BLOG: Current Happenings in OER

The Data Renaissance delves into the complexities of data's role in various industries and its broader impact on society. It highlights the challenges in investigating data practices, citing examples like TikTok, where algorithms and data handling are closely guarded secrets. The content, contributed by students under the guidance of an expert, covers a wide range of topics, including the ethical aspects of generative AI in education and the workplace, and case studies reflecting real-world experiences. This evolving text, intended to be updated with each class, serves as a dynamic resource for educators and students alike, offering insights and discussion guides for an in-depth understanding of the ever-changing landscape of data in our digital age.

“As I was developing a new course on the topic of Data & Society that would also meet general education requirements for my campus, I wanted students to understand how data is impacting and re-shaping the specific career fields in which they will be working. One of the things that I’ve discovered about teaching on topics of data and privacy over the years is that it is very important to make the issues personal for students, as this helps drive a connection and interest with the issues being discussed.”

— JJ Sylvia IV

This welcomed 2nd edition Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free Society is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the complexities that surround the topic of relationship violence and the help-seeking behaviors of survivors. This edition of the book is a critical guide to navigating the realities facing survivors and service providers and helps further identify the barriers and gaps that remain prevalent.

After the hundreds (thousands?) of hours trawling through online image collections since the Public Domain Review’s inception, we’ve decided it was time to create one of our own! We are really excited to share with you the launch of our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of more than 10,000 out-of-copyright historical images, free for all to explore and reuse.

We intend the archive to be a place of discovery, and to this end have developed various “views” to aid exploration:

• catalogue view, to search and browse by theme, style, date, and more;
• infinite view, for a more immersive experience of the collection;
• shuffle view, a tool to easily summon images in a serendipitous manner.

Dr. Karen Brown and Michal Yadlin from the College of Western Idaho and Charlotte Lee from Berkeley City College in California have each created an Open Educational Resource from their courses and/or programs.

See Exploring the Arts and Cultures of the World an OpenTextbook or an identical Pressbook version from the College of Western Idaho. This OER can serve as an introductory text for Humanities type courses or another example, Introduction to Global Studies is found on LibreText as a sociology course.

AUTHOR INFO:

Michal Yadlin: In 2022, our small humanities department decided to shift from survey courses to a more comprehensive global humanities course. As part of our curriculum development, another instructor and I took on the monumental task of compiling a global humanities textbook with more diverse content. Using multiple authors from our small (but diverse in teaching background and interests) humanities department to gather information provided us with a comprehensive and diverse resource for students and faculty.

Charlotte Lee: There has been a welcome uptick in Open Educational Resources for teaching global studies. In one recently completed project, several faculty from the California Community College system collaborated to author OER materials for teaching Introduction to Global Studies. The resulting materials include a peer-reviewed textbook, assessment resources for instructors, Powerpoint lecture slides, and additional resources for students. This project was funded by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI). Mellon/ACLS has also supported the creation of OER related to teaching units on "global China". Come learn about how these materials were created, where to find them, and ongoing improvements. 

Both Michal and Charlotte will be talking more about their work and how it developed at an upcoming event sponsored by Title VI National Resource Centers at the Institute for Global Studies (IGS) - University of Minnesota and the Center for Global Studies (CGS) - The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, in collaboration with Green River College (WA) and Ridgewater College (MN). The webinar will take place on January 31st at 2pm Eastern Time, US and you can register here.

For other opportunities and resources for educators, explore the National Resource Centers' shared website Teaching the World.