Geoff Keston, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Technical Communication at Temple University, presented at Open Ed 2021 on “Helping Undergraduates Become Open Access Learners.” Keston started by explaining that open learning is a challenge because learners are often used to finding all the resources in one site. Keston emphasized that “open access learning” is challenging because it requires using materials from different places… and students may not be used to this approach. Keston is writing an open access book on STEM Writing and believes that we have to adapt to a new style of teaching and learning. Keston shared an example of an open access book with everything for a course in one site and embedded active learning prompts. However, Keston mentioned that in an open-access setting, students may be inundated with numerous resources. To become open access learners, students need to make sense of this information. Keston spoke about adjusting our mindsets to pull together open resources. To help students, we can build frameworks to understand concepts and ideas. Another approach to building frameworks could be creating organizational charts, cause and effect, and societal frameworks. Keston also thinks that metacognition is important as open access learners reflect on their process. Keston also stressed the importance of reflection and teaching students the habit of looking back and learning from what they have done. Keston explained that we should become open access educators by forming communities and remixing materials AND helping other people remix our materials. I thought that Keston’s point about going beyond sharing on a webpage and creating activities that are designed to be remixed. “Invitations to remix” can include simplifying, expanding, and changing materials. Keston ended by inviting people to reach out and help shape the forthcoming book.
