
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Dear all
to me, when talking about openness in education, the keyword is āeveryoneā. Everyone should have access to education, regardless of which country, religion, or financial status ones come from. Especially now, during COVID-19 pandemic, there is a real need to ensure that every child or adult has not been excluded from education. Openness can help for the educational gap between people to be reduced in our digital though fragile world. With this in mind would say that maybe the governments have to reconsider their social policies and education provided.
On the other hand, concerning scholarly knowledge access and sharing, I absolutely agree with @rdevine2020. Researches and resources would to be open so everyone may have the opportunity to learn and build upon this knowledge.
Thank you for your time
Hello everyone
For me coming from an Open and Distance Learning background, the idea of open does really matter. Without the digital element. face to face has limited opportunities for students to explore other avenues without the teacher. The digital era has opened wider doors of openness and independent learning. At the same time with the price of educational materials soaring, openness makes access easier and cost effective,
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Hi @angeline1
Likewise, Iāve spent the majority of my career in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Few people realize that the concept of removing barriers to learning through ODL pre-dates the inception of OER in 2012.
That said, many of the leading ODL institutions underpinned by the philosophy of open learning have been slow to adopt OER-enabled courses for delivery. Hopefully, working together we can achieve mainstream adoption of OER for the majority of courses at ODL institutions.
Hello everyone #lida103
- Yes, the open matters to me personally. As a teacher, Iām always looking for resources for my own professional development or for my learners and it becomes really tough to get hold of quality content. The content which is readily available is mostly covered under copyright laws. So I end up preparing my own material or resort to whatever is available depending on the urgency of the work. Copyright or paywalls pose as a barrier and many times scare us off. I personally believe that such a tendency makes me feel bad and somewhere I also start feeling averse to sharing-concept which is not right.
- Well, the current state of affairs regarding access to scholarly knowledge is improving slowly and gradually. I think we can learn to be more receptive to the concept of collaborating and sharing if we really want to promote it. To improve the scenario we have to take steps and show solidarity. We should feel at ease while sharing the resources, follow the path and people will join.
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Continuing the discussion from LIDA103 Why open matters for learning in a digital age:
Open matters to me personally and professionally. As an educator and learner, I believe, like so many of you, that information must not be kept behind profit driven paywalls. However there are also times that perhaps having a completely and utterly open approach may not be appropriate. Inspired by Jesse Stommel, I strive for the understanding of openness that recognises openness as a continuum.
One thing that does concern me greatly is the huge numbers of educational institutions using Google and other learning management platforms that appear open by way of their accessibility and low cost, but in fact lock learning into an eco-system which essentially supports multinational organisations and their capacity to profit through this.
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Well said - this is a significant issue. Sadly some institutions are supporting this surveillance capitalism requiring learners to sacrifice their data in order to learn 
Agreed - an open system should be one which respects the learnerās freedom to engage in ways they feel comfortable.
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The concept of āopenā, as it has been presented in this sesiĆ³n, absolutely matters for me and what I do. I believe that knowledge is constructed and that it should be shared, in order to keep making it grow. Also, I believe that shared knowledge is really important in order to solve human issues. Therefore, I believe there need to be channels and spaces to get access to knowledge. More so, when it comes to science, being a cluster of knowledges.
It seems clear that specialized magazines have made an effort on systematizing information and also, improve quality on research by having certain standars in publishing. Nevertheless, the science journals industry also can be an unreachable fortress and thatās just absurd and incongrous. I believe quality standars are as important as open access, which makes me think it is not fair to have these paywalls. But I also know that this discussion is framed in a socioeconomic one, where capitalism also as a saying.
This is a good point. Working together we are likely to achieve greater success in solving complex world problems. Thanks for sharing!
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