GO-GN and TEL: engaging doctoral research with openness

Thematic Workshop

The Open Educational Resources (OER) research community is a relatively new area of interest. Research on OER where Technology-Enhanced learning (TEL) has a primary role is growing. PhD students around the world are getting involved in OER research. This workshop will focus on open research practices and approaches with the objective to make PhD research more visible, to increase impact, to enable collaboration, to make the research process more transparent or to share work so that others can reuse it. We will be looking at what ‘being more open’ in research means by discussing examples and by considering what the benefits and the challenges are. This workshop will:

• Look at different stages of the research process at PhD level and what being ‘open’ means within these contexts;
• Provide practical advice and suggestions;
• Discuss the challenges and benefits of being an open researcher;
• Give suggestions to participants on steps to follow in order to continue their open research journey during and after their PhD completion.

Open research is an area which is often characterised by advocacy and personal values. However, given the globally dispersed nature of OER practitioners and researchers, it is often the case that any individual PhD researcher will be acting in isolation within their institution. This workshop will be led by the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) (http://go-gn.net/). GO-GN is a network of PhD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education. These doctoral researchers are at the core of the network while around them, experts, supervisors, mentors and interested parties connect to form a community of practice.