How do we create a space for students in a general education course to practice history, to think critically, and to center their own experiences? In this session our interdisciplinary team will share our experiences with the development of an oral history project that focuses on social change in which students engage with history, memory, and archive building through the development of a class website and individual digital projects. We will hear from students about their perspectives on creating an open archive through a digital project that centers authorship learning.
Over the course of five years, this project has evolved and become more sophisticated as we engage more deeply with the tenets of Critical Digital Pedagogy and Open Pedagogy. Through this evolution, we have seen how the project plays a critical role in allowing students to engage with diverse perspectives. By completing a scaffolded digital project students develop their critical thinking skills while reflecting on how their personal narratives shape their understanding of the world; it allows students to engage in inclusive environments; and it encourages them to expand their own thinking while empathizing with other ways of being. Participants will hear from the instructor, students, and Library faculty and staff about how Open Pedagogy and Open Educational Resources can be centered in a traditional discipline like history. Instead of using a textbook that overwhelms students by emphasizing names and dates, our approach humanizes and centers the art of storytelling to showcase the excitement and passion of experiencing and exploring history. Content and discussion during the session will focus on the evolution of the projects, the role of an interdisciplinary team, and the joys and challenges of using Open Pedagogy. Participants will also have an opportunity to consider their own open practices and the role of Critical Digital Pedagogy.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
- Recognize the need for an interdisciplinary community as a key component to teaching and learning with open
- Value student experiences and voices by listening to reflections from student scholars
- Recall the purpose of openly sharing emotional oral histories
- Reflect on the joys and challenges of using open pedagogy practices that center “authorship learning”
- Become familiar with the role of Critical Digital Pedagogy in open work and interdisciplinary projects
