My open assignments are connected efforts with the ultimate goal of having groups of students produce either an online exhibit or some other type of educational resource. Each assignment is one of three scaffolded phases. The first aims to familiarize students with selecting appropriate sources. The students will work in groups for this assignment to foster a sense of community and discussion. The second focuses on individuals conducting visual and historical analysis of an artwork. And the third is an opportunity for groups of students to reflect on the ways one can connect historical and visual analysis of an artwork with contemporary viewers’ interests and issues and create a resource…

My initial thoughts about a potential open assignment are focused on navigating, on the one hand, the desire to engage students in a way they find productive, interesting, and somehow self-serving outside the classroom with, on the other hand, an assignment that creates an opportunity for a student to really understand course material and meet the course learning outcomes (and, I should add, the need to consider an assignment design that has a clear rubric and a manageable amount of grading). I want to be careful to avoid putting too much focus on the production of some type of end project without ensuring students have the chance to establish a…

My initial thoughts about the concept of open pedagogy and open assignments were ones of excitement and possibility as I thought of all the creative and innovative approaches being explored and their ability to give students a sense of agency and to make them into creative producers of knowledge, not just passive receivers of it. But, after reading “Open Digital Pedagogy = Critical Pedagogy” by Judy Rosen and Maura Smale, my thoughts shifted to some potential problems with actually implementing them in my classes. The notion that open pedagogy can help “flatten hierarchies” is one of the most appealing and exciting aspects of it but, when I think about implementing…