Things have happened in the last two weeks. The PBL group 4 have lost two members – I think – because of workload and not enough time to participate in the group and work on the topic. I can understand that and I think it is good that they are clear about the decision so the rest of the group don’t need wait for their contributions or not be sure whether they will join or not. 

For me the last two weeks have been about exploring what open education is – and this have given me the chance to discuss in different contexts. Its been good to listen to and read the experiences of the team member in the PBL group 4 – but it has also provided the opportunity to speak with my colleagues about a topic that we have come to speak more about in the last couple of years. So it has been an opportunity do discuss what digitalization and openness means for me (and us) in everyday life/practice at work. In a way digitalization is a topic that is close to our everyday work, as we teach and do research in the field of retail and marketing.  As Weller and Anderson (2014) notices in their introduction to digitalization in education – this topic has already influenced many other areas (such as retail) and in these areas it has led to a shift in etsablished practice. Thus this is also something that is happening within higher education. Such as the development of openness and the creation of MOOCS – and Weller and Anderson (2014) argues that this offers at one hand new opportunities but also on the other hand offer alternative ways of conducting exsisting practices. I think this way of seeing how it can offer alternative ways of doing things is important, and might be a first step towards doing more – and perhaps also in the future doing something new. It seems resonable to start with alternative ways, considering the resources needed but also maybe the resistance that can surface when change comes around ( cf. Weller and Anderson 2014). 

So this has created a discussion at my department – and even if there was no direct outcome  in terms of what we can and want to do with open education it made for some good discussions on digitalization. Also I have now been asked to join a group of colleagues that are now forming to start working on digitalization of education. Very happy! ?

References

Weller, M., & Anderson, T. (2013). Digital resilience in higher education. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 16(1), 53.
http://www.eurodl.org/index.php?p=archives&year=2013&halfyear=1&article=559