OEGlobal 2024

This workshop will explore the potential of Open Educational Resources (OER) to promote and mainstream Global Education (GE). GE is an educational approach to create knowledge, skills, and awareness and to provide training for responsible global citizenship from a lifelong development perspective (Altun, 2017). In our increasingly interconnected and interdependent modern world, it is crucial to prioritise the development of global awareness among individuals, particularly those in the Global South, to equip them with the necessary skills and understanding to navigate and contribute positively to a complex, diverse, and rapidly changing world. By leveraging OER, GE can overcome existing obstacles and transcend geographical and socioeconomic barriers, enabling individuals to access and utilise GE content and acquire competencies and knowledge to navigate our contemporary interconnected world (Arinto, Hodgkinson-Williams & Trotter, 2017). Watson et al. (2023) argue that adopting Open Educational Resources (OER) can be an effective strategy for achieving equity, diversity, and inclusion, aligning closely with the GE concept and its principles.

Research indicates that OER can play a role in mainstreaming and promoting GE. For example, Hodgkinson-Williams & Arinto (2020) propose that the transformative potential of OER in democratising access to resources can develop and nurture global citizens to contribute to solution-finding to the global complexities of a highly globalised society and challenge existing structural inequalities that hamper the voices and knowledge of the global south. Recognising the importance and role OER can play, this workshop provides an opportunity for participants to explore how OER and open education, in general, can promote and mainstream GE through access, equity, and innovation of resources, particularly for populations, educators, and students in developing settings. In particular, participants will discuss practical strategies for identifying, adapting, and creating OER that incorporates global education themes such as cultural diversity, global issues, and intercultural competencies, as well as key considerations for ensuring accessibility, relevance, and ethical use of OER-GE-oriented resources in various contexts. Through five dynamic and active group sessions, participants will actively engage in a hands-on activity to brainstorm ideas, and strategies, and identify scenario-based design challenges for the real world of integrating GE within OER.

The itinerary for this workshop includes: 10 minutes: introduction to workshop objectives and overview of global education. 25 minutes: group work activities where each group focuses on a particular global challenge or issue. They will brainstorm ideas, and strategies, and identify OERs to address the issue. Through group work, they will also explore challenges of leveraging OER to address global issues. 20 minutes: Discussion of groups to present their outcomes and feedback from the groups. 5 minutes: Wrap up, a summary of key takeaways, and Q&A

Dr. Vi Truong and Mr. Abiud Bosire will facilitate the workshop. Abiud Bosire will provide an overview of GE and why it is important to provide and produce GE materials as OER. Dr. Truong and Mr. Bosire will, together with other participants, participate in group activities.



Included in [Session 2B]: Sustainability

References
Altun, M. (2017). What Global Education should focus on. International Journal of Social Sciences and Educational Studies, 4(1), 82-86. https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v4i1p82

Arinto, P. B., Hodgkinson-Williams, C. & Trotter, H. (2017). OER and OEP in the Global South: Implications and recommendations for social inclusion. In C. Hodgkinson- Williams & P. B. Arinto (Eds.), Adoption and impact of OER in the Global South (pp. 577–592). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1043829

Gougou, S., & Paschal, M. (2023). Integrating Open Educational Resources to support transformative approach in English as a foreign language in Africa. Canadian Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 26-44.

Hodgkinson-Williams, C., & Arinto, P. (2020, April 1). Adoption and impact of OER in the Global South. OAPEN Home. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/29431

Watson, E., Petrides, L., Karaglani, A., Burns, S., & Sebesta, J. (2023). Leveraging Open Educational Resources to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion: A guide for campus change agents. AAC&U. https://www.aacu.org/publication/leveraging-oer-to-advance-dei

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (2017). Open educational resources. http://www.hewlett.org/strategy/open-educational-resources/

Author Keywords
Open Educational Resources, Global Education, Low-resourced settings

Kwantlen Polytechnic University has a world-wide reputation for being a leader in Open Education. KPU is often seen as an early adopter of new initiatives and as a place where institutional supports make work in Open Ed easier. Colleagues from around the world often come to us with questions about our programs and processes.

However, like in any institution KPU’s Open Education journey has had its challenges, its ups and downs, as well as victories and celebrations. We have had to work together to come up with solutions to new problems as our programs grew, and deal with all the other normal challenges that institutions have to deal with. This lightning talk will discuss KPU’s open education journey, its successes and struggles, how the resilience of our team has helped us pull through and adapt, and provides a glimpse into our future plans.

We will touch on the beginnings of Open Education at KPU, when most work was done in specific departments by faculty champions as well as in the library by passionate librarians, and eventually in an open education working group. This was followed by a period of formalization, with the creation of the position of special advisor to the provost on open education and the creation of the open education office. The library set up a more formal open publishing program, with dedicated staff. Eventually KPU created a higher administrative position for Open Education, and the hiring of open education strategists meant that work was further formalized and expanded. The work on our Zero Textbook Cost programs expanded exponentially, our Open education grants evolved and expanded in several ways, and our publishing program grew.

Both challenges and opportunities arose as Open was further integrated in the wider KPU system. The AVP Open Education position ceased to exist, and the Open Education office was terminated and rolled in the Teaching and Learning Commons. This ensured that it had an integral place in the university but also gave it a smaller presence overall. We lost one of our open education strategist positions but gained more focus from the Director of Learning Technologies & Educational Development, as well as more support for administrative tasks. The library team saw several retirements, leaves, and key persons stepping away from Open Education work, positions that were not backfilled. The Open Education Working Group was disbanded and replaced by a grant adjudication committee with a narrower scope.

These changes have also brought opportunities, as our resilient team sought collaborations with other groups, such as students, deans, and liaison librarians, and worked to further streamline and integrate our processes with those of the wider university. The creativity of the KPU community means that we are confident in the sustainability of Open Ed at our institutions and hopeful about its future.



Included in [Session 2B]: Sustainability

Author Keywords
sustainability, open education policies and strategies, open practitioners

Open Educational Practices (OEP) are supported and implemented differently in the primary and secondary sectors compared to the tertiary sector. This is observable in the types of OER they prefer (ancillary materials compared to textbooks, respectively; Blomgren 2018) and the incentives that have evolved to make open education count (McKinney, 2024). The latest Bayview Analytics Reports (Seaman & Seaman, 2023) also reveal disparities in OER awareness and use; preK12 is becoming more aware but only a third of the population knows they exist compared to two-thirds of higher education faculty. Moreover, differences in governance and funding mechanisms fundamentally impact how materials are adopted and how instructors make choices about the materials they use in their classrooms. These differences complicate how institutions at all levels support and reward instructors who want to engage in OEP and keep these sectors siloed and isolated. However, by continuing to be siloed in practice rather than working together as boundary spanners (Walz & Farley, 2023), the OEP community is missing its greatest potential contributor to pedagogical innovation and creativity. The mutual isolation of these two sectors is a major threat to the sustainability of OEP. Addressing this gap is also important in providing equitable quality education which is a UN Sustainable Development Goal. This presentation will explore and compare the distinctive characteristics of open education at different educational levels in North America. We identify factors that generate or influence these structural barriers and suggest practices and models that can solve the siloing of these two communities. This presentation suggests a framework for how to move forward and is relevant to a variety of stakeholders (education, government, and non-profit) who can act on these recommendations. We end with a brief overview of several projects across these sectors doing critical work as boundary spanners who bridge these gaps in meaningful ways.

Finally, this presentation sets the groundwork for a panel session (also under review) whereby a diverse group of leaders across sectors (primary, secondary, tertiary, government) discuss their work in OEP and propose opportunities in which they could work as boundary spanners to address the sustainability of OEP in collaboration with other educational sectors and partners.



Included in [Session 11B]: Sustainability

References
Blomgren, C. (2018). OER Awareness and Use: The Affinity Between Higher Education and K-12. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19, 55-70. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v19i2.3431

McKinney, A. (Ed.). (2024). Valuing OER in the tenure, promotion, and reappointment process. CUNY Academic Works. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.cuny.edu/tenureandpromotioncasestudies

Seaman, J.E. & Seaman, J. (2023). Curricula of Many Sources Educational Resources in U.S. K-12 Education, 2023. Bay View Analytics.

Walz, A., & Farley, J. (2023). Making Open Educational Resources with and for PreK12: A Collaboration Toolkit for Higher Education. Virginia Tech Libraries. Retrieved May 1, 2024 from https://doi.org/10.21061/OER_PreK12_highered

Author Keywords
open educational practices, barriers and incentives, bridging educational sectors, boundary spanners

The urgency of addressing climate change necessitates a transformation in legal education to ensure future lawyers are equipped to deliver legal services and promote climate justice to a wide range of clients in a climate transformed world. This presentation argues that it is “about time” we use this narrow window to promote climate-conscious pedagogy by integrating open educational resources (OER) into the law education curriculum. The innovative and strategic use of such technologies will enable the mastery of climate-conscious generalist and discipline-specific knowledges, as well as climate-conscious skills, attributes and capabilities in law graduates.

Climate conscious pedagogy will require challenging conventional boundaries and ways of doing things, including changing how we represent diverse communities impacted by climate change and delivering on the kind of recognition justice highlighted by Lambert & Fadel (2022). We outline why and how OER are uniquely crucial for equipping students to navigate a fast-paced and rapidly changing legal environment.

Drawing on a survey of subject coordinators and teachers from across all Australian law schools, this presentation will shine a light on the extent to which climate change is currently being incorporated into the teaching of both compulsory law subjects and electives. While the majority of law school academics emphasised their support for incorporating of climate change considerations into teaching practices, this presentation will delve into individual and institutional factors that limit current capacities, including: perceived knowledge gaps about climate change and climate law, uncertainties about how best to integrate climate change into the existing curriculum, and the lack of space and time in the curriculum to add additional material.

With this background, the presentation will identify opportunities for developing responsive and accessible pedagogical materials and teaching practices to prepare students for their professional lives in light of the global challenge of climate change. To this end, this presentation will introduce the forthcoming open-access textbook, Becoming a Climate Conscious Lawyer: Climate Change and the Australian Legal System. This textbook aims to be an open and zero-cost resource allow students and teachers alike to stay up-to-date with rapid advancements in law related to climate change.



Included in [Session 2B]: Sustainability

References
Lambert, S. R., & Fadel, H. (2022). Open textbooks and social justice: a national scoping study. Perth, Australia, available at: https://www.acses.edu.au/research-policies/15394-2-2/

Author Keywords
Open education resources, Climate change, Legal education, Open access textbook