The basics
Open learning in government
What is it?
What we know about openness in government
If you know of the Government of Canada Digital Standards, you probably know of the emphasis on
- working in the open by default
- using open standards and solutions
- collaborating widely
You also may have heard of
- open government
- open data
- open software
- open science
But have you heard of open access and open education?
Open educational resources — a definition
The term open education emerged between 2001–2002, influenced by the MIT OpenCourseWare project.
Open educational resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed text, media, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes
Main characteristics of these resources are:
- available to anyone (in digital or other formats)
- free to use
- free to adapt
- free to share
The objectives of open education movement are to :
- expand access to learning
- reduce costs for students
- quickly adapt content to new realities
Open education in government
While the terminology and practices of open education are almost 20 years old, the movement has mostly thrived in academic contexts such as universities.
Government is a huge producer and consumer of learning. We are always trying to adapt to new challenges and obtain new skills.
In Canada, we have over 75 different federal departments!
Can you imagine the opportunities we have to:
- learn from each other
- include different perspectives
- offer more learning options
- reduce duplication of effort and resources
While the benefits seem clear, moving towards open learning in government is a big change. It made me think about what ‘openness’ means and how we can embrace it!
Openness as a concept
Open mic — amateur poets or musicians get to perform on stage and try out something new
Concept of openness makes me think of
- welcoming
- brave and experimental
- bringing people and ideas together
- you are invited
- new voices
Openness as a shape
If you think of open as a shape, it is hard to come up with something specific.
In my mind, I see an ensō — an often imperfect circle in Japanese ink painting. In the West, we don’t seem to have lots of imperfect or open shapes. The only correlation I can find is in the natural landscape or in children’s exploration of the world, where imperfection is acceptable and a natural part of learning and play.
This shape is
- fluid
- organic
- flowing
- changing
- imperfect
Open as a space
Open concept — having no walls or partitions in a space, eliminating barriers and functional differences. Apparently, this is a mainly Canadian term :) according to Wikipedia.
When I think of an open space, I see lots of negative space (aka white space), less is more, simplicity…
It makes me think of
- removing barriers
- full of opportunities and possibilities
- vulnerability
- discovery
Openness as a value and a mindset
Open ended questions — help you understand the lived experiences of other people
Open mind — willingness to listen or accept different ideas (Merriam-Webster)
Today, openness as a mindset is more important than ever.
Open mindset is
- empathetic
- signals that your perspective matters
- open to something new and unexpected
What’s next?
I invite you to consider
What would happen if
In your journey as a government employee
Who creates learning for public servants
You were to embrace the different facets of openness:
- open concept
- open shape
- open space
- open mindset
At the Canada School of Public Service, we are working on a project to encourage sharing and reuse of learning in the open. If you are interested, follow/reach out to the Educational Technology Research & Innovation Team.
This article is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License
