Time and time again, research has shown that Open Educational Resources (OER) have a marked impact on student learning, particularly around accessibility and affordability.
Kingsborough Community College (KCC), a CUNY campus in Brooklyn, is home to a vibrant pre-college program for high school students, known as College Now (CN). Most KCC students are people of color, living in low-income households. When COVID wreaked havoc on New York, KCC students were disproportionately affected. Needless to say, CN students, taking courses for college credit at their high schools, usually before or after their traditional school day, were severely impacted. Accessing text books became an immediate issue. Furthermore, as enrollment at public colleges like KCC plummeted, the funding to support the purchase of what had been a $200 text book, disappeared. CN course coordinators, Paul Ricciardi and Michelle Turnbull immediately began searching for an OER that would accommodate the needs of the Humanities course they were overseeing. The objective of this Humanities class is to contextualize the arts (theatre, literature, visual arts, film) within the culture: what role does it play in shaping who we are, and how does it reflect a specific moment in time. When Turnbull and Ricciardi found none, the task became clear: develop an OER Humanities text that would support the pedagogical goals of the course, including maintaining the balance of creating academic rigor worthy of a college class, while being sensitive to the fact that these students are, in fact, in high school.
In this recorded presentation, Ricciardi and Turnbull will introduce participants to the highly collaborative process undertaken that lead to the creation of a vibrant OER for an early college Humanities course. From introducing attendees to OER research methods used to secure content for each unit, to a first look at their new Humanities OER, Ricciardi and Turnbull will reinforce the value and need for the creation of more OERs at the college level, high school level and beyond, AND, remind participants that of the very real possibility that they too, have the ability to create an OER, thus creating more accessibility to content within the institutions and communities they serve.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
- Comprehend that the creation of an OER is within reach
- Understand the collaborative process in which they might undertake to develop an OER
- Fully realize the relevant research methods needed to develop a Humanities OER
- Consider, with confidence, the possibility of developing an OER, as a highly valuable student resource
