My OER projects
Fostering
Engagement:
Facilitating
Online
Courses
in
Higher
Education
Humanizing
Virtual
Learning
High
Quality
Online
Courses
What prompted you to become involved in OER?
I believe that building knowledge and creating quality learning resources and experiences is done best when there is the opportunity for collaboration. Creating OERs is a beautiful way of putting ideas and resources out into the world so they may have reach beyond my immediate sphere of influence and so that they may continue to develop and have a life of their own. If the ideas and work are of value and helpful to others I want them to be reused, revised, and redeveloped because then there is the potential for that work to grow, be improved upon, transformed, and have impact in ways I may not have imagined myself.
What excites you most about your OER project?
I
co-authored
and
contributed
to
3
OERs,
all
focused
on
teaching
and
facilitating
online
courses.
What
excites
me
is
hearing
the
positive
feedback
for
other
instructors
and
ASU
staff
at
other
institutions
who
value
and
use
these
resources:
Fostering
Engagement:
Facilitating
Online
Courses
in
Higher
Education
Humanizing
Virtual
Learning
High
Quality
Online
Courses
I
have
also
been
involved
in
the
instructional
design
of
online
courses
that
have
used
and
adapted
OERs
for
use
in
the
course.
A lot of instructors are hesitant about OER. Do you share those hesitations? How do you address them?
When it comes to open content, you certainly need to have your critical lens on. Not every OER is great quality, however, the same can be true for published work. Adapting OERs (that have the CC license that allows for derivatives) can save time writing/authoring and online course from scratch and/or can greatly improve the quality of the finished product. I am not hesitant about creating OERs, as I believe in the free flow of ideas and I do not feel a strong urge to claim copyright on all of my ideas and work. Especially when it comes to teaching materials. I believe more uptake and creation of OERs will create more space for real innovation. I would love to see OERs published in a crowd-sourced peer-review portal, which would make finding quality OERs so much easier.
Can other instructors interested in OER reach out to you?
Yes, at kristin.wilson@uwaterloo.ca.