It was a long day, and we got data back from the sequencing run! I am tired… and happy. Tonight I watched another panel from the Open Ed 2021 conference entitled “Zoom In: A Faculty Panel on Creating Renewable Assignments Using Lambert’s Social Justice Framework.” Lindsey Gumb, Fellow in Open Education at the New England Board of Higher education led the discussion. This topic is of interest to me as I am trying to figure out how to do a better job encouraging participants to learn through Renewable Assignments. Gumb explained what the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) formed a regional Community of Practice (Co-OP) “for faculty to learn about and implement open pedagogy into their courses through Lambert’s (2018) social justice framework. The regional group was awarded a $250,000 grant and has worked to share materials openly. The objectives as mentioned by Gumb were to:
- Extend pedagogical flexiblity through OER licensisng as a lever.
- Explore student successs through Open Pedagogy.
- Engage key leadership.
A key question the group focused on was using OER as “a tool for more impactful teaching.” The research questions focused on using OER as a tool for teaching and learning. Gump talked about Lambert’s framework of social justice and open education (2018). The social justice principles from the framework are: redistributive justice, recognition justice, and representational justice. For this session, the presenters focused on representational justice. Their faculty community of practice included public webinars and representation from a large region from eight northeastern states. The goal was to help faculty design and create a renewable assignment. Gump then introduced the panelists. Panelists mentioned that they all earned something from these sessions. Panelists shared success stories and how they created and improved resources. Learning what can be done with assignments is encouraging, inspiring, and, as Gumb put it, can help normalize this type o resource and activity.
