In addition to reducing the cost of education, OER provide instructors with the freedom to engage with students in new and exciting ways, which includes employing principles of open pedagogy. Iowa State University's OER Starter Kit defines open pedagogy as, "A set of pedagogical practices that include engaging students in content creation and making learning accessible to all." Under an open pedagogy model, learners are empowered to shape the world as they encounter it and think of themselves as knowledge creators, not just knowledge consumers. This is often accomplished through the use of renewable assignments, which are assignments that add value to the world beyond the classroom.
Examples of renewable assignments include:
- Students creating or editing Wikipedia pages
- Students presenting and/or publishing their research outside of the classroom
- Students develop tutorials, study guides, videos, and other educational materials to teach concepts to other
More ideas are available at Quill West's Open Pedagogy Assignments Compilation.
Below is a graphic illustrating a spectrum of Open practices from the University of British Columbia:
