Open Governance and Learning

Marisa Ponti*
Joseph Corneli**

*Department of Applied IT, University of Gothenburg
**The Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, UK

In this conceptual paper we aim to discuss commons-based peer-production and peer-based learning in connection with issues of open governance in Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU), and argue that this connection can challenge certain traditional educational dynamics.

P2PU is an open and global education project that organizes learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements.  P2PU is managed by a community of volunteers, and supported by a small number of staff and contractors. This organization has explicitly adopted the philosophies of the open source and open content movements: P2PU members attempt to share as much information as possible about products, services, operations, and  associations.

Furthermore, any interested community member can participate in the ongoing design of most aspects of P2PU: “strategy development, communications efforts, and design of new technology features, are driven by community input and support” (Schmidt, 2010). This orientation allows peer learners to become involved with organizational matters as part of their educational experience.  To put this in another way, "organizational learning" at P2PU is not separate from "individual learning".  

The general organization of P2PU features the characteristics of commons-based peer-production (CBPP): heterogeneity of motivations and expertise, availability of content under free licenses, voluntary engagement, and modularity (Benkler, 2006).  In particular, this applies to the peer-organized courses that run at P2PU several times a year. Whereas in some traditional educational settings, students acquire notions and educators impart, in P2PU, everyone can learn and everyone can teach. This is a major guideline to crafting a strategy for organizational change. As Senge et al. (2000) argued, students can be some of the most effective instigators for organizational learning. In turn, student involvement in an organizational learning process can be a powerful way to to develop capabilities for lifelong learning.

We argue that P2PU's special blend of peer-based learning, CBPP, and open governance supports this interchange between individual learning and organizational learning. By having access to information, resources, and opportunities for participation, P2PU course participants can influence the way governance works "locally" in their courses, both at the level of the course's social contract and its syllabus.  Further, course participants can influence the way governance works in P2PU, either directly, or indirectly, through the mediation of course facilitators.

Course organization carries a substantial portion of P2PU’s organizational form, community norms around responsibility and decision-making, and employed artifacts. What is salient here is that the significance of these organizational aspects can be more transparent to learners in P2PU than in a traditional educational setting. Following Lave and Wenger (1990), we define transparency as the possibility for P2PU community members to access the inner workings of the organization and its employed artifacts. Therefore, the sociotechnical form of production used in P2PU  to create and share knowledge is inscribed in the offered courses in ways that can be more revealing, and involving, than in traditional formal education. Transparency gives us the opportunity to explore certain challenges in the  education system in a new way, for example with respect to the role of the teacher, the role of syllabus, the creation of the learning environment, and forms of learner assessment.

This chapter will develop our ideas around these topics, and will informed by our experiences organizing a course at P2PU on the chapter's main topics.  We thereby aim to combine peer-based learning with applied research into organizational policy in a way that will be useful at P2PU, and beyond.  In particular, we believe this chapter will be of interest at any organization that is using commons-based peer production as part of its modus operandi.

References

Benkler, Y. (2006). The wealth of nations. How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1990). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Schmidt, J. P. (2009). Commons-based peer production and education. Short essay for the Free Culture Research Workshop, Harvard University, 23 October 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2010 from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/fcrw/sites/fcrw/images/Schmidt_Education_FreeCulture_25Oct2009.pdf

Schmidt, J. P. (2010, May 13). P2PU submission to Open Ed 2010 Barcelona [Web log comment]. Retrieved November 7, 2010 from http://blogs.p2pu.org/blog/2010/05/13/p2pu-opened-2010/

Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J, & Kleiner, A. (2000). Schools that learn. A fifth discipline fieldbook  for educators, parents, and everyone who cares about education. New York: Doubleday.