Open Pedagogy: Ethical Considerations: Home

Below are some strategies to mitigate the risks and potential negative impacts of open pedagogy:

Consent and Autonomy

• Consent involves obtaining clear, informed agreement from students regarding how their work will be shared and used. Autonomy means ensuring students have control over their participation, with the ability to opt in or out freely, and to change their mind.
• Educators should provide clear explanations of the purpose and scope of open pedagogy projects.
• Training materials and workshops can educate students about their rights, such as opting out or setting boundaries on public sharing.
• Consent forms or agreements can outline specific uses of student work and ensure understanding.
• Offer students alternatives (e.g., private or pseudonymous participation) to ensure they have meaningful options.
• Foster a culture of respect for student choices and feedback.

Inclusive Design

• Inclusive design incorporates diverse perspectives and aims to make tools, materials, and activities accessible to all, regardless of background, abilities, or resources.
• Faculty and staff should attend training on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).
• Use checklists or rubrics to evaluate the inclusivity of materials and platforms.
• Partner with diversity and accessibility experts to update and expand inclusive practices.

Safeguards Against Harassment

• Safeguards involve implementing technical and procedural protections to minimize harassment, such as robust moderation tools, clear conduct policies, and privacy controls.
• Educators and platform administrators should receive training on recognizing and addressing harassment.
• Establish and communicate clear codes of conduct and reporting mechanisms to students and instructors.
• Teach students how to use privacy settings and report issues on chosen platforms.

Fair Attribution

• Fair attribution ensures students receive appropriate credit for their contributions, both in academic and professional contexts. This might include explicit recognition, co-authorship, or institutional acknowledgment.
• Educate students and faculty about intellectual property rights and best practices for attribution.
• Use tools like Creative Commons licenses to help students retain ownership of their work while sharing it openly.
• Develop templates or guidelines for giving credit in collaborative or public-facing projects.
• Create formal mechanisms to reward student contributions (e.g., certificates, digital badges).

Support Networks

• Support networks provide students with mentorship, resources, and peer connections to help them navigate the challenges of open pedagogy, including emotional, technical, or academic difficulties.
• Establish peer mentorship programs where experienced students guide newer participants.
• Require faculty training on how to recognize and address student challenges in open projects.
• Build partnerships with campus support services, such as counseling, technology help desks, or diversity offices.
• Create open channels for students to seek help without fear of judgment or penalty.

Below is a short list of some of the ways technology administration can create difficulties for executing student-centered open pedagogy:

Educational technology administrative problems

• Students often lose access to institutional email accounts or authentication systems after graduation or withdrawal, leaving them unable to edit, remove, or manage their work.
• Instructors acting as gatekeepers for managing or maintaining student work after the course ends. If instructors retire, change institutions, or pass away, students lose their connection to the work.
• Openly shared work becomes part of the digital record and may be copied or indexed elsewhere, making it difficult or impossible for students to fully remove their contributions.
• Most platforms don’t offer robust mechanisms for students to retain long-term ownership or ongoing editing rights to their contributions after the course.
• Institutions often lack protocols for ensuring long-term accessibility or management of student work when instructors or staff leave.
• Institutions may lack clear policies on data retention, leading to indefinite storage of student work in ways that conflict with student preferences or privacy laws.
• Metadata fields often include predefined options (e.g., dropdown menus or checkboxes) that reflect dominant cultural norms, leaving little room for nuanced or diverse identities and characteristics.
• Over time, lack of updates or ongoing maintenance for digital platforms can render student work inaccessible or difficult to manage.

To prepare for the challenges of open pedagogy, instructors can take a proactive, reflective, and inclusive approach. Here is a large grab bag of tips based on risks, impacts, mitigation strategies, and limitations of educational technology.

Tips for instructors

• Know the issues: Familiarize yourself with the potential ethical issues and risks for students.
• Legal: Understand legal frameworks like copyright, Creative Commons licensing, and data privacy laws.
• Consent: Clearly explain what open pedagogy entails and allow students to opt out of public sharing without penalty.
• Privacy options: Provide alternatives, such as pseudonyms, closed platforms, or anonymized contributions, for students who prefer privacy.
• Flexibility: Allow students to choose how they participate, including offline or non-digital contributions.
• Plan for long-term access: Use tools or platforms that allow students to retain access or control over their work post-course.
• Establish removal protocols: Develop a process to address requests to modify or delete work from students, even years later.
• Implement moderation: Use platforms with robust content moderation to protect students from harassment or inappropriate interactions.
• Avoid tokenization: Design assignments that don’t require students to share personal or cultural experiences unless they choose to.
• Provide support: Offer resources for digital literacy, technology access, and emotional well-being.
• Critique open content: Use class discussions to identify biases and gaps in open materials, encouraging critical engagement.
• Licensing expectations: Teach students about Creative Commons licenses and how their choices affect the use of their work.
• Co-design rules: Involve students in creating guidelines for collaboration and ownership, ensuring their voices are heard.
• Acknowledge contributions: Develop fair attribution practices that properly credit all contributors, including students.
• Delegate responsibility: Work with your institution to create protocols for managing orphaned work if you leave the role.
• Assess ethical impacts: Reflect on whether the course fosters equity, empowerment, and meaningful learning outcomes.
• Platform advocacy: Advocate for tools that allow students to manage their work independently and securely.
• Develop response plans: Be ready to address harassment, misuse of work, or student discomfort swiftly and effectively.
• Know your limits: Identify when and how to escalate issues to institutional support, such as IT, legal, or counseling services.