Open Education Week

Open Education Week, March 10 – 15, is an international celebration to promote educational materials that are accessible, modifiable, and FREE! Throughout the week colleges, universities and other institutions will highlight the importance of making education available to everyone.

Clark College has contributed to the open education movement in a variety of ways. Several Clark faculty participated in designing and teaching courses for the Open Course Library. During 2013-14 five instructors received grants to redesign their courses to use Open Educational Resources (OER). The course are ENGL&101: English Composition I, PSYC&100: General Psychology, METR 101: Atmosphere and the Environment, BMED 137: Therapeutic Communications in Health Professions, and NTEC 220: Introduction to Network Services. The goal is that the instructors involved with this project will be teaching their OER courses by Fall 2014. The project was made possible through a Clark College Foundation Funds Allocation grant.

Celebrate Open Education Week by participating in two free webinars on Tuesday, March 11 at 9 and 11 a.m. Pacific Time. Expanding access for learners is a core value of the open education movement but if instructional materials are not designed with accessibility in mind, the opposite effect can result. Hear from experts in teaching and learning with accessibility from The Open University, National Federation of the Blind, California State University System, MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), and the OpenCourseWare Consortium.

Accessibility of OERs for Diverse Learners and Guidelines for Dyslexia in Modern Language Learning
Time: Tuesday, March 11, 9:00 am (PDT)
Login: http://goo.gl/93cwSr

Join us for this webinar discussion on issues relating to accessibility of OERs for learners with diverse abilities. The discussion will focus on a number of questions such as: Is accessibility support in OERs ‘required’ or just ‘nice to have’? How can we achieve full inclusion of OERs without stifling openness and innovation? This will be set in the wider environment such as legal context, pedagogic agendas, and technical issues.

Results from the Dyslexia in Modern Language Distance Learning staff development project will also be shared. Highlights include publishing the Guide to Good Practice as an OER and the project’s impact on tutor’s engagement with open educational practices and online collaboration.

Challenges and Strategies for Promoting Awareness of Open and Accessible Educational Resources
Time: Tuesday, March 11, 11:00 am (PDT)
Login: http://goo.gl/YeBNEz

This webinar focuses on creating awareness of the need for open and accessible educational resources to improve learning outcomes for all students regardless of disabilities. Sharing the struggles that college students with disabilities face, efforts by the National Federation of the Blind, MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), the California State University system, and the OpenCourseWare Consortium to enhance educational experiences for all learners will be highlighted.

Learn about the range of accessibility issues that need to be addressed and the open educational services that can enable the OER community to provide more accessible educational resources and services. Presenters will invite the audience to join in an online community for sharing accessibility expertise and the discovery and delivery of open educational resources.