On the Notion of Open Networked Learning

Photo: Hanna Tuvesson (private) What do “all about guinea pigs”, “nursing researchers”, “living in Spain” and “vegetarian cooking” have in common? They are all examples of informal communities that contribute to my learning in different areas. The newest addition is the “all about guinea pigs”. One month ago my family decided to buy a couple of guinea pigs. None of us have any experience in guinea pigs and are beginners in this area. Fortunately I quickly found an online community comprised of people who share an interest in guinea pigs and wants to share experiences, answer questions and contribute to learning on various levels for its community members! In just a couple of weeks I learned the basics (and a lot of other useful tips and tricks) regarding guinea pigs and how to take care of them. Through Youtube I learned how to build my own cage from the basis of a baby cot and the meaning of different sounds made by guin

BIld av Photo Mix från Pixabay Another two weeks of the Open Network Learning course have passed and I have had the opportunity to reflect on sharing and openness in learning/teaching. Openness has been described as an umbrella term and philosophical cornerstone in open courses ( Weller, 2014 ) which is a belief in harmony with my own notions. I have worked at three universities with various educational models and academic cultures. I have been new and a novice at work and met by great generosity by colleagues who willingly and enthusiastically share their experiences and own teaching materials for me to reuse and adopt. I have tried to pay that generosity forward and emphasize sharing in teaching materials with colleagues. In the National Network for Specialist Nursing Programmes in Psychiatric Care, we have discussed this aspect and talked about building an open “library” where we share our recorded lectures, reflection materials etc. between each other. We are all experts in so