OER 2023 pushing me back into the open
It’s been a long while since I’ve posted something into the open on a blog or tweet or toot or even into Signal (though I’m not sure what it’s called in that platform; maybe a sigh). I’ve silently shared in more cloistered spaces and kept my journalling on this blog site as private submissions – a place where I’ve crafted my thoughts for the dissertation I’ve been writing since a long time ago! I’m approaching the end of that writing process so it’s an opportune time to get pushed back into the open, and OER23 is just the time to do this.
I am taking a few days to engage in the online spaces (Discord, Mastadon, Twitter, Kaltura) for the OER23 conference in Inverness, Scotland. I’ve been up early, adjusting my internal clock to UK time and am revelling in what is mostly an in-person conference, with some online and live-streamed components. Shared snippets of presentations and conversations stream across my screen. I collect and curate the multiple offerings of questions, comments, insights, issues, and presentation notes like a magpie, knowing there is a gem in the mix that I don’t want to miss. While I’m missing the chatter and laughter, the smiles and hugs, those attending the conference have reached across the kilometers and miles between Scotland and my location, with reactions, ping-backs and an occasional follow that encourage me to step further into the open.
Tomorrow I present with my partners in a research venture – Dr. Verena Roberts and (soon to be Dr.) Leo Havemann. We are dipping into an opening conversation about open discourse within an open dissertation. Open has evidently been a part of my PhD journey since before it began back in 2018. While we await confirmation of research ethics approval, we begin to plan out our conversations. We’re taking our question(s) to the OER23 crowd – more questions and insights from the conversation may lead our research in new and interesting directions. I’ll post the slides from our session here, after we’ve done our presentation.
This OER23 session is loosely based on the infographic crafted by Laura Gogia (2016) (CC BY-SA 4.0) that looks at the process, productions and presentations that form and shape an open thesis. This is a continuation of conversations with (Dr.) Gabi Witthaus during our Open Thesis Wikipedia writing in 2021. It’s a shared story-telling opportunity for Leo, Verena and I – bringing some sense of wonder and joy to our scholarship in the open. Through this research, we hope to discover more about our ‘selves’ as academics, our journeys as open scholars, and our connections to open educational practices.
