Beyond content: sharing the design of open educational resources

Abstract

The concept of open educational resources (OER) is usually associated with shared open content in public repositories. However, the process of instructional design or design for learning, which creates the final material used by learners, is an intellectual process of which more elements should be shared than just the final results. Additional elements that could be shared include the design techniques employed, the structure of the resulting activities, design presuppositions and many other elements that can openly reveal not only the final result, but also valuable details on the transition from theory and experience to practise. This article summarises the current status of languages and techniques that enable educational design to be shared openly, and ends by outlining a possible roadmap for a translation of emphasis from content to design as a key factor of the open paradigm within education. It also presents the (speculative) idea of design for learning based on evidence, as an open manifestation of the sharing of knowledge on design and on the results of educational experience and research. In that type of paradigm, opening up design would have the key function of providing the best verifiable evidence for a meta-analysis of greater scope.