Guiding Questions for Creating Equitable OER with Intention

Excerpt from “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in OER” by Josie Gray and Clint Lalonde in Getting Started: OER Publishing at BCcampus.

Getting Started

These guiding questions are intended to support OER authors and contributors in thinking through various aspects of equity as it relates to educational resources and making a plan for how they will ensure the OER they create is equitable from the beginning. The questions can be used to:

Document the vision, intentions, and commitments for the OER from the beginning of the project.
Identify areas where more learning, research, and support may be needed.
Communicate the work and consideration that went into the creation and design of the resource to future users of the OER.

The guiding questions are grouped into six areas of consideration: openness, pedagogy, accessibility, positionality, Indigenous perspectives, and knowledge equity and social justice. These areas of consideration are not comprehensive, but they are things BCcampus has identified as being important to improve equity, access, and quality of learning for students.

These guiding questions are meant to be used at two points:

At the beginning of an OER project, everyone involved with the project can use these questions to think through different aspects of the project and make a plan for what they want the resource to be and how they are going to do it. Note that many of these guiding questions are complex and don’t have straight forward answers. It is also unlikely that one person will be able to answer them all. Use the questions as a jumping off point for discussion and reflection and to identify where you need more support/resources.
At the end of an OER project, the questions can be used again to reflect on the work and considerations that went into the OER and communicate those things explicitly to future users, including instructors who want to adopt or adapt the resource, students, and the general public. For example, this could take the form of a preface or author statement that is included with the resource.

Areas of Consideration

Openness

Why do you want this resource to be “open”?
How might you design this resource so it can be easily used and adapted by others?
How might openness inform how you approach the creation of the resource?
How might this resource support the use of open pedagogy?

Resources

Pedagogy

How will this resource support student learning?
What pedagogical frameworks or models guide the creation of this resource?
In what learning environments do you expect this resource to be used (i.e., online, blended, face-to-face)?

Resources

Some examples of pedagogical models or frameworks include experiential learning, reflective practice, didactic instruction, social-constructivist learning, inquiry-based learning, active learning, problem-based learning, place-based learning, learning sciences, authentic learning, and peer instruction.

Accessibility

How will you ensure people with disabilities will have equal access to learning throughout this resource?
How will this resource use plain language practices to ensure information is easy to understand?
How will Universal Design for Learning (UDL) be incorporated in this resource?
How might this resource allow people to access it in multiple ways? For example, on both computer and mobile devices and print.

Resources

Positionality

Reflect on your own perspectives, societal position, and experiences. This can include your:

Social identities (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship, age, class, disability)
Relationship to the land you live and work on
Experiences of privilege and/or marginalization
Academic and/or professional background
Political, philosophical and theoretical beliefs and values

With these in mind, consider the following questions:

How do your identities and lived experiences influence your approach and understanding of the subject of the OER in general and this resource in particular?
If working with a group, whose perspectives are represented in the group? Whose are missing?

Resources

Definition: Positionality is “the social and political context that creates your identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability status. Positionality also describes how your identity influences, and potentially biases, your understanding of and outlook on the world.”^[1]
Positionality and Intersectionality
The price of positionality: assessing the benefits and burdens of self-identification in research methods

Indigenous perspectives

How will you ensure this resource incorporates the perspectives, ways of knowing, and pedagogies of local Indigenous nations?
Will this resource involve collaboration and building relationships with local Indigenous communities and people?
How has colonialism influenced and informed this field of study? How might you address that through this resource?

Resources

Knowledge equity and social justice

How will you ensure a diversity of perspectives, experiences, and people are present throughout the resource in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and is not othering? This includes things like images, case studies, examples, and names.
How might this resource de-centre the dominant culture and ways of knowing?
How might your resource address social inequities and issues?
How will you ensure that you meaningfully engage with the work of authors, researchers, and organizations from a diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences throughout the resource? This includes but is not limited to race, class, gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and disability.

Resources

Getting Started: OER Publishing at BCcampus by the BCcampus OER Production Team is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.