Completing the circle: returning to blended learning in a culture of impunity

Abstract

The prevalent approach to Open Educational Resources (OER) and Creative Commons (CC) in Lebanon during the last two decades has been a manifestation of the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ in the digital sphere. The experience of the 2019 popular uprising (‘Thawra’) and ensuing 2020-2021 Covid 19 Lockdown, however, Covid 19 provide examples of an alternative ‘Governing the Commons’ in which users of shared goods and resources can transcend narrow self-interest and work for sustainable value management collectively. Using a contrapuntal approach, two intertwined storylines will be assessed, one based primarily on mere consumption and the other rooted in resource regeneration. Together they provide practical examples on the ground which this article will attempt to evaluate theoretically. Based on Ostrom’s Law: “A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory”, this chapter will juxtapose the tragedy and the restoration of the commons. It will argue that creating open content in the Global South provides one of many paths out of the ‘free rider’ impasse in which societies find themselves. The three phases through which OER has transitioned in Lebanon during the last two decades will be presented here. This study documents the attempts made by professors and students at the government Lebanese University (LU) and Maronite- Catholic Notre Dame University (NDU) to promote respect for intellectual property rights and original research with the support of the Creative Commons (CC) movement in Lebanon. The contours of struggle against the pervasive culture of impunity in the Middle East was accentuated by the gradual collapse of the Lebanese state in the months prior to the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic in February 2020. The authors will focus on the introduction of OER and other online education formats and platforms starting in the early 2000s. They will demonstrate that this foundation facilitated the transition from blended learning to online education in 2019/2020. Finally, they will present the steps that are currently being developed to transition back to blended learning, research, and activism during the academic year 2021-2022. Finally, the authors will offer concrete examples that demonstrate how OER helps educators, students, and administrators promote rule of law and a restoration of the commons in teaching, conference organizing, collaborative research, sustainable development, and social activism. The authors are both researchers/theoreticians and practitioners and are utilizing OER to complete the circle of academic integrity and a culture of sharing in the MENA region as of the summer 2021. The preliminary results of this final phase will be reflected upon at the end of the article, which was completed in summer 2022.