The lack of representation in educational resources of all types has been an ongoing concern. This session will discuss strategies that can be used to build more inclusive resources that mirror our student populations and experiences. The goal is to create OER that are for ALL our students.
We will share a framework for reviewing Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) in Open Educational Resources. Though the framework can, to a certain extent, walk you through what to assess, it is best to have a background in the concepts of IDEA. In other words, knowledge of and training on equity, cultural awareness, inclusion, etc. are foundational to this process.
This framework includes consideration for representing all groups, such as LGBTQIA, people with diverse abilities, people from various races, ethnicities, and cultures, students from low-income backgrounds, as well as any other historically underrepresented groups.
Even with training, we will always have unidentified blindspots. This can be mitigated by asking individuals from diverse backgrounds to complete a survey assessing the inclusivity of the textbook. We will share a sample survey used to evaluate our Human Biology textbook.
Finally, we will share our journey through this process with our textbook. This textbook, like many others, did not fully and appropriately represent our student populations. We also found that some of these gaps resulted in misleading information. We made numerous small changes to the book including using names from different cultures in the case studies; using “they” pronouns, and replacing the images to more accurately represent the diversity of our students. We also included the work of scientists from a broader representational group. And, we added a more current understanding of biological sex and reproductive strategies to counter hetero normative assumptions. These changes make the textbook more inclusive and give students a more accurate understanding of the discipline.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
- Develop a strategy that can be used to build more inclusive OER
- Analyze the inclusivity of a given work
- Identify resource to help with increasing representation
