Elements of Open Education: An Invitation to Future Research
Olaf Zawacki‐Richter, Dianne Conrad, Aras Bozkurt, Cengiz Hakan Aydın, Svenja Bedenlier, Insung Jung, Joachim Stöter, George Veletsianos, Lisa Marie Blaschke, Melissa Bond, Andrea Broens, Elisa Bruhn, Carina Dolch, Marco Kalz, Yaşar Kondakçı, Victoria I. Marín, Kerstin Mayrberger, Wolfgang Müskens, Som Naidu, Adnan Qayyum, Jennifer Roberts, Albert Sangrà, Frank Senyo Loglo, Patricia J. Slagter van Tryon, Junhong Xiao
Abstract
This paper explores elements of open education within the context of higher education. After an introduction to the origins of open education and its theoretical foundations, the topics of open and distance learning, international education issues in open education, open educational practices and scholarship, open educational resources, MOOCs, prior learning accreditation and recognition, and learner characteristics are considered, following the framework of macro, meso, and micro levels of research in open and distance learning. Implications for future research at the macro, meso, and micro levels are then provided.