Educational materials are often used to supplement learning of students, from dummy bodies in CPR training, to textbooks in a history class. These materials, especially in a post-secondary environment however, are often not free and will cost a large amount of money. This can lead students to choose between getting the full learning experience but losing more money, or to pay the full price. Open pedagogies looks to bypass this barrier by removing the cost element from learning materials. 

Open pedagogy simply means using open resources (resources that are in the public domain or have a free license), or open sharing of teaching practices, to support and improve education and learning. Teachers and students are often able to edit learning materials, allowing for contribution instead of just absorption of knowledge (University of Saskatchewan, n.d.). For example, a course on first aid could have an open access textbook, and students could be tasked with adding new content to the textbook. This helps to shift the traditional power dynamics of the classroom, which can give students insight into how knowledge is transferred and the process it requires. 

Now that we know what open pedagogies are, how well does it fit into educational material on anti-phishing? In this area, open pedagogies turn out to be a great fit for anti-phishing and here’s why. Phishing is simply where people try to get other people to reveal important information, usually personal or financial, by pretending to be an authority or trustworthy figure. This is a broad and wide area of scamming and as such it gives open pedagogies the ability to shine. For example, a quiz on phishing may become obsolete or outdated within only a year or two, making the learning useless. However, in an open pedagogy example, learners could update course assignments with phishing attempts they have received, such as an email. This would help keep course contents up to date, while also furthering understanding by explaining the phishing attempt for future learners.

Phishing is something that will only continue to become more complicated especially with the rise of AI generated content. Because of this a traditional learning style that is unchanging such as using the same resources over and over will lead the course to becoming useless. Open pedagogies could however, enable learners to continually update the course, ensuring that phishing innovations are highlighted to educate people on the new methods.

Reference
University of Saskatchewan. (n.d.). Open pedagogy. Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved August 3, 2025, from https://teaching.usask.ca/teaching-essentials/open-pedagogy.php