Open Education Week highlights the creative and collaborative work of educators and promotes the world wide movement towards more equitable and accessible educational resources.
Let’s start with some helpful definitions and then we will highlight some #OEWeek23 events and opportunities!
Open education encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment. (Open Education - SPARC)
Open pedagogy is the practice of engaging with students as creators of information rather than simply consumers of it. It's a form of experiential learning in which students demonstrate understanding through the act of creation. The products of open pedagogy are student created and openly licensed so that they may live outside of the classroom in a way that has an impact on the greater community. (Introduction to Open Pedagogy)
OER Stands for Open Educational Resources:
Open Educational Resources (OER) are guided by the idea that high-quality educational materials should be available to everyone.
OER are educational materials—everything from a single lesson plan to an entire textbook—that save students and teachers money because they are free to use, customize, and share.
OER are openly licensed, which makes it easy to personalize materials and infuse them with fresh, relevant content” (OER 101)
5 R’s of Open Educational Resources
- Reuse: Content can be reused in its unaltered original format - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video).
- Revise: Content can be modified or altered to suit specific needs - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language).
- Remix: Content can be adapted with other similar content to create something new- the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup).
- Retain: Copies of content can be retained for personal archives or reference - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage).
- Redistribute: Content can be shared with anyone else in its original or altered format - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend).
A Creative Commons license grants permission to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon a creative work as long as credit is given to the original creator. There are different licenses to choose from depending on the permissions you want your work to have and how you want it to be credited.
Wondering about ASU and Open Education?
ASU’s Charter states:
ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.
ASU as an institution sees the value of collaborative and inclusive educational environments. As an Open Scholarship intern I am learning what work goes into creating and sustaining truly open materials for students and educators. This looks like having an Open Education library guide, supporting students through EdPlus at ASU which “focuses on the design and scalable delivery of digital teaching and learning models to increase student success and reduce barriers to achievement in higher education,” maintaining and promoting use of the KEEP institutional repository, offering affordable course materials through Course Resource Services, and participating in events like Open Education Week.
The Arizona Regional OER Conference, hosted by the Maricopa County Community Colleges and Open Maricopa, was held last week to bring instructors, librarians, and administrators around the state together to highlight our accomplishments, share best practices, and build our community. The conference was recorded, so you can view the presentations at your convenience. Additionally, the OERizona Network was officially launched, building a professional learning community for Arizona. Learn more, and sign up for the email list.
Take Advantage of OER and Get Involved in OE Week
Instructors:
- Learn more about incorporating OER and open pedagogy in your classroom.
- Find OER and contribute your own.
- Join international events and workshops.
Students and life-long learners:
- Access resources.
- Find open access versions of scholarly articles.
- Learn with accessible videos and earn college credit at ASU through Study Hall.
Sharing is caring and so is giving credit where credit is due! Happy #OEWeek23!
