Access:  Becoming  an  Open  Learner

  At  the  start  of  the  project,  Peer  2  Peer  University  (P2PU)  gave  me  permission   to  access  their  learning  community  and  introduced  me  to  several  people  to  kick-­‐

start  my  understanding  of  open  learning¹⁰.  P2PU  is  a  community-­‐led  non-­‐profit  open   learning  platform  that  is  open  to  anyone  for  free.  Anyone  can  take  or  teach  classes   on  their  platform,  and  they  host  an  active  community  discussion  listserv  as  well  as   open  weekly  video  calls  to  discuss  platform  logistics.  Somewhat  serendipitously,   P2PU  needed  a  co-­‐facilitator  for  Anya  Kamenetz’s¹¹  popular  class  “DIY  U:  Build  a   Personal  Learning  Plan”  when  I  was  just  beginning  my  fieldwork.  I  was  paired  up   with  one  of  their  paid  employees  who  had  run  the  class  in  the  past  and  spent  a  few   weeks  with  her  planning  for  the  upcoming  classes  and  learning  about  the  platform.  

The  class  ran  asynchronously  on  the  site,  meaning  that  participants  could  join  and   access  content  at  any  time,  and  was  in  its  second  iteration  when  I  had  a  chance  to   get  involved.  The  new  format  was  to  have  users  progress  through  a  seven-­‐step   challenge  that  taught  them  how  to  define  their  goals,  find  learning  resources,  access   mentors,  and  commit  to  tangible  projects.  The  class  was  modeled  on  Kamenetz’s   (2011)  book  DIY  U:  Edupunks,  Edupreneurs,  and  the  Coming  Transformation  of   Higher  Education  and  it  instructed  users  on  how  to  create  their  own  learning   experiences  through  accessible  resources  online  and  in  their  communities.  My  role                                                                                                                  

10 This partnership with P2PU was formally vetted and approved through the Boston College IRB.

11 Kamenetz, a journalist, had just released a book and an online guide about DIY learning and was considered one of the experts in open learning.

was  mainly  to  connect  people,  encourage  people,  and  recommend  learning  

resources  as  I  became  more  proficient  in  the  open  learning  space.  While  facilitating,   I  was  given  a  gentle  introduction  to  open  learning;  the  next  year  and  a  half  in  the   field  was  not  as  gentle.  

  Through  participant  observation  I  learned  that  open  learning  takes  on  a   multitude  of  meanings  and  forms  to  people.  For  example,  in  my  sample  of  34  

participants,  over  40  different  sites  and  platforms  were  named  as  part  participants’  

open  learning¹².  While  facilitating  the  class  at  P2PU,  I  joined  platforms  that  I  had   heard  about  from  popular  media  descriptions  of  open  learning,  like  Coursera  and   Udacity.  However,  as  the  research  went  on,  I  followed  people  I  met  to  where  they   were  learning  and  spent  time  in  places  or  with  resources  that  open  education   purists  might  not  consider  part  of  the  open  learning  landscape.  Online,  I  curated  my   twitter  presence  to  reflect  the  research  project  and  engaged  in  conversations  with   people  in  the  open  learning  world.  I  subscribed  to  every  blog  or  newsletter  I  heard   people  talking  about  and  tried  to  read  a  few  chapters  of  every  book  mentioned  by   people  I  met,  like  The  Power  of  Habit,  Thinking  Fast  and  Slow,  and  anything  by  Seth   Godin  and  Gary  Vaynerchuk.  I  watched  the  TED  talks  participants  told  me  they  liked   and  checked  out  their  profiles  on  GitHub  when  asked.  Virtually,  I  hung  out  at  sites   like  Coursera,  Udacity,  EdX,  P2PU,  General  Assembly,  Skillshare,  and  Code  Academy.  

On  these  sites,  I  enrolled  in  classes  and  interacted  with  participants  in  forums  while   learning  course  content  and  norms  of  the  spaces.    

  Through  an  offline  Skillshare  class  I  found  Wintrepreneur,  a  locally-­‐based                                                                                                                  

12 See Appendix 1 for a list of sites and platforms named by participants during interviews.

site  that  offered  free  and  low  cost  in-­‐person  classes  for  people  who  wanted  to  learn   about  entrepreneurship  and  other  business  skills.  On  a  few  occasions,  I  joined  

participants  at  events  in  the  local  startup  community  when  they  were  afraid  to  show   up  alone.  Interview  participants  led  me  to  hybrid  learning  and  networking  events  at   places  like  Boundless  and  Venture  Café.  These  sites  typically  hosted  events  that   included  a  learning  experience,  like  a  lecture  or  project,  in  addition  to  a  happy  hour   style  gathering  after  the  event.  I  was  invited  to  participate  in  Startup  Weekend  and   at  one  point,  inspired  by  the  energetic  people  I  was  meeting,  hosted  two  creativity   salons  at  my  apartment  that  brought  together  a  mixture  of  musicians,  designers,   educators,  and  entrepreneurs.  Also,  I  purchased  a  membership  for  several  months   at  a  co-­‐working  office  and  participated  in  community  events  that  included  

presenting  work  and  ideas  after  hearing  participants  talk  about  coworking.  From   participant  observation,  I  became  aware  of  the  many  sites,  platforms,  practices,  and   resources  available  to  participants  and  how  they  were  being  utilized,  as  well  as  the   informal  ways  that  participants  were  gathering  and  connecting  to  each  other.  

One  of  my  first  major  observations  of  open  learning  was  that  there  was  no   end  to  the  amount  of  available  resources  and  that  one  could  spend  all  day  (and   night)  trying  to  organize  a  comprehensive  learning  plan.  This  observation  led  to   theorizing  how  participants  learn-­‐to-­‐learn  (chapter  4).  Like  many  of  the  people  I   ended  up  interviewing,  I  had  the  sometimes  frustrating  and  sometimes  exhilarating   experience  of  seemingly  boundary-­‐less  learning.  Since  participant  observation   largely  contributed  to  recruitment  for  interviews,  these  experiences  helped  me  to   blend  in  by  understanding  some  of  the  normative  experiences  participants  were  

having  while  open  learning.  My  half-­‐tired,  half-­‐inspired  outlook  built  credibility  for   me  among  the  people  I  interviewed  and  transformed  the  interviews  from  question   and  answer  sessions  to  sometimes  deeply  vulnerable  conversations  about  why   someone  would  willingly  shoulder  hours  of  extra  work  to  learn  something  that  did   not  come  from  an  accredited  college  environment.  

Another  major  observation  was  the  overwhelming  sense  of  welcome  in  the   spaces  I  observed,  both  online  and  offline.  However,  that  sense  of  welcome  did  not   come  without  expectations  of  how  one  might  behave;  this  observation  led  to  

theorizing  how  participants  learn-­‐to-­‐belong  (chapter  5).  During  offline  experiences,   I  typically  announced  myself  as  a  researcher  from  the  start  and  was  surprised  when   my  presence  did  not  visibly  repel  people.  I  would  give  a  quick  blurb  about  my   research  when  we  went  around  the  room  to  introduce  ourselves  and  would  then   end  with  something  like,  “come  see  me  after  class  if  you  want  to  talk  about  what   brings  you  here.”  I  tried  this  introduction  at  first  as  a  breaching  experiment  

(Garfinkel,  1967),  to  see  how  the  community  would  receive  such  a  direct  approach   from  an  outsider.  I  was  shocked  when  I  had  a  line  of  people  wanting  to  say  hello   after  class,  and  even  more  shocked  when  I  was  invited  to  other  events  going  on  that   week  or  asked  to  get  coffee  sometime  and  just  “hang-­‐out.”    

I  hypothesize  that  gaining  access  was  easier  than  expected  in  this  study  for   two  reasons.  First,  as  I  will  describe  more  in  the  next  chapter,  participants  could  be   classified  into  two  groups:  those  that  had  experienced  some  sort  of  precariousness   following  the  financial  crisis  and  recession  (“precarious  learners”)  and  those  who   had  not  experienced  precariousness  but  were  like  open  learning  evangelists  charged  

with  spreading  the  gospel  of  open  learning  as  a  challenge  to  traditional  education   and  traditional  work  (“ideological  challengers”).  Both  groups  desired  their  open   learning  to  be  validated  and  legitimized  and  what  better  way  to  do  so  than  to  have  a   researcher,  funded  by  a  major  foundation,  asking  you  about  your  open  learning?  

Secondly,  I  blended  in  well  as  an  open  learner.  I  discuss  this  further  in  the  next   section,  where  I  detail  my  subject  position  and  how,  to  the  best  of  my  professional   ability,  I  remained  reflexive  during  this  study  about  how  it  could  be  affecting  the   research  process.