Recent Book on Distributed Learning Ecosystems

OEGlobal Plaza
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Is it just me or is Zawacki-Richter’s name “everywhere”, in publications related to the OE movement?
Case in point, this recent (Open Access) book where OZR is among the editors:
Distributed Learning Ecosystems : Concepts, Resources, and Repositories | SpringerLink

Chapters include:

I’m sure all of these authors and their work get frequent mentions in the Formal degrees and programs in Open Education. What’s not so obvious to me is where do we discuss their work more broadly outside formal institutions? Is there a “space” where they all meet?

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First off, I have not look deeply into this idea, is there really a degree out there in Open Education for librarians who already have a MS? It would be nice to take a series of classes that reflect a transcript.

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I can’t say for sure, Susan, but others, especially librarians hopefully can chime in (maybe @Paola). There are some relevant links in the topic Alex linked to which was a request for formal degree programs in Open Education.

For librarians I can see it is included as a focus within the Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Professional Program in Open Education .

I see also OER Librarian certificate programs too like from the Open Education Network and one from the Council of Australian University Librarians, plus of course, the Creative Commons Certificate offers a version for Librarians.

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First of all I can only dream of the capacity to read as much as Olaf Zawacki-Richter writes, woah.

One space? hah, is there every really one common space (and spare me the rhetoric of so called town squares)? It’s always overlapping spaces!

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Good question on librarian-specific professional development. It sounds like most programs are either interdisciplinary or oriented more towards administrators and learning pros?
If we’re talking about work done after the MLIS or equivalent, an option is just plain graduate research. @catherinelachaine might have insight to share about this.

And there might be something to discuss in terms of recognition and certification. Possibly as part of OEG membership. Some of it can be formal, backed by institutions. Eventually, those could become specializations in existing degrees. @cogdog’s point about OER librarians is an important one, since this role is taken by an increasing number of people. Surely, there’s a school out there which could support a program based on OERs. If not in Library/Information Science, at least in Pedagogy/Learning Science?
Then again, interdisciplinary programs are likely to prove quite impactful on the Open Education movement.

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I learned a couple of weeks ago during pay equity meeting, my institution looks at transcripts and not professional development . On top of that courses need to be in a terminating degree. Although I’ve taken part in many PD on OER it will not affect my pay equity.

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Oh! Does sound restrictive. Maybe not that unusual, though.
In that case, some of the formal programs listed in that thread probably do make sense for you. Especially if your institution allows you to spend the time required to do the work for those courses.

Specifically:

Would a research-focused degree work, in your case? An advantage, there, is that they can come from a variety of institutions. You’d focus the research project on Open Education. Again, something @catherinelachaine has been doing.

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But my institution also allows me to spend time doing PD. I think I’m just venting about how learning is education no matter the form.

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Important to keep in mind. And it can lead to something useful, when we overcome credentialism in professional contexts. It’s a large part of the Open Recognition approach.

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I thought it was just part of my philosophy. Could you tell me more about Open Recognition approach, please?

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Yes. At least, @dajbelshaw can.
What is Open Recognition, anyway? | by Doug Belshaw | We Are Open Co-op

My (clumsy) way to put it: Open Recognition is part of the movement which started with Open Badges. It brings together movement members who are moving away from credentialism.

There was the Bologna Open Recognition Declaration - Open Recognition Alliance, back in 2016. There’s more on the Open Recognition Alliance. And Doug (with the We Are Open Coop) facilitates a Community of Practice around recognition for everyone.