OEGlobal 2024

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 Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success (DOERS) Collaborative was an organization that began in 2018 through a partnership of three higher education systems. The organization’s original goals included facilitation of partnerships among system, state, and consortial open education programs. As of 2024, the DOERS collaborative has built out conversations and deliverables which build organizational excellence through sustainability and infrastructure, advance open education impact through advocacy and demonstrating value, and enhance member capacity through sharing, collaboration, and leadership. Each of these strategic goals help strengthen collaboration and quality education by supporting open as everyone’s business.

This presentation will share the perspectives and experiences of a panel of the 2024 DOERS steering committee as they continue to build on the work accomplished since 2018. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the OER Equity Blueprint, discover how institutions of higher education in the US and Canada have incorporated open practice into retention, promotion and tenure process, and hear how the growing organization has collaboratively enacted strategic planning sessions to build bylaws and enhance organizational structure.

This session will also share out a call for proposals for the DOERS open education research case study collection, describe how DOERS is supporting student success through open practices and microcredentials, and relate how the organization plans to build the leadership capacity of its representatives.



Included in [Session 11B]: Sustainability

Author Keywords
Access, Community Impact, Micro-credentialing, Open education policies and strategies, Sustainability

In September 2023 (another) high school opened with an explicit goal to teach with, produce and learn with Open Educational Resources. The Itz’at STEAM Academy (ISA) in Belize opened to its first form (grade) of students in September 2023 as an OER focused high school. The development of ISA benefitted from over two decades of history and experience from leaders in the open education movement.

ISA’s development is led by three organizations, the school, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology (Belize) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts, USA). MIT is well known internationally for its leadership in OER (MIT Open CourseWare) and a strong focus on STEAM education. MIT worked with Mountain Heights Academy (MHA, Utah, USA) to build a(nother) OER high school. MHA, originally the Open High School of Utah, was founded with a focus on the use and production of OER. Founded in 2009, MHA serves U.S. grades 7-12, has award winning teachers and is a leader in digital education and utilizing OER.

This session will describe the path from the launch of MIT OpenCourseWare through the founding of Mountain Heights Academy to the development and launch of Itz’at STEAM Academy. The session will describe how the growth of and experiences of MHA (Tonks et al. 2013; Tonks 2022) set the foundation for the OER policies at ISA (Itz’at STEAM Academy 2022), how the OER policies of ISA are contextualized for its success and the initial use of and development of OER at ISA. And it will describe the potential of OER at ISA to serve as a model for project based and transdisciplinary learning in secondary education in Belize.



Included in [Session 11B]: Sustainability

References
Tonks, D., Weston, S., Wiley, D., & Barbour, M. (2013). “Opening” a new kind of school: The story of the Open High School of Utah. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. (14)1, 255-271. Tonks, D. (2022). La evolución del primer bachillerato con un currículum de recursos abiertos. Revista Mexicana De Bachillerato A Distancia, 14(27). Itz’at STEAM Academy. (2022). Open Educational Resources Policy.

Author Keywords
Open Educational Resources, OER, K-12, High School, OER Policy