Access to and equality in education is certainly embedded in the framework that is open pedagogy and the use of OERs. Something new that I wasnāt previously aware of was the 5 Rs mentioned in the article (reused, retained, redistributed, revised, and remixed). For me, this quote really stood out:
āMore than developing digital literacy and learning how to synthesize, articulate, and share information, students engage with and understand the politics of editing, including how ātruthā is negotiated by those who have access to the tools that shape it.ā
It made me think a lot about colonialism and dominant narratives that were often present in my early education (i.e., subjects taught through a euro-centric lens). Those in authoritative positions have access to and thus control over what is being said and how it is being said. In this way, certain voices and truths can be marginalized or rewritten. In a previous course this summer (GEOG 306) we explored the open resource Challenge Racist B.C wherein the emphasis on minority communities’ struggles is shifted from the classic scenario of the helpless victims who were ādominatedā into a narrative of strength and resilience, highlighting the many acts of resistance and fights for their rights. I think that there is a power dynamic at play in education systems and open pedagogy is one facet in which to address this.
The use of OERs is one such way, as free educational resources lower the financial barriers present in the higher education world. This CBC article highlights the exorbitant amount that university students pay per term on textbooks at universities in British Columbia and this Maclean’s article gives an average breakdown per university and per program. I empathize greatly with the cited statistics that 54% of British Columbian university students cannot afford at least one of the texts needed for their courses. Iāve been in this situation before and it directly impacted my ability to do my best in the course! Although this is changing, there is a trend toward more professors using and adapting their courses to include OERs. For example, I took HSTR 230A last year and we used this textbook, an OER from B.C Campus Open Ed Textbooks. Iāve also had various readings assigned from this textbook, although that was in addition to purchasing several books for the course.
The article also mentions that students should be more involved in the choices of course content and I couldnāt agree more! So far, Iāve only had one course that really fits this model and it was an upper-level English elective about utopian fiction. Our prof had a few selected readings to start the course off (all available online for free) and then we pick texts from a list or proposed an alternative that we thought would fit the courseās theme. In this way, I feel like we were all more engaged with the materials because we were the ones who chose them and the discussions were absolutely more diverse and thoughtful. I think student-centred learning, paired with open resources, and ‘wiggle-room’ within course content produce much more fruitful and sincere engagements.
Reading these articles also spurred a random thought about student learning hubs… Where do sites like Chegg or Course Hero fit in? From my understanding, they kind of seem like paywall sites that people use to cheat? I do think this is different from the intended meaning but it got me wondering… Do āstudent hubsā have the possibility to promote academic dishonesty? In a lighter sense, I like to use Quizlet, a digital flashcard program, as a student hub and as a way to study and prepare for tests/exams.
The Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy reading connect back to our Topic 1 content (Regan & Jessie 2019, UVICās Acceptable Use Policy, B.C FIPPA) in that we are addressing privacy, tracking, and restriction via digital tools. Iāve heard about the history of redlining but never thought to apply it to the digital world. I think that this is another way that limits the further education of already marginalized communities. As mentioned in the article, if certain information is blocked from you in your educational institution and you don’t have adequate access outside of that establishment, how else are you to learn about it? This information might as well not exist – at least not for you… I think that there are many excellent questions being raised about these issues and how they are quite intertwined with things like race, gender, and class/status but further action/follow-up is needed, and soon!
I thought the reading Design Principles For Indigenous Learning Spaces was very informative and very useful for my future teaching. In my early educational experience, Indigenous topics were either misrepresented or skipped over altogether. These lessons were either tacked on at the end of the lecture as somewhat of an afterthought or treated as a chore rather than genuine information or as an important way of learning. When searching for resources for my pod project, I found the First Peopleās Principles of Learning linked from an Open-Ed WordPress blog and I find this structure to be quite similar.
On another interesting note, it was also recently introduced that a certain amount of Indigenous-focused education will be required for all high school graduates, and I find this to be an excellent step forward, so long as it’s done in an appropriate way that fosters true understanding and is genuine in an effort towards reconciliation… not just a ‘box to check’ in order to graduate.
Resources:
Gilliard, C., & Culik, H. (2016, May 24). Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy.
Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/digital-redlining-access-and-privacy
Kral, I. & Schwab, R.G. (2012). Chapter 4: Design Principles for Indigenous Learning Spaces. Safe Learning Spaces. Youth, Literacy and New Media in Remote Indigenous Australia. ANU Press. http://doi.org/10.22459/LS.08.2012
Mays, E. (Ed.). (2017). A guide to making open textbooks with students. Rebus
Community. Chapter 1.
Photo by Anas Alshanti on Unsplash
Hi Tegan!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I really liked your connection to that quote and colonialism. Like you, I was taught that the settlers were “helping” the Indigenous people. Of course we know this is not the truth and unfortunately many people still believe this because it is what they were taught. The quote you pulled also made me think of the misinformation about COVID vaccines and how far stretched the truth/facts became because of peoples ability to “edit” the information.
You might find the link I provided in my post in regards to the First Peoples Principles of Learning useful. It provides further context behind each principle and I refer to it often.
Do you think that only Indigenous teachers should teach the new Indigenous studies course required for high school graduation? I think any teacher can teach it so as long as they have the proper education on the topic.
Thanks again for sharing š
Hey Maegan! Thanks for the reply š
You are right about the COVID misinformation comment! I think that this is in part due to the algorithms of social media sites – they often perpetuate material that is deemed ‘engaging’ i.e., content that gets comments/reactions, and usually, this type of stuff is controversial or a source of misinformation. Problems arise when people, often unknowingly, build these digital echo chambers for themselves where their own ‘right’ opinions are thrown back at them time and time again without differing views entering their field of view. This loss of dialogue and debate leads to all sorts of problems! The same is true in the educational context – if we exclude voices of already marginalized communities, how do we expect anything to change??
I think that preference should be given to an Indigenous teacher if they are available as it is their history and culture but I think that if proper guidelines and standards of knowledge and its delivery are established then, of course, anyone could teach the subject material. Care, compassion, and accuracy would be some of the pillars I would imagine being important here!
Hi Tegan!
Thank you for your post! You made so many great connections throughout each reading. I really like how you brought up the point about how those who have access or power to edit decide what the truth is. This is the same within the classroom as the teacher is like the editor while they decide what information to present and how to present it. They are in charge of shaping truths for their students and yes this has often been done in a way that diminishes truth to one point of view and results in discrimination. It is so important for teachers to create a learning environment in which every student has a voice and sees themselves as a learner. This includes exploring multiple perspectives of every topic and not presenting just on truth. It is also important that our learners are able to see themselves within the resources we use. They need to be able to personally connect to content in order for them to see themselves as learners who can grow.
I also really like how you brought up the importance of student choice. When we provide students with the opportunity to choose we give them the chance to take ownership of their own learning and their own learning process. They become more invested as they are able to explore things they are interested in in ways that have importance in their lives. This makes their learning more meaningful and encourages them to keep on being curious and pursuing their wonders. This is one of the reasons that blocking content seems negative. It completely blocks out certain information and halts learning while taking away the choice of a learner to pursue a topic. I understand the need to block viruses and unsafe content as well as possibly inappropriate or damaging content, but shouldn’t there still be an aspect of choice? Do you think there is a way to protect safety and privacy of learners, but not completely block content?
Hey Courtnay!
Thanks so much for your response! In my GEOG 306 class (mostly about social justice in Canada), we had endless discussions about how a teacher can directly influence students’ perceptions on topics, depending on what they include – and what they omit! This is an excellent read if you’re interested (may need to sign in through UVIC to view) https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/cag.12236
Hello Tegan!
I also had no knowledge of the 5 Rs from one of the textbook readings. Reused, retained, redistributed, revised, and remixed really remind me of the 3 R’s of environment (reuse, reduce, recycle). Maybe there are some similarities in origin.
I completely agree with you that paying for textbooks directly affects students’ performance. Most of the time, the super expensive books students buy are barely used, which does not make too much sense. Thankfully, I have also had experience with professors at UVic choosing OERs more often. Hopefully, that continues.
Thanks for sharing this week!
Hey Anna!
Yea, I think it’s a type of mnemonic device/memory tool to remember these important concepts!
In your experience, do you find that profs using OERs use them for the entire course, or just for selected portions of it?
Hi Tegan!
Thank for for providing us with such an informative post, and a very interesting read! I really appreciate you sharing your own experience. Having added what you explored in your GEOG 306 class, it provided you with a stronger argument and showed why you chose that side. Your statement of āthere is a power dynamic in playā is one I couldnāt agree with more!
With your section about students being more involved with course content, would you like to see more courses at UVIC go along with this style of learning? Why arenāt they already offering a bunch of these courses and would they be able to offer them as 1st year electives.
-Noah
Hey Noah!
To answer your question – absolutely! I think that students being a part of their own learning is crucial to retainment but also for the enjoyment of the materials. I think that the reason this abundance of freedom is less popular is due to prescribed learning outcomes and perhaps a lack of flexibility from the prof. I’m certain this style exists in 1st-year electives but I suppose it was easier to implement in my upper-year course because there were only 20 of us in the class. Going back to one of our earlier readings by Major (2017) – where do you think this style of learning would fit in? Decentralized or distributed?
Hey Tegan! Thank you for sharing, reading your analysis brought to mind a few courses that I suppose would be considered more student lead, but only so far as getting to choose what kind of model to build in my Economics 345 class for our teams final regression project. In case anyone is interested, my teammate and I are analyzing the correlation between the Immigration rate and Unemployment over the last 5 years, which is cool and has definitely made me more interested in the material. The course that allowed you to choose the material sounds really cool, and naturally it was great to hear that the structure spurred discussions in the class.
I really liked reading about your experiences! Thank you for sharing again!