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Running head: Developing Open Education with Practicing K-12 Teachers

Critical Analysis of Developing Open Education Literacies with Practicing K-12 Teachers
Claudia Lpez-Gallagher
California State University - Monterey Bay

IST520 Learning Theories


Professor Fischer
February 2, 2015

Abstract

DEVELOPING OPEN EDUCATION WITH PRACTICING K-12 TEACHERS

Based on the article Developing Open Education Literacies with Practicing K-12 Teachers by
Royce M. Kimmons, 80 teachers were given a pre- and post- survey related to a three-day Open
Education Summer Institute. The sample of K-12 teachers attended the workshop with the
purpose of becoming more informed about Open Education as a resource for their classroom.
This study contributes to the overall knowledge of the need for technology driven professional
development for teachers.

Critical Analysis of Developing Open Education Literacies with Practicing K-12 Teachers

DEVELOPING OPEN EDUCATION WITH PRACTICING K-12 TEACHERS

Professional development for teachers is one of the main focuses of many school
districts. With new state standards and technologies coming into the classroom it is of great
importance to provide opportunities for teachers to become informed. Lack of funding create a
constant hindrance to providing adequate professional development. Open Education is a field
that has a need to be explored and taken advantage of. Educators, especially K-12 can benefit
from sharing and collaborating through times of change. Reinventing the wheel is becoming an
obsolete notion when the technology and equipment exists to partner with other professionals.
There are three conclusions in this study:
this type of approach is valuable for improving K-12 teacher open education literacies,
that various misconceptions must be overcome to support large-scale development of
open education literacies in K-12, and that open education advocates should recognize
that all teachers, irrespective of time teaching, want to innovate, utilize open resources,
and share in an open manner. (Kimmons, 2014, p.71)
Although these statements are based on the data collected by his research, further analysis
of his work makes these affirmations general and difficult to apply to specific populations of K12 instructors. This study was descriptive in nature and analyzed the data collected by the preand post- surveys presented to the participants.
A survey was given twice during the three-day Open Education Summer Institute. Once
before the start of the course and once at the end of the three-day experience. A hypothesis was

DEVELOPING OPEN EDUCATION WITH PRACTICING K-12 TEACHERS

not clearly stated but five research questions to be answered by the study were listed. These were
Kimmons (2014) research questions:
.

RQ1. Did participants enter the institute with false confidence or misconceptions related to open
education concepts (e.g., copyright)?

RQ2. Did participant self-assessments of open education knowledge grow as a result of the
institute?

RQ3. Did participant takeaways match initial expectations or change as a result of the institute?

RQ4. Did time teaching (i.e., teacher veterancy) have an effect on participants expectations,
knowledge, or evaluation metrics?

RQ5. What specific evaluation items influenced participants overall evaluations of the institute?
(p.73)
Research Procedures
The study took place in the state of Idaho. The number of participants contacted were 100
with 80 of them fully participating in the investigation. The study involved K-12 teachers of
various areas of the state. According to the study, 72% of the teachers that participated had five
or more years of experience in the classroom. Most of the participants were female, although an
exact number was not given. The researchers stated More detailed participant demographic
information was not collected, because it was deemed unnecessary to answer the research
questions. The study gave quantitative measures, relying on statistical analysis to interpret their
findings.
Details as to the technologies used to address the Open Education Summer Institute were
not discussed. The participants website was shared in the references and details can be extracted
by visiting the link provided.

DEVELOPING OPEN EDUCATION WITH PRACTICING K-12 TEACHERS

Research Results
Appropriate statistical analysis was performed using the results of the pre- and postsurveys provided by the participants in the study. The research reflected mostly quantitative
results due to the statistical analysis of the survey data. Each item on the survey was categorized
into: facts, expectations, evaluation, knowledge, and open response (Kimmons, 2014). The presurvey had four items and the post-survey had 11. Knowledge questions had six items that were
able to be further analyzed.
Each of the five research questions were evaluated accurately and appropriate analysis
was concluded for each. Using descriptive statistics, the research was briefly quantitative in
nature.
Discussion of Results
Researchers came to accurate conclusions based on their statistic analysis of the data
collected from the survey. The participants completed the surveys based on their experience in
the three-day Open Education Summer Institution. Based on these findings, the researchers
concluded accurately on each item of the survey. According to Kimmons (2014), Descriptive
statistics revealed that participants believed their institutes to be highly valuable and effective.

Summary
Although the research questions were answered and the statistical analysis was accurate,
the conclusions made by this research study were very general and incomplete. Details from their

DEVELOPING OPEN EDUCATION WITH PRACTICING K-12 TEACHERS

study were not included in the findings. Particulars such as the technologies used in the three-day
Summer Open Education Institution would enable other researchers to replicate their
conclusions. Also, their sample K-12 teachers did not include details such as the population of
the schools the participants work at. Generalizations were made based on a group for which
specifics were not listed. In addition, their entire statistical analysis was done with a survey that
contained only a few items. This study does not define the details on how the study was done to
be able to be replicated. The generalizations made with the limited items on the surveys were too
broad to be considered accurate. Particulars of the technology used, and sample teachers school
socio-economic area would have given a better analysis of the data collected.
Additional studies recommended would be to include more details about the participants
so that the results could be applied to specific populations of K-12 teachers. Possibly broken
down by grade level. Furthermore, this study gives a general overview of what can be done to
improve K-12 teacher knowledge on Open Education by providing more professional
development with target questions and opportunities to collaborate and share resources.

References

DEVELOPING OPEN EDUCATION WITH PRACTICING K-12 TEACHERS

Kimmons, R. (2014). Developing open education literacies with practicing K-12 teachers. The
International Review Of Research In Open And Distributed Learning, 15(6). Retrieved
from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1964

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