Open Education, Saints, and Scholarship

by Professor Lawrie Phipps , our new Adjunct Senior Research Fellow

The next OER conference will be on the Island of Saints and Scholars: Ireland was the destination for anyone—from kings to universities to libraries—seeking to commission a book before the coming of Gutenberg's printing press. Renowned for having some of the world's best scribes, who copied texts by hand, you could argue that Ireland was generating Open Educational Resources before we even had the term.

One of the key themes of OER24 is equity and inclusion in OER, it’s not always been a focal point in the discourse around open, but it’s something that resonates deeply with my own philosophy, and the work that I did at TechDis. The commitment to serving marginalised groups through OER should not be an add on to open education; it should run through every aspect. Just as Ireland's scribes made knowledge accessible to those who sought it, modern OER initiatives must aim to democratise education by breaking down barriers related to socio-economic status, geography, and disability. TechDis was a cornerstone of Jisc’s work in this area, ensuring that technology served as an enabler rather than a divider, but there was, and is, still more work to do.

In Munster’s TEL team I see the same aspiration, and I hope that this is an OER conference that will significantly further the discourse around accessible and equitable OERs. However, this must also be viewed through one of the other key themes. The Ethical Dimensions of Generative AI and OER Creation. As generative AI technologies become more sophisticated and embedded (whether we want them or not) in our systems and processes, we must consider ethics, alongside equity and inclusion. Will these technologies amplify inequity? Will they make things less accessible? MTU in Cork is the ideal venue for these discussions, where there has been a beacon of responsible educational practices for over 1500 years, from the Time of St. Finbarr through to Munster’s Technology Enhanced Learning Unit.