In this insightful presentation, a team of educators and instructional designers explain how they are reimagining the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) through a student-centered, social justice-driven framework.
Rather than producing simple, static textbooks, they are building complete courses — including text, activities, assessments, and rubrics — that are modular, accessible, culturally inclusive, and adaptable for different teaching styles, institutions, and student needs.
Their work is grounded in critical race theory and equity-centered pedagogy, ensuring diverse voices, viewpoints, and student experiences are embedded at every level.
Some key elements of their approach include:
Collaborative Creation Across Institutions: Faculty from multiple Minnesota State colleges and universities, alongside instructional designers, technologists, librarians, and external reviewers, work together to build OER that reflect a range of expertise and perspectives.
Accessibility and Inclusion: Materials are vetted by student testers using assistive technologies. Content is structured to be easily adaptable and accessible to all learners.
Customizable Learning Materials: Instructors can “build” their courses modularly, using interactive tools to filter activities and assessments by standard or topic — like choosing items from a buffet tailored to their needs.
Sustainable and Renewable Resources: Their model includes plans for regular revision cycles and maintenance, preventing OER from becoming outdated "internet litter" and ensuring long-term relevance.
Student-Centered Design: Courses prioritize student engagement and choice. Instead of traditional disposable assessments (like quizzes and essays), they include activities that let students co-create knowledge, express learning in multiple formats, and build meaningful connections with material.
Social Justice Framework: Every aspect — from content to pedagogy to assessment — is shaped to promote redistributive, recognitional, and representational justice.
The team emphasized that faculty alone cannot — and should not — bear the burden of creating high-quality, socially just OER. True success requires building infrastructure-level support: involving librarians, technologists, accessibility experts, and project managers from the start.
They shared challenges too:
Time and human resources are major barriers.
Institutional silos and union contracts can create collaboration hurdles.
Skepticism about OER’s legitimacy among some faculty persists.
Faculty onboarding and trust-building are critical for successful collaboration.
Key Takeaways for Building Better OER:
Treat OER creation like any other essential educational service — with dedicated teams, not one-off projects.
Embed equity, accessibility, and student voice from the beginning.
Build modular, flexible, and sustainable resources that evolve over time.
Foster strong, trusting, and inclusive relationships among team members — not just work partnerships, but human connections.
Final Thought
This video challenges traditional assumptions about OER creation. It calls for a paradigm shift: from solo projects to collaborative ecosystems, from static textbooks to living courses, and from access alone to justice and inclusion at the heart of open education.
The future of OER isn’t just about saving students money — it’s about building a more equitable, dynamic, and inclusive educational landscape for everyone.
Share this post