Three researchers from Tunisia and Algeria share their perspectives on bridging Open Education, Open Pedagogy, and open science.
By Hiba Haj Mahmoud, Rabeb Ben Hadj Sayedi & Dr. Abdallah Bengueddoudj
(Knowledge Equity & Open Scholarship Week 2026 – Co-creation Experiment Group)
Introduction
We are three researchers from North Africa, two from Tunisia and one from Algeria, brought together through the Knowledge Equity & Open Scholarship Week 2026 co-creation initiative. Although we come from different institutions and research fields, we share a common reality: working in contexts where access to knowledge, open educational resources, and research visibility remains uneven and often limited. In this blog post, we reflect on a central question: How can we bridge the Opens?
Drawing from our experiences as researchers in the Global South, we explore three interconnected dimensions that shape our work and context: Open Education, Open Pedagogy, and Open Science. Each of us shares insights into how these dimensions intersect, reinforce one another, and can be further developed within the North African academic landscape. For us, bridging the Opens is not only a technical or institutional challenge. It is fundamentally about equity, inclusion, and the collective responsibility to make knowledge more accessible across borders. So, how can we bridge the Opens? From our North African perspective, we propose three concrete actions: sharing Open Educational Resources (OER) across institutions and borders, training faculty and students together in open practices, and using AI as a bridge only when it is transparent, explainable, and freely accessible.
These are not abstract ideals but achievable steps toward more equitable and inclusive knowledge sharing. To support our reflection, we briefly define the key concepts that frame our discussion.
Key Definitions
- Open Education refers to making learning more accessible by removing barriers to quality education. This includes the use of Open Educational Resources, which are freely available materials that can be reused, adapted, and shared.
- Open Pedagogy goes beyond access to resources. It promotes collaborative and participatory learning, where students are not just consumers of knowledge but active contributors to its creation.
- Open Science (or Open Research) It involves making the research process more transparent, accessible, and reproducible, including data, methods, and results, so that knowledge can be shared and built upon by a wider community.
A North African Perspective on Open Education, Open Pedagogy, and Open Science:
As researchers and educators from North Africa, we experience firsthand the gap between the promise of education and the reality faced by many learners and researchers in our region. Access to quality educational resources remains uneven, and opportunities to openly share knowledge are still limited. While discussions around Open Education continue to grow globally, for many students in North Africa, openness is not yet a lived reality. Beyond access, there are broader challenges related to inclusion, equity, digital infrastructure, and the ability to actively participate in knowledge creation. Encouragingly, important initiatives have emerged in recent years. Tunisia’s first National Conference on Open Science in 2022 reflected a growing regional awareness of Open Science, Open Access, and the role of Artificial Intelligence in education. Similarly, initiatives such as the Open Community 4.0 program in Algeria have promoted open access practices, responsible uses of AI in research, and greater awareness of digital scholarship. These efforts signal an important shift, although much remains to be done. From our perspective, three interconnected dimensions must be considered together:
- Open Education is not only about providing free access to resources. It is about creating inclusive learning environments where diversity is recognised, respected, and supported. Across Tunisia and Algeria, we are witnessing increasing interest in digital learning, open educational resources, and AI-supported learning environments. In our work and research on AI-based assessment and educational technologies, we see how learning experiences should adapt to learners’ needs rather than expecting learners to conform to a single model.
- Open Pedagogy challenges traditional approaches to teaching and assessment. It encourages collaboration, participation, and learner agency, allowing students to become active contributors to knowledge creation rather than passive recipients. This perspective aligns closely with adaptive and inclusive assessment approaches, where learners are not only evaluated but also supported through meaningful and personalised feedback. In this context, e-learning platforms such as Moodle have played an important role in supporting interaction, collaboration, and access to learning materials, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, when universities in both Tunisia and Algeria increasingly relied on online learning and digital assessment.
- Open Science is essential to ensure that research is transparent, reproducible, and accessible. In the context of AI in education, this is particularly critical. AI systems should not remain opaque. They must be explainable, trustworthy, and open to scrutiny, especially when they impact learning and evaluation. In both Tunisia and Algeria, multiple efforts are underway to increase access to scientific journals and implement open access policies at universities and in research environments. However, significant obstacles remain. International journal access remains limited, and implementing an open access policy is expensive. The same is true for artificial intelligence applications and other digital research tools.
Bringing these three “Opens” together is not simply a conceptual goal; it is a necessity. In our view, AI can act as a bridge, not only to enhance learning but also to make education more equitable, inclusive, transparent, and accessible. For North Africa and beyond, the challenge is not simply to adopt openness but to shape it in ways that genuinely respond to the realities and needs of learners and researchers in their local contexts. Achieving this requires stronger collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the responsible use of technology to ensure that openness truly benefits everyone.
Conclusion
As three researchers from North Africa, we come to this conversation with different backgrounds, different domains, and different experiences but a shared conviction: Open scholarship is not a luxury. It is a necessity for equity and progress. Bridging the opens means recognizing that open access, open education, open pedagogy, and open science are not separate silos; they are deeply interconnected. When one is strengthened, the others grow stronger too. From the Global South, this connection is not just theoretical; it is urgent and practical. We hope that our perspectives, rooted in the realities of Tunisia and Algeria, contribute a fresh voice to the global open scholarship conversation, and inspire others to reflect on how the Opens can be bridged in their own contexts.
References & Further Reading
Arab Barometer. (2021). Education in Tunisia: Past progress, present decline and future challenges. https://www.arabbarometer.org/2021/03/education-in-tunisia-past-progress-present-decline-and-future-challenges/
BCcampus OpenEd. (n.d.). What is Open Pedagogy? https://open.bccampus.ca/what-is-open-education/what-is-open-pedagogy/
Creative Commons. (2019). We support the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources. https://creativecommons.org/2019/10/24/we-support-unesco-oer/
EOSC Association. (2022). National Conference on Open Science in Tunisia. https://eosc.eu/events/tunisia-national-conference-open-science
Knowledge Equity Network. (2026). Knowledge Equity & Open Scholarship Week 2026. https://knowledgeequitynetwork.org/casestudies/knowledge-equity-open-scholarship-week-2026-programme/
SPARC Europe. (n.d.). What is Open Access? https://sparceurope.org/what-we-do/open-access/what-is-open-access/
UNESCO. (2021). Recommendation on Open Science. https://en.unesco.org/science-sustainable-future/open-science/recommendation
About the Authors
Hiba Haj Mahmoud (She/her), PhD Student in Computer Science at the PRINCE Research Lab, ISITCom, University of Sousse, Tunisia. She earned a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence in 2025. Her research focuses on adaptive AI-driven assessment for inclusive learning, with particular emphasis on fairness, transparency, and meaningful learner engagement.
Rabeb Ben Hadj Sayedi (She/her), Master Student in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis at ISITCom, University of Sousse, Tunisia. Her interests include open educational resources, digital learning environments, and the integration of AI tools to support inclusive and accessible education.
Dr. Abdallah Bengueddoudj, received his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Industrial Informatics in 2011 from the University of Mohamed Elbachir Elibrahimi of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria, and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Industrial Informatics in 2019, also from the same university. Since 2021, he is a lecturer teacher at the Department of Electromechanics at Bordj Bou Arreridj University. His research interests include multimedia, multiresolution and wavelet analysis, image processing, hardware implementation, pattern recognition.
Notes
License: This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International). You are free to share and adapt this material as long as appropriate credit is given.
AI Disclosure: Generative AI was used as a writing assistant to support drafting and editing. All ideas, perspectives, and final content were authored and reviewed by the three co-creators