Lessons Learned: Accessible and Equitable

Dr. Karen Cangialosi

Keynote speaker in the afternoon

Make the world right through positive transformations. Questioned if OER be that transition for education. OER is about students and about learning.

She will not apologize for calling out publishers (earlier comment). Educators need to continually criticize the publishers who charge students for textbooks way above the rate of inflation.

Protocols.io - what scientists are doing, compiles their methods and notebooks, making science open

OERs are digital, multimedia, downloadable, adaptable, current, public, openly licensed, free

Open pedagogy focuses on the process, not the product. Students can do most of their learning in that process - and they can also be the creators of the content. If it is not perfect, than next semester’s group can fix it! She emphasized community and collaboration over the content and the connection to the wider public. Learner contribute to the knowledge of the field, and are not just consumers of knowledge. This provides students with agency, courses are learner driven, and the materials are available when and where they want to learn the content. The open movement is about access, as well as sharing, creation, participation. None of this is possible however if you do not have access to food, childcare, or transportation.

Student create content in open pedagogy, but they can also be the editors on the projects.
When students can see what others are creating, the element of competition enters in. They want to do a good job in front of their peers. From picking topics for essays, to completed assignments. Peer review
Audience can go beyond the instructor, students can connect directly with the public
Being out there, sharing information with the public, can impact thought. The wider audience can be a scary thing
Hypothes.is - web annotation for community collaboration of a peer-reviewed article
Wikipedia Edits, etc. When you correct, edit and update content, you add value for the next person that reads it
Students not just going on the web, but constructing it
Social media is a tool like anything else, you need to keep practising. A hammer can be used to break a windshield, but it can also be used to build a house. Broadens the community for students, adding perspectives from across the world

Dr. Cangialosi recommends the book 'Why They Can’t Write' by John Warner which looks at the issue of education when we put greater value on achievement than on learning.

Final Thoughts:

Accessible and equitable? Open to whom?
Keep the real life circumstances of our students at the forefront of your thoughts, take steps to help remedy further financial burdens
Provide transformational not just transactional experiences for our students
Students become agents of social agents