C. Edward Watson was interviewed in a Teaching in Higher Ed podcast about his research when he was at the University of Georgia where he conducted a study about OER and equity.
Quote around the 19-20 minute mark:
“We found that course grades improved at greater rates for nonwhite students and Pell eligible students. In other words, those that we thought that a free textbook would help. Those folks really saw a difference. We also saw significant decreases in DFW rates, a greater rates for nonwhite and Pell eligible students. In fact, looking just at those subgroups, we saw DFW rates drop by a third. So, it really is sort of the notion that that OERs are doing more to make the classroom more equitable, more fair. “
Thoughtful reflections on the diminishing federal and state support of higher ed which leads to private interests taking hold on campuses ($$$), increases in costs for students ($$$), and how faculty are now engaging in many ways to help students get that education AND still have a bed to sleep in and food to eat. OER and other open practices is a gateway to this new reality where faculty are key change agents. ~Kathy
OER: Bigger Than Affordability
Open education resources can catalyze a much-needed national conversation about what we mean by “public” higher education, Robin DeRosa writes.
By Robin DeRosa
November 1, 2017
. . .
I began considering the larger role of open in a social justice agenda targeted at public higher education in the United States, where I live and teach. First, I looked to Sara Goldrick-Rab’s research on how the hidden costs of attending college make college graduation an unattainable goal for such a large portion of our nation’s population. If 50 to 80 percent of the total sticker price of college is coming from nontuition costs, as she demonstrates, we need to confront the complete set of material conditions that constrain students.
Not only can OER drive down the real cost of college, but thinking about textbook costs can propel faculty, in particular, to think about how course and program design can be adapted to make access — more broadly writ — a priority. Is food insecurity on the radar of your chemistry department? If OER is appealing because they can help make knowledge more accessible, then we must care about the myriad issues — from child care to transportation — that prevent our potential students from even coming to our classrooms in the first place.
From the Digital Pedagogy Lab written by two intensely open engaged writers, Rajiv Jhangiani and Robin DeRosa.
When faculty use OER, we aren’t just saving a student money on textbooks: we are directly impacting that student’s ability to enroll in, persist through, and successfully complete a course. In other words, we are directly impacting that student’s ability to attend, succeed in, and graduate from college. When we talk about OER, we bring two things into focus: that access is critically important to conversations about academic success, and that faculty and other instructional staff can play a critical role in the process of making learning accessible.
Seven faculty were awarded grants of $1,000 to $2,500 in the spring of 2016
Four hundred fifty eight students from courses in Physics, Kinesiology, Astronomy, French, German, and Human Development
In addition to the cost benefit, other students said the OER materials made their class experience more enjoyable
“The readings that were presented catered more to a student attempting to understand the material in a way that is more learning-friendly.”
“I was able to better understand the content we were learning, because the best reading possible was selected [by the professor] to explain a concept, as opposed to just following a textbook where some content may be explained more clearly than others.”
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation becomes the most recent grant-making organization to require recipients to make findings publicly available, a further shift toward transparency in research funding.
CC-BY collection of research articles on many aspects of open pedagogy
“The importance of openness in education is only now beginning to be appreciated, and I hope this volume can increase the pace of its spread. This volume contains stories of people and institutions around the world acting in accordance with the value of openness, and relates the amazing results that come from those actions. I hope it will inspire you. I hope that as you read these stories you will feel an inward stirring of gratitude for what you have received from those giants who went before us, and that out of the rich soil of that gratitude will grow a commitment to share – a commitment to openness.” — David Wiley
A 2016 collection of articles on open pedagogical topics by leading scholars worldwide. All licensed CC-BY.
Foreword David Wiley Preface Patrick Blessinger and TJ Bliss
2. Emancipation through Open Education: Rhetoric or Reality?
Andy Lane
3. Technology Strategies for Open Educational Resource Dissemination
Phil Barker and Lorna M. Campbell
4. Identifying Categories of Open Educational Resource Users
Martin Weller, Beatriz de los Arcos, Rob Farrow, Rebecca Pitt and Patrick McAndrew
5. Situated Learning in Open Communities: The TED Open Translation Project
Lidia Cámara de la Fuente and Anna Comas-Quinn
6. Educational Policy and Open Educational Practice in Australian Higher Education
Adrian Stagg and Carina Bossu
7. The Identified Informal Learner: Recognizing Assessed Learning in the Open
Patrina Law
8. Transformation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education towards Open Learning Arenas: A Question of Quality
Ebba Ossiannilsson, Zehra Altinay, and Fahriye Altinay
9. Three Approaches to Open Textbook Development
Rajiv S. Jhangiani, Arthur G. Green, and John D. Belshaw
10. What Does It Mean to Open Education? Perspectives on Using Open Educational Resources at a US Public University
Linda Vanasupa, Amy Wiley, Lizabeth Schlemer, Dana Ospina, Peter Schwartz, Deborah Wilhelm, Catherine Waitinas and Kellie Hall
11. Expanding Access to Science Field-Based Research Techniques for Students at a Distance through Open Educational Resources
Audeliz Matias, Kevin Woo, and Nathan Whitley-Grassi
12. A Practitioner’s Guide to Open Educational Resources: A Case Study
Howard Miller
13. Open Assessment Resources for Deeper Learning
David Gibson, Dirk Ifenthaler, and Davor Orlic
14. Promoting Open Science and Research in Higher Education: A Finnish Perspective
Ilkka Väänänen and Kati Peltonen
15. Credentials for Open Learning: Scalability and Validity
Mika Hoffman and Ruth Olmsted
16. Open Education Practice at the University of Southern Queensland
Ken Udas, Helen Partridge and Adrian Stagg
Joe Moxley writes: Rather than working as employees on by-the-piece rates for global companies like Pearson, faculty members can assume the role of publishers. . . . We need to realize our power as authors and publishers. Working collaboratively, we can create dynamic teaching and learning environments.
Aligning with openCI efforts, we recently attended the openEd conference in Richmond, Virginia to gain a deeper understanding about the advances and innovative practices being made ar…
On joining the meeting, you will be asked to enter your name and email. If you haven’t used WebEx before, you will need to download the small Cisco.exe file. More instructions can be found at https://help.webex.com/docs/DOC-5441. Attendees will be muted upon joining the event. Attendees will need to “Connect to audio” via their computer or phone. A survey will appear for attendees after the event.
