This week was very interesting, and really I felt like my understanding of this course was expanded. Even reading the short piece Ryan wrote after the readings on topic 3, massively popular platforms that use algorithms to cater to users have a very big influence on culture. Further, that these apps are created by and for white people, immediately excluding other ethnic backgrounds. This was a concept that was really eye opening for me, and I found myself talking about this with friends and family following this week’s readings. The Mays reading was also very interesting, as it laid out the criteria for being considered an Open Educational Resource, the 5 r’s, those being reuse, retained, redistributed, revised, and remixed. I think this reading really put into perspective the lack of efficiency that our current education systems naturally presents by using closed resources, especially when considering the impact OER’s have on a student’s ability to enroll in, persist through, and complete a course. For me, this is somewhat of an answer to the question everyone asks when they’re a little kid of why all the world’s scientists don’t just get together and bring us into the future. It’s because a lot of the excellent resources our education systems use and develop, are contained within those educations systems themselves. On the topic of OEP’s, I have no experience with any of the recommendations the reading mentioned, but I think the last point made on the list was important. Specifically this point because I feel that this can be a very difficult step, identifying one’s own biases and shortcoming can be very difficult, especially because the intent is to limit any sort of bias or shortcomings when designing courses and instruction.
The third reading was very cool to me, as I am in POLI 369, Indigenous Ideas of Liberation, and we talked this week about creating Indigenous spaces within spaces that have already been created by white individuals with parallel motives. Through this course I have found that a lot of ideas have had similarities to Indigenous ways of knowing, especially the concept of open-learning as it embraces the individual. The individualism of open-learning can be very beneficial, as each person requires their own style of learning, and this is born out of experience. In Indigenous contexts, experience and context are important things to consider as they play a role in our relationships today, and as I learn more through this course and my degree in Indigenous studies, this extends to the relationship with learning.
I found this week to be my favorite so far, and the course really feels like it has come together in the last two weeks and my interest in the material has definitely increased since we started. Anyways, have a lovely evening! Thanks for reading.
Aiden
Coolidge, A., Andrzejewski, A., Ashok, A., Hyde, A. E. Z. W., Squires, D., Higginbotham, G., Barrett, I. with A., Ward, J., Moore, M., Nicholson, M., Jhangiani, R., DeRosa, R., Burns, S., Wagstaff, S., Robbins, T., & Mays, E. E. (2017, August 29). A guide to making open textbooks with students. A Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students. Retrieved July 19, 2022, from https://press.rebus.community/makingopentextbookswithstudents/
The Australian National University. (2019, April 11). Press. ANU. Retrieved July 19, 2022, from https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p197731/html/ch04.html?referer=&page=10#toc_marker-11
Hi Aiden!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Your course sounds super interesting! I have taken a couple Indigenous studies courses and I was so surprised that I never learned about any of the injustices Indigenous people have faced and continue to face during high school.
You’re right, eliminating biases can be difficult. This is why people often say that education and teaching is a political act because consciously or not, you are instilling your own biases in your students.
Thanks again for sharing 🙂
Hi Aiden!
Thank you for your post! I agree that this week’s topic was very interesting and there was a lot to consider. It can be difficult to acknowledge our own bias, but especially for teachers this is an extremely important thing to do. Teachers’ actions directly influence and affect their students and so they need to be aware of possible biases they have and work to address them. This article,https://neaedjustice.org/2019/10/11/5-things-educators-can-do-to-address-bias-in-their-school/ , mentions 5 ways educators can begin to deal with bias.
Hey Aiden! Thanks for your post 🙂
I do think that using more open pedagogical methods and using OERs would be very beneficial to the future of education! What challenges/barriers do you think currently exist that prevent their widespread use and application?
I completely agree with you that it’s limiting and often problematic to have knowledge ‘locked up’ behind a paywall. The UVIC databases hold so much information, yet we can only access it through the priviliage of being able to attend this university. In this course, and other similar courses, I tried to refer/link to as many open access documents as possible but I found that often times they were only available when I searched through the UVIC data base (not on Google Scholar/etc).
Do you think there’s concern about open resources being ‘less than’ or worse in quality than their paywall counterparts? If so, why? And does this then feed into school of thought that online learning will be subpar and more traditional formats will be reserved for the privileged? Paradoxically, isn’t this the very issue that open learning is trying to address? What are your thoughts here?
Hey! Thanks for your response, I think there is definitely concern about OER’s being worse than their paywall counterparts, although I think a lot of that can be attributed to stigma. The advancement of OER’s in the future will involve education and awareness on the nature of OER’s and education in a traditional sense, with resources such as this course! Further, I think the advancement and adoption of Indigenous knowledge and practices will also participate in the adoption of open learning.
Hello Aiden!
I have the same feelings about the course as you at this point. As you said, the content is coming together, with the readings being so eye-opening and insightful.
Concerning OERs, I also wondered how education systems consider them. The Mays reading demonstrated that OERs have such an incredible impact on students. Having accessible materials increases the likeliness for students to persist and finish courses and then, of course, to complete their degree.
Thanks for sharing!