T13 - Collaborative Effort: Institutional OER Initiatives Shared and Discussed
Session Description
Just as the effectiveness of open education resources (OER) depends on collaboration, the effective implementation of institutional OER initiatives also depends on the collaborative efforts of key internal stakeholders: faculty, students, librarians, instructional designers, and administrators.
Libraries have long been recognised as central partners in OER adoption initiatives. In this session delegates will learn how librarians can help to integrate the efforts of other collaborative partners. Four speakers from different BC post-secondary institutions will discuss a number of pertinent OER issues, including: the role of librarians collaborating with students and faculty doing open science and open pedagogy; the faculty perspective on the process of finding, adapting, or creating OER; the place of the open education movement within the broader move towards open; and the importance of OER for our civil society.
Session attendees will learn how librarians can amplify their roles as facilitators, collaborators, creators, and sponsors of information production and use, and how they can anticipate the future directions these processes may take. In essence, the egalitarian and inclusive values espoused by open movements are the values modern libraries have been espousing for decades.
Speakers
Ken Jeffery, BCIT
Biography
Ken Jeffery is an instructor in the Digital Arts Department at BCIT and is a BCcampus Faculty Fellow for 2017. He is co-chair of the Open Education Working Group at BCIT, holds a Master’s Degree in Learning and Technology from Royal Roads University, and is a co-author of the open textbook Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals. With over 18 years of prior experience in visual communications, typography and design, Ken has a keen interest in how technology and openness converge to provide unrestricted access to all learners.
Arthur Gill Green, Okanagan College
Biography
Arthur Gill Green is a passionate advocate for and trailblazing creator of open education resources (OERs). Green teaches geographic information science and environmental geography as a faculty member at both the University of British Columbia and at Okanagan College. He believes that OER is a core component of responsible, open pedagogical approaches. He is an open textbook author and developer of open source educational software. He is also a 2016 BCcampus Open Textbook Faculty Fellow and a 2016-2017 Hewlett Foundation Open Education Research Fellow. His research on property rights issues in Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America has been featured in several international conferences including the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). His current research program examines textbook costs for students in British Columbia, develops best practices for open pedagogy, and creates virtual reality OERs for environmental education.
Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Biography
Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani is the University Teaching Fellow in Open Studies and a Psychology Professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where he conducts research in open education and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Jhangiani serves as the Senior Open Education Advocacy and Research Fellow with BCcampus, an Associate Editor of Psychology Learning and Teaching, and a faculty workshop facilitator with the Open Textbook Network. Dr. Jhangiani’s most recent book is titled Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science, and was published with an open (CC-BY) license by Ubiquity Press.
Farhad Dastur, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Biography
Farhad Dastur is a faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University where he teaches evolutionary psychology, perception, and cognitive ergonomics. His research interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning, sensory perception in pregnant women, the determinants of intersection collisions, and the role of anxiety in pattern perception. His involvement with openness weaves together teaching, research, scholarship, development, and advocacy. Highlights of this involvement include using OER to teach introductory psychology, researching the efficacy of open versus commercial textbooks, co-creator of the online open course, Introduction to Psychology for the OERu, selection as an Open Education Group 2016-18 OER Research Fellow, published the book chapter, How to Open an Academic Department, member of the BCcampus Advisory Group, and advocacy more openness through committees, workshops, and conferences. In 2017, Farhad will be co-leading a field school into the Amazon ecosystem to learn about its indigenous cultures and biodiversity.