Benefits of Sharing
Why is it Important to Share Openly?
The open sharing of information and knowledge not only allows for greater access, but also supports collaboration and innovation. The idea of free and open sharing in education is not new. In fact, education IS the sharing of information and ideas upon which new knowledge, skills and understanding can be built. Sharing information allows for greater retention as it becomes part of a collective repository that many can access. It helps to break down silos and allows for new ideas — or thoughts — to germinate.
Sapire and Reed’s (2011) study shows that sharing and collaboration in open education improves the quality and depth of learning resources. Those who engage in open collaborative projects are more likely to collaborate in the future (Petrides et al., 2011). Furthermore, educators who co-create OER are more likely to continue creating and sharing content online on a consistent and ongoing basis (Petrides et al., 2008). This suggests that once educators engage in a community, they see the benefits of it — which makes this process more sustainable.
Benefits of Sharing
Students
- Applying knowledge in a wider context than their course would otherwise allow
- Freedom of access and enhanced opportunities for learning
- Support for learner-centred, self-directed and social/informal learning approaches
- The opportunity to test out course materials before enrolling
- Continued access to learning resource after the course ends
Educators
- Student/user feedback and open peer review
- Benefits to reputation; recognition
- Efficiencies experienced when collaborating with others
- Sharing of ideas and best practices with others
- Reaching a wider range of learners
Educational Institutions
- Recognition and enhanced reputation
- Wider availability of their academic content
- Efficiencies in content production
- Increased sharing of ideas and practice within the institution
- Increased understanding of intellectual property rights
Other Sectors (Employers, Government, etc.)
- Access to re-purposable content
- Input to scoping, development and endorsement of open content in their focus area
- New potential partnerships with content providers and other sectors
- Increased understanding of intellectual property rights, curriculum development and learning technologies
One barrier to sharing and collaborating openly is the lack of institutional support for open work. However, institutions that promote openness as a value, in order to demonstrate their contribution to the public interest of their society, will enhance their image and role within that society (Skidmore & Provida, 2019).In the following section, we will see some examples of initiatives that are happening at institutions in Ontario to support working openly.
Activity : Reflection
After reading this section on the benefits of sharing, reflect on your own work in your institution.
What are some ways you could be more open?
