Open Educational Resources

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Universal Design for Learning

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About Me

Erin Stapleton-Corcoran

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Instructional Designer

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University Illinois Chicago

Instructional Design and Media Production Studio

estaple@gmail.com

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Name, dept, and one thing you hope to gain from this workshop.

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Introductions

Leveraging Open Educational Resources for Equity

Opening Reflection

1. What does equity in education mean to you?
2. Can you think of a time when a student faced challenges accessing learning materials in your courses?
3. Do the materials you use fully reflect the diversity of the student population at Knox College?
4. Do you involve students in selecting course materials?

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OER for Equity and Social Justice

Targeted Design: Use OER to promote fairness in education.

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Key Areas:

• Access: Broaden educational opportunities.
• Respect: Honor diverse identities.
• Voice: Amplify marginalized perspectives.

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(Lambert, 2018)

OER Social Justice Framework

Redistributive Justice: Allocation of material or human resources towards those who by circumstances have less.

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Recognitive Justice: Recognition and respect for cultural and gender differences in course materials.

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Representational Justice: Power/authority in authorship, co-construction of materials.

(Fraser 1995)

Redistributive Justce

Redistributive Justice:

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• OER removes financial barriers, allowing underserved students equal access to high-quality learning materials.
• Savings from OER often enable students to take additional courses or reinvest in their education.

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Effect of Course Materials on Academic Careers

2023 Illinois Course Materials Survey Report

Textbook Costs and Student Impact

2023 Illinois Course Materials Survey Report

Student Course Material Preference

2023 Illinois Course Materials Survey Report

Recognitive Justice

Recognitive Justice:

• OER can be adapted to reflect diverse cultural, linguistic, and social perspectives.
• Customization ensures materials resonate with diverse student identities and experiences.

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Recognition Gaps

Recognition Deficits: Exclusion of diverse identities can make students feel less visible or valued.

Intersectionality: Students from multiple marginalized groups face heightened recognition gaps.

Consequences: Lack of representation may impact motivation, identity development, and academic success.

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Recognitive Justice in OER

Recognize Differences: Acknowledge and respect cultural, gender, and social diversity in educational materials.

Foster Respect: Ensure resources validate and affirm students' identities and lived experiences.

Challenge Bias: Address stereotypes and marginalizing content.

Practical Applications: Create culturally relevant examples, inclusive narratives, and materials that affirm all identities.

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Representational Justice

Representational Justice:

• Involve marginalized communities in OER creation so that their voices and perspectives are amplified.
• Revisions can include diverse names, inclusive language, and imagery that challenges stereotypes.
• Who gets to tell the story?

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Representational Justice in OER

Amplify Marginalized Voices: Allow communities to tell their own stories and perspectives.

Avoid Dominant Narratives: Prevent filtering marginalized experiences through mainstream lenses.

Co-Creation: Collaborate with marginalized groups to develop authentic educational resources.

Practical Applications: Develop textbooks, case studies, and materials authored or co-authored by marginalized communities.

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OER and Equity Reflection

• What strategies have you used—or would like to use—to improve access for students?
• How might your course materials better reflect the cultural and social diversity of your students?
• How can you amplify student voices and perspectives in the creation or selection of course materials?

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Creating and Publishing Open Educational Resources

Session Objectives

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By the end of this session, you will be able to:

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• Explain the fundamentals of OER licensing, including key principles and types of Creative Commons licenses.
• Analyze license compatibility to effectively combine multiple OER licenses.
• Identify key accessibility considerations to ensure inclusivity and compliance when working with OER.
• Develop a detailed plan for publishing OER, incorporating adaptation and licensing steps.

The Five Rs of OER

Retain – Make and own copies

Reuse – Use in a wide range of ways

Revise – Adapt, modify, and improve

Remix – Combine two or more

Redistribute – Share with others

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Public Domain and Creative Commons Licenses

Not all CC Licenses are OER

Spectrum of open licenses by Cable Green / http://www.slideshare.net/cgreen/goopen-with-creative-commons / CC BY

OER License Activity

Review the license of one or two OER you found in the previous session.

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1. What does the license allow? (Reuse, remix, commercial use, etc.)
2. What are the restrictions? (Attribution [aka give credit] required, ShareAlike, etc.)

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Illinois Through Time OER

The TASL Method of Attribution

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• Title - If a title was provided for the material, include it.
• Author - Include the name the author.
• Source - Provide the source of the material so others can find it (URL, hyperlink)
• License: how the work can be shared.
• Use Creative Commons Attribution Builder | Library

TASL Activity

Review the license of one of the OER you found in the previous session

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Consult instructional materials of your own that you intend to use as an OER.

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1. Use the TASL method to properly attribute this work (title, author, source, license)
2. Use the Creative Commons Attribution Builder | Library

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License Compatibility Chart

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"Wiki/cc License Compatibility Chart" is licensed under CC BY 4.0

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License Compatibility Activity

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Complete the questions on the workshop handout.

page 1 worksheet

Putting it All Together: License Your Work

• Select license building blocks
• Create your license
• Use the license chooser: creativecommons.org/choose to generate the license and symbol.
• Apply the license to your work

Complete the steps on the workshop handout

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Accessibility and OER

Why Accessibility Matters

• Ensures all students, including those with disabilities, can fully engage with and benefit from OER.

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Key Reasons to Prioritize Accessibility

• Inclusivity: Accessibility supports equitable education for all learners.
• Compliance: Many institutions require materials to meet accessibility standards like WCAG or ADA.
• Usability for All: Accessible OER benefits everyone, including those with temporary impairments or using mobile devices.

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Accessible OER Quick Guide

"Accessibility THRIVES " by Queen's University Belfast, Modifications: new icons created is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Tools for Ensuring Accessibility

Accessibility Quick Wins

Add Alt Text to Images

• Briefly describe the image’s content or purpose (e.g., “Graph showing enrollment trends from 2010 to 2020”).

Use Clear Headings

• Structure content with proper headings (e.g., H1, H2) to make it easier for screen readers to navigate.

Ensure High Contrast

• Use colors with strong contrast (e.g., black text on white background) to improve readability.

Add Captions to Videos

• Include captions for video content to support accessibility and usability.

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Accessibility Quick Wins

Accessibility Reflection

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How does accessibility align with your values or goals as an educator?

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Can you think of a situation where a student in your course might benefit from accessible materials, even if they don’t have a disability?

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What is one small change you could make to improve the accessibility of course materials, even if you aren’t quite ready to build your own OER?

Choosing Tools to Create OER

Key Considerations:

• The digital literacy of both creators and users.
• Accessibility and ease of sharing resources.
• The type of content you aim to create (text, interactive, multimedia).

Tip: Match the tool to the complexity of the OER you envision.

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Tips for Choosing Tools

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• What type of content are you creating?
• Who is your audience?
• What is your level of comfort with the tool?
• Are there accessibility or sharing constraints?

Tech Tools

Examples:

• Microsoft Word and Google Docs: Use to collaboratively draft lesson plans or short resources with students or colleagues.
• LibreTexts: Knox campus access to this tool, also where OER will be hosted.
• FlexBooks: K-12 educator oriented, focuses on simple textbook creation with minimal technical expertise required.
• Pressbooks: Use to format and publish an interactive digital textbook with multimedia elements like videos and quizzes.
• OER Commons Open Author: Build and share lesson plans and resources.

Publishing Tools Reflection

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• What training might you need to feel confident in using a new tool?
• Are there sources of support or resources available here on campus?

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Activity: Publishing Your OER

Think about a specific OER you’d like to create (e.g., a textbook, lesson plan, or interactive module).

Using the Tool Selection Checklist:

• What type of content will you create (text, multimedia, interactive)?
• Who is your audience? How does this impact the OER
• What is your level of comfort with potential tech tools?
• What accessibility or sharing constraints do you need to consider?

Charting Your OER Pathway

Adopt-Adapt-Author

OER Adoption Case Studies (Use “As Is”)

Physics: A professor adopts College Physics from OpenStax, a freely available textbook, for an introductory physics course. The professor integrates the textbook into the course syllabus without modifying the content. They supplement the textbook with problem sets and labs already

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Sociology: An instructor adopts Sociology 2e from Lumen Learning for their introductory course, replacing a commercial textbook that cost students $120 each. The instructor selects the OER because it aligns with the course objectives and provides comprehensive coverage of foundational sociology topics. The instructor also integrates the text’s built-in learning tools, such as end-of-chapter quizzes and discussion prompts. Students access the textbook for free via a digital platform, with an optional low-cost print copy available for $20.

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Biology: A professor adopts Biology LibreTexts for their introductory course, selecting it for its alignment with course objectives and comprehensive coverage. The professor integrates the textbook without modifications and uses its interactive features, including 3D visualizations and quizzes. Students access the resource for free online or download offline versions.

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OER Adoption Case Studies

History: A professor adopts American History I from the OER Commons repository for their introductory U.S. history course. To better align the textbook with their course focus, they add sections on local history and include case studies highlighting the experiences of underrepresented groups. They also replace outdated primary source documents with more relevant materials. Students access the adapted text digitally for free, and printed copies with the modifications are offered at cost.

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Engineering: An instructor authors Introduction to Civil Engineering Design using MIT OpenCourseWare as a foundation. They build a comprehensive OER by adapting materials from multiple OpenCourseWare modules, adding region-specific case studies and updated data on sustainable design practices. The resource includes interactive components, such as problem-solving exercises and design simulations, tailored to the needs of undergraduate engineering students. The OER is hosted on the university's platform and made freely accessible through MIT OpenCourseWare for use by other institutions.

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Math: An instructor adopts Precalculus: An Investigation of Functions from OpenTextBookStore but adapts it to include real-world applications relevant to engineering students. The instructor modifies examples and exercises to incorporate engineering-related scenarios and adds a new section on applied problem-solving. The updated version is shared digitally for free.

OER Authoring Case Studies

Environmental Science: A professor authors Introduction to Environmental Science using Pressbooks, focusing on region-specific case studies about ecosystems, climate challenges, and conservation. The textbook includes multimedia elements like videos and interactive maps. The OER is shared online for free, with low-cost print versions available.

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Music: A professor authors Global Perspectives on Music and Culture using LibreTexts for an ethnomusicology course. The textbook covers diverse musical traditions, emphasizing cultural and social contexts. Collaborating with local musicians, the professor includes interviews, videos, and audio samples. The OER, with interactive features like listening guides, is freely accessible online, with print options at cost.

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Business: A professor authors Foundations of Ethical Entrepreneurship using Google Docs for an introductory business course. The resource features chapters on corporate responsibility, ethical decision-making, and sustainability. Students add local business case studies, while the professor curates content and adds industry links, interviews, and worksheets. The OER is shared online for free.

OER Decision Tree

Creating OER – Decision Tree by E. Fields licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

OER Creation: Pulling it All Together

• Identify one aspect of creating OER that you feel confident about.
• Name challenge(s) you anticipate when adopting/adapting/creating OER.
• List three actions you can take to address this challenge (e.g., training, collaboration, exploring tools).

OER Creation: Pulling it all Together

Addressing Challenges

OER Challenges

What are some pros and cons to consider when using OER in your classroom?

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Think about:

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1. Access and Affordability
2. Quality and Customization
3. Faculty Workload
4. Sustainability
5. Student Engagement
6. Technology and Access Barriers

Veletsianos Reflection

“Open Educational Resources: Expanding Equity or Reflecting and Furthering Inequities” by Veletsianos (2020)​

• How do we ensure that the adoption of OER doesn't inadvertently reinforce existing inequities?
• What measures can we take to critically assess whether OER materials reflect diverse perspectives and avoid marginalizing certain groups?
• How can institutions and educators collaboratively address systemic barriers that limit the creation and widespread use of equitable OER?

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Abolitionist Creativity Reflection

“Abolitionist Creativity: How Intellectual Property Can Hack Digital Power” by Choucair Vizoso & Byrnes (2023)​

• How might the current intellectual property regime limit the potential of OER to serve as tools for equity?
• In what ways can we reimagine intellectual property frameworks to better align with social justice goals?
• How can educators and institutions leverage alternative licensing models, such as Creative Commons, to challenge inequitable IP systems and amplify the reach of OER?

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