{"id":369,"date":"2019-04-19T20:35:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-20T03:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0064\/?p=369"},"modified":"2019-04-19T20:39:29","modified_gmt":"2019-04-20T03:39:29","slug":"on-the-path-to-my-critical-inquiry-am-i-focused-not-sure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0064\/on-the-path-to-my-critical-inquiry-am-i-focused-not-sure\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Path to my Critical Inquiry – Am I focused? Not sure…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"ImagePhoto by\u00a0Caleb Jones<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to becoming a MALAT student, I never heard of open pedagogy or open educational resources (OER). However, by watching the virtual symposium lectures of Paul Stacey, Dave Cormier and Catherine Cronin and reading literature by David Wiley and Tony Bates, my curiosity was sparked.<\/p>\n

According to Bates (2015), [o]pen educational resources (OER) are another recent development in open education. These are digital educational materials freely available over the Internet that can be downloaded by instructors (or students) without charge, and if necessary adapted or amended, under a Creative Commons license that provides protections for the creators of the material (p. 34). As we found, OER come in a variety of online formats which are accessible on laptops, tablets and phones. One of the formats that I\u2019m very interested in exploring is open textbooks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollege textbook prices have skyrocketed in recent years, threatening the affordability and accessibility of higher education\u201d (Allen, 2010, p. 4). Will open textbooks be the solution to this issue? Allen (2010) suggests that open textbooks come in a variety of affordable and accessible formats that can be a cost savings to students. Some of the questions that I would like to answer are:<\/p>\n