Open educational resources: bespoke learning materials at bargain basement prices.

The benefits of open education and open educational resources (OER) are many, and another article listing those isn’t really necessary; just go here, here, or here for a wee taste of the life-altering elixir that is OER. (Don’t be put off by the cult-like exuberance of open educators; like all converts, they have a bit of a proselytizing streak, but it’s all in the name of providing students with the best education possible, so their zeal is understandable.)

One aspect of OER that really deserves greater airplay is its ability to “localize content.” Commercial textbooks are written with as broad an audience as possible in mind, so they can’t be expected to anticipate every particular community or classroom in which they’ll be used. If the textbook doesn’t provide enough connection to the particular context in which you’re teaching, you can of course add supplemental material or your own lectures and explanations to provide students with connections from the universal to the particular, from the broad themes contained in the text to the more local or immediate contexts in which the learners actually find themselves. Another approach taken by publishers is to provide Canadian editions of American textbooks in order to provide chapters or sections that prepare students for the Canadian context of the topic, which is especially useful in fields where laws and demographics form a large part of the course content.

The beauty of OER is that instructors don’t have to supplement or work around the textbook; they can modify, adapt, and revise the actual textbook itself in order to locate it in the particular context of their course. This has always struck me as brilliant, really. By providing flexible and open licensing of their content, authors are sharing their resources and basically saying “I think the content here is good, but you should go ahead and add to it, adapt it to your situation, and make it even better because you’ve tailored it to your needs.” A bespoke suit always fits better than one off the rack, but instead of costing a fortune, OER are bespoke learning materials that are free to use and adapt. I’ve never met an instructor who was 100% satisfied with the textbook they’re using, so having the permission to modify it simply makes good sense.

I have recently come to realize, however, that localizing content can have another benefit. As we struggle with the switch to online teaching and learning, we are looking for ways to ease students (and even instructors) into the virtual environment. We spend a lot of time talking about the kinds of approaches we can take to foster student engagement, and a lot of that discussion centres on building community online. Yet we can’t ignore engagement with content. That discussion is dominated by learning activities, but the content itself needs to be considered as well. By using OER to localize course content, we’re taking another step along the engagement path. Students will feel that the course really was conceived and built with them in mind, and that can do a lot to encourage their buy-in and participation.

For Fall Term 2020 this blog will be exploring issues informing education during a pandemic. It is appearing as part of a graduate seminar on online teaching and learning. You can read more about the seminar or see the other posts.

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