Call for papers SPECIAL ISSUE EDUTEC: Open Educational Practices in Higher Education
EDUTEC Journal: https://edutec.es/revista

Editors of the Special Issue:

Daniel Villar-Onrubia; daniel.villar@uca.es
Victoria I. Marín; victoria.marin@udl.cat

Publication date of the issue: September 2023

Keywords: open educational practices, open educational resources, open education, open educational infrastructures, open knowledge, digital pedagogy



Introduction:

Whereas the notion of ‘openness’ is far from new in the field of education (Cuban 2004, Peter & Deimann 2013), over the first couple of decades of the 21st Century it has generated unprecedented levels of interest worldwide; primarily in relation to the access to educational resources and learning opportunities. The prominence of terms such as ‘Open Educational Resources’ (OER) or ‘Massive Online Open Courses’ (MOOCs) has evidenced a growing interest in making the traditional boundaries of formal education more porous.

‘Open Educational Practices’ is a concept that transcends content and goes beyond OER. Besides being concerned with the production and (re)use of OER, they also address topics such as the implementation of open educational infrastructures (Marín & Villar-Onrubia, 2022; Villar-Onrubia & Marín, 2022) or the adoption of innovative pedagogical models that respect and empower students as co-producers of their own lifelong learning journeys (Andrade et al., 2011).

Even though the adoption of OEP does not necessarily entail the use of digital media, in most cases they rely on the Internet and, more precisely, the World Wide Web. In this regard, they relate to pedagogical approaches concerned with the use of technology in education and with its role as an enabler of interactions with actors and communities outside formal education institutions, as proposed, for instance, by the idea of ‘connected learning’ (Ito et al., 2020).

The advocacy of global actors such as Unesco, as well as the enthusiastic involvement of educators and institutional leaders around the world, reveals OEP as a key element of education as a public service in contemporary society. Catering for more diverse student populations is no longer exclusively the responsibility of institutions created for that goal, such as the Open University in the UK and other distance universities.

Some of the main principles underpinning OEP include strengthening social justice and improving equity in access to learning opportunities, as well as learners’ autonomy, agency, participation and responsibility. However, despite the good intentions of governments, institutions and educators, there is a risk that OEP – and more generally technology-mediated lifelong learning – may primarily benefit those who already come from privileged backgrounds, thus widening entrenched socio-economics gaps instead of narrowing them (Eynon & Malmberg, 2021; Knox, 2013).

Furthermore, except for some specific cases, not many universities have managed to integrate OEP in a sustainable long-term way. Overall, institutionalisation has been limited across the sector and enthusiasm has often been thwarted by systemic factors that make it difficult for educators to prioritise OEP within their already saturated repertoire of activities and responsibilities (Marín et al., 2022; Villar-Onrubia, 2022).

The aim of this special issue is to publish studies that shed light on the role of OEP in a diversity of HE contexts, with particular attention to implications for the widening of participation in HE, unintended consequences, as well as challenges to their institutionalisation and mainstreaming.


Topics or lines of interest:

Challenges and unintended consequences of OEP
Open Educational Practices in discipline-specific contexts (e.g. STEM, arts and humanities, social sciences)
Co-creation, adaptation and remixing with students of OER (e.g. open textbooks, open data)
Use and appropriation of open educational infrastructures that foster autonomy and control over personal learning environments (e.g. Domain of One’s Own).
Interaction between students and experts outside educational institutions (e.g. by means of Twitter, Wikipedia)
Open curricular co-design processes with students, academics and other stakeholders (e.g., syllabi, assessments, rubrics, codes of conduct, etc.)
Attitudes and perceptions of students and educators towards OEP
Digital competence and OEP adoption
Pre-service teacher education and OEP



Important deadlines:

Initial date for submitting paper: 1st October 2022
Submission deadline: 31st March 2023 (EXTENDED)
Submission of revised manuscript: 30th June 2023
Publication of the special issue: September 2023




GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS AND SUBMISSION OF CONTRIBUTIONS

We welcome original contributions, written in English or Spanish that thoughtfully engage:

Research projects reports, extension of 5000-6500 words.
Innovation experiences scientifically reviewed and susceptible of being transferred to other contexts and situations, extension of 5000-6500 words.
Systematic literature reviews, extension of 5000-6500 words.



Manuscripts must be sent through the journal management system selecting the special issue Open Educational Practices in Higher Education: http://www.edutec.es/revista/

Publication rules: manuscripts must be submitted following the regular structure of the EDUTEC-E journal available at: http://www.edutec.es/revista/

Last call for the reception of manuscripts: 31st March 2023

Editorial process: Submitted manuscripts will be under revision following established criteria for published manuscripts (editorial board and blind review). Once the Editorial Board has completed all the admission procedures, authors will receive anonymous scientific evaluation reports informing on their acceptance or rejection. More information about the review process and its communication is available at: http://www.edutec.es/revista/

Quality Index: EDUTEC journal is indexed in the main databases (including SCOPUS), directories and evaluation systems of specialized journals. More information about indexations is available at: https://edutec.es/revista/index.php/edutec-e/indexacion