Provision of Open Access Knowledge as a Social Responsibility in Universities
The role of Universities
The role of universities throughout the ages and across the globe is a source of much debate. Whether they are businesses, research institutes, places of learning or whether they should contribute to the society and communities they support and depend upon is widely discussed. The University of Manchester includes Social Responsibility as one of its 2020 key goals and as such one must explore if opening access to the public is encompassed within this goal? In my previous role within the Widening Participation Team opening access and reducing barriers to education is something I have championed as part of the Manchester Access Programme and as a former Widening Participation fellow. Access to knowledge and resources should not be restricted to those who can afford it. However this oversimplifies the complexities and business models associated with publication of research. This blog will discuss how open access impacts areas across the educational spectrum and is not confined to the third level sector.
Why is open access essential to creating and encouraging a fairer society?
In order to answer this question the term open access requires clarification. In the context of research and academic writing open access means published work is available online for free and available to all. Many funding bodies impose criteria on researchers stipulating that their work must be available in whole or in part via open access. The University of Manchester supports these aims by offsetting the costs associated with Article Processing Charges and also provides support advice and guidance to researchers and academics. The University of Manchester receives a RCUK block grant and Charity Open Access Fund to enable theses costs to be met. These grants are finite and the future of open access repositories and provision is uncertain although the University is committed to supporting open access.
Moving beyond research and academic articles the University allows access to its Collections. University of Manchester assets include The Manchester Museum, The Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, Whitworth Art Gallery, the John Ryland’s Library and Jodrell Bank. They allow the public to explore their collections and each have active public engagement programmes encouraging schools to partake in various enrichment programmes. Sharing resources with the community fosters collaborations and relationships which encourages local young people to consider the merits of a university education.
The definition of Open Access can be extended to Distance Learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The university is delivering a new distance access initiative (Manchester Distance Access Scheme) which will allow pupils from around the UK from Low Participation Areas to engage with academics within the University and access research resources and gain support and guidance with their University Applications. Funding for this scheme comes from HEFCE via the Office of Fair Access. A range of MOOCs have recently been offered to the public covering areas of specialism within the University. These free courses can be accessed by anyone and compliment a number of research areas within the University.
Open Access: breaking barriers to education?
Initiatives such as those listed above are examples of successful Open Education Resources (OER). It is apparent that there are considerable costs associated with them. If funding is not available then restrictions are immediately imposed on those wishing to engage. Further Education Colleges with limited funds and resources cannot afford to provide access to the range of paid content that many of the HEIs both produce and have access to. Brewer (2016) pointed out that not only are resources limited but in order to find OA material, teaching and support staff need to be knowledgeable about where to access this information. Thus the cycle of those who are financially disadvantaged being given limited access to educational resources compared to those who can afford to pay is entrenched.
Other barriers to accessing research and knowledge such legal restrictions, technical issues and IT systems bring disadvantage to FE colleges, institutes in developing nations and individuals engaged in research who cannot afford to pay for journal subscriptions (Ola 2016). Rising journal costs mean that institutions in poorer countries are losing access to journals and research information. There is an argument that research funded by tax papers should be freely available to taxpayers.
Impact of successful Open Educational Resource initiatives.
OER Africa an initiative which allows institutions in African to share Educational resources has meant that African researchers can share techniques and expertise without having to pay expensive and prohibitive publication fees (OER). Many papers published by the West use equipment not available in developing countries and by sharing knowledge through OER medical students and clinicians can learn about practices using facilities available to them.
In the US a community college whose demographic included students from poorer backgrounds piloted a course without using costly textbooks and relied on free OER resources. Students had higher grades, saved graduates costs within their degree and due to the reduced need for grants the cost to the tax payer was also reduced.
In the UK use of OER has been reported to enrich the learning experience for students and save time in some aspects of development of teaching materials. OERs support student’s ability to research and gain confidence in evaluating their sources. Studies have shown that OERs can make higher education more accessible to a variety of learners for whom distance, age, circumstances may create inherent barriers.
UNESCO World OER Congress has encouraged government led participation in development and use of OERs.
My experience of OERs.
As part of the Manchester Access Programme Team I sought to enhance the support available to students on the programme while completing their academic assignments. Students had access to tutors on campus and needed to attend two meeting with their tutors. They attended compulsory on campus workshops about researching and referencing. However often students struggled with academic writing. To address this I liaised with the eLearning team at the University of Manchester and identified a number of existing online OERs aimed at university students (How to avoid plagiarism, Academic writing, Referencing). These were adapted for a year 12/13 audience and were made available to MAP students via Blackboard. Students were also given access to Phrasebank which aids academic phrasing. Students also had access to library resources which allowed them to experience a realistic literature research project. Feedback from students and tutors regarding these resources was incredibly positive.
Conclusion
Open Access, whether in the form of access to published research, collections or OERs predominantly is a practical approach to widen participation in education. However the barriers which apply to education, such as funding, opportunity, location and background also exist for Open Access Resources. Continued government and institutional support is key to ensure a positive long-term impact.
