By The purpose of this site is to provide a place for the conceptual maps, their further development and for discussion forums about issues in the Open Syllabus Education. Our conceptual maps are meant to provide "idea-anchors" and "idea beacons" as well as the connections between them. We think of "idea-anchors" as conceptualizations taken out of their natural dialogic context, and used as the starting points that ground our investigations. We think of "idea-beacons" as the lights on the horizon, hazy ideas that are attracting us or warning us away, but which are still unknown and not yet investigated, yet important and promising in some ways. As we travel our ideas will change: they might become stronger, or prove to be merely mirages. Feel free to come on board and letting your (baked or half-baked) ideas, experiences, questions and quandaries stir our investigations in new directions – add your own Articles and create discussions of our anchors and beacons through Comments.
The Open Syllabus Education and Research (OSER) site is designed for educational practitioners and educational researchers who are interested in education as an open-ended, student lead practice in whatever way they understand it. There are already a few divergent ideas about what it is and what it should be, so we do not need to agree with each other about it, as far as we are interested in sharing our practices and adding to our research of these practices. And of course for all those of us who are eager to listen, address, and reply to each other. We hope to create a community who tests ideas, supports innovations, and reflects on educational practices.