Who needs guidance? Self-directed learning and guidance in non-formal open courses Marisa Ponti University of Gothenburg

Two underpinnings of HE - Teachers are subject-matter authorities - Expertise and resources are scarce

We need to revisit the two underpinnings of HE - Expertise and resources are NOT scarce BUT - What about the role of academic teachers?

Does the increasing wealth of OER influence the role of academic teachers as subject-matter authorities?

Open Participatory Ecosystems: Shift from a teacher-centred environment to peer-teaching

BUT The situation is far from being clear

Ethnographic study How does the use of open educational resources (OER) mediate the relationships between self-directed learners and facilitators in open courses?

The setting: P2PU

The Setting: P2PU Three P2PU principles: »Openness »Freedom »Peer-learning Role of the volunteer mentor: »Not teaching but facilitating

Two examined courses Introduction to Cyberpunk Literature: -1 mentor -15 participants Introduction to Javascript 101: - 34 mentors, participants

Cyberpunk Lit.: From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side I ’ m going to be your tutor, well, I wouldn ’ t call it this way; I ’ ll be your guide through material we ’ ll study, and we are all here to learn from each other So basically this is the idea, the course is made by you, suggest other stories, write essays, point to reviews of books as not everyone will have the time to read them all, etc.

Cyberpunk Lit.: Creating an Affinity Space

Cyberpunk Lit.: Creating an Affinity Space

Cyberpunk Lit.: Creating an Affinity Space

Intro to Javascript: Distribution of Ownership It would be very good if those that have made comments already and those making future comments could at the same time put up concrete tasks that implement their ideas (ie, doing, rather than talking about doing). One thing I have noticed is the expectation that I (or someone else) is going to do this work. That's not going to happen, it needs to be a collaborative effort (something like open source software development).... It’s our course.”

Intro to Javascript: Puzzlement I also find sources we are using somewhat confusing as they are from different authors using inconsistent jargon and are targeted at various levels of expertise and may repeat information from source to source. It seems rather convoluted and inefficient. I've often found it hard to find answers to the questions when I have to sort through the maze of sources for an answer that uses different terms than those employed in the question. I can see some value in working this out for oneself, but it takes a lot of time which I think many of us probably do not have a whole lot of.”

Intro to Javascript: Puzzlement and Need for a Guide When we are learning, we are looking at initial hand holding. So if I am learning a new language, I know there are lots of resources on the Internet, but I don't know where to begin... I need feedback on the code I am writing, and on the interpretations I am making of the technology in my mind. This is where a facilitator/mentor/teacher can help.

Comparing the 2 Courses  Introduction to Cyberpunk Literature: -Abundance of OER as an opportunity -Creation of an affinity space -Facilitator as fellow learner  Introduction to Javascript 101: - Abundance of OER as a problem - Need for a teacher-like guide to use OER

Conclusions: What Findings Suggest OER are not –Materials to be simply transposed to new settings –Always used helpfully by autonomous and self-regulating learners OER are –Are artifacts- in- interaction –Learning may not occur, if people are unable to process the knowledge conveyed by OER and make sense of them in ways that enable them to complete the tasks.

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Linnaeus Centre for Research on Learning, Interaction and Mediated Communication in Contemporary Society (LinCS) at the University of Gothenburg, and the Swedish Research Council.