Openness

Openness is a free culture philosophy and an important foundational concept in many social and technical systems. For example, openness is critical to democracy.

Learning outcomes

These learning outcomes aim to provide a framework for exploring openness encouraging critical thinking, interdisciplinary engagement, and reflective practice.

• Define openness:
  • Articulate a personal understanding of openness and compare it with perspectives from scholars like David Wiley.
  • Investigate contrasting views on openness and its antithesis, considering how it manifests in various contexts.
• Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of openness:
  • Critically assess the impact of openness on societal, technological, and individual levels, weighing factors such as transparency, collaboration, innovation, and privacy.
  • Analyze case studies or real-world examples to understand the nuanced implications of embracing or restricting openness.
• Identify domains where openness is crucial:
  • Explore the significance of openness in diverse fields such as governance, education, science, technology, and culture.
  • Examine how openness fosters trust, accountability, and progress within these domains.
• Connect to related Wikiversity resources:
  • Engage with existing materials on Wikiversity to deepen understanding of openness in research and education, exploring its ethical, practical, and pedagogical dimensions.
  • Collaborate with peers to contribute insights or perspectives to enhance collective knowledge on the topic.
• Explore personal philosophy regarding openness:
  • Reflect on how principles of openness align with or challenge personal beliefs, values, and goals.
  • Consider ethical dilemmas or practical considerations that arise when navigating the tensions between openness and other priorities.

Learning tasks

There are several learning tasks participants are invited to engage with on this page:

• Define openness: What is openness? How would you define it? How do others define it? For example, consider how David Wiley describes openness in his article "Defining 'Open'". What is the opposite of openness?
• What are the pros and cons of openness? e.g., create a SWOT analysis Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of open versus closed/non-open approaches, considering factors such as transparency, collaboration, innovation, and privacy.
• In what domains is openness important?
• Explore related Wikiversity resources discussing openness in research and education to gain a deeper understanding of its implications.
• Open by default vs. closed by default - When should open by default practices be adopted?
• Explore how openness relate to your personal philosophy (e.g., create a sub-page)

Defining openness

• Defining “Open” David Wiley, 2009

“ Instead of secrecy, openness should reign, and I can very well imagine the day when two persons will no longer keep any secrets from one another because they will have no secrets from anyone, because the subjective life will be a fact, as totally open as the objective life. ” — Jean-Paul Sartre, Wolfgang Schirmacher, “Privacy as an Ethical Problem in the Computer Society,” trans. Virginia Cutrufelli, June 2005

Create a sub-page

You are welcome to add a sub-page about Openness. Enter a title that is not already on the list below and start a draft. If you wish to change your title, or have any other questions, visit us at Wikiversity:Colloquium.

List of contributions

See also

Search for Openness on Wikipedia.

• Open academia
• Openness and flexibility

External links

• Why schools should exclusively use free software] (Richard Stallman)