So many acronyms! I am learning about all the programs and groups promoting open education by watching the Open Ed 2021 sessions! Tonight, I watched the session entitled “Introducing the Open Education Cross-Canada Coffee Chat (OECCCC)” with Lise Brin, Ann Ludbrook, Kate Gibbings, Olga Perkovic, and Paula Parlette from libraries in Canada and all members of a task group. CARL OEWG was formed in 2019 to “provide opportunities for Librarians across Canada to develop capacity in supporting for open education including supporting CoPs.” Ludbrook explained the history of the working group and inspiration from SPARC. The working group did a scan of existing communities of practice networks in Canada and wanted to ensure there are bilingual and/or francophone opportunities and to include indigenous perspectives. Brin spoke about the discussions they had and how they decided to set up Coffee Chats: regular informal Zoom meetings for one hour once a month. The sessions are not recorded. Brin mentioned how they have invited speakers to include a variety of perspectives and maybe recruit new members. Some of the topics for Coffee Chats were Open Ed week sharing, fair dealing for OER, accessibility in open education, open pedagogy, francophone OER, open education collaborations… I did not realize the challenges with francophone and bilingual sessions. Perkovic explained how to keep the sessions informal, they decided early on to not record the chats. Notes are taken on a common document of notes. How cool! The running notes are open and participants include their names and serve as a record of the call. Perkovic mentioned that keeping up with the speakers and incorporating information accurately may be challenging. Gibbings explained how they defined their community of practice and used the CARL Code of Conduct: “a community of practice is a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” Gibbings talked about how they recruit speakers from beyond their networks and try different polls and activities to create a welcoming environment. Parlette talked about ways of maintaining conversations. Parlette also mentioned how they have worked to improve their sessions and determine better engagement strategies. Frequency of events and steady improvements by incorporating feedback were mentioned as critical considerations. Perkovic shared tips for starting a community of practice:
- Use the communication channels that already exist
- Let participants give feedback
- Make room for regional and diverse voices
- Consider having expert speakers to jumpstart conversations
- Schedule consistent events, and
- Try to make if fun and casual.
I was impressed by the organization and thoughtfulness of this community! Their suggestions and format may be useful for others starting similar discussions. Their tips will help me plan for the RIOS community coming up in March and April.
