Jeff Gallant is the Program Director of Affordable Learning Georgia and moderated the Open Ed 2021 session entitled “Data for All: Experiences, Current Strategies, and The Future of Open Education Program Data.” Amy Hofer is the Statewide Open Education Program Director at Open Oregon Educational Resources. Sophie Rondeau is the Assessment & E-Resources Program Analyst at VIVA with numerous institutions in Virginia. Dave Ernst is the Executive Director at the Open Education Network (OEN) and spoke about the Dashboard tool they developed. I did not know that the Open Education Network has 1,500 member institutions! Urooj Nizami is the Open Education Strategist at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and I have had the pleasure of learning from Urooj through an RLOE session. Nizami mentioned that KPU is an undergraduate-focused institution, a fact I didn’t know. The first question asked was how these organizations and partnerships collect and manage the data they generate from open initiatives. Nizami spoke about using data to decolonize and the challenge is interpreting the data. Ernst then responded to how the OEN dashboard works and the challenges to use the tool collaboratively to answer questions. Ernst highlighted how if they are going to gather data from the community, they need to gather as a community to decide how to use and collect the information. Gallant spoke about providing instructors with the ability to change the features of courses with alt textbooks, for example. However, he also mentioned the challenges and limitations of the system. Hofer spoke about how their program grew tremendously and they can no longer work with spreadsheets effectively. They are now using Airtable and working with a contractor to transform the data into a usable format. Rondeau is working on a MySQL database with the goal for member institutions to eventually be able to review the data through a visualizing tool on the web. Gallant then asked the question of who in this area is doing a good job using data, and he mentioned Bay View Analytics is an example. Nizami mentioned using Power BI and the assessment office. Hofer spoke about connecting with others using Airtable and the importance of finding colleagues using the same tool. The last panel question was how data can inform programs. Nizami explained how data helps inform their grant funding program. Hofer has used data to report back to state and campus representatives, including cumulative adoptions and savings. Rondeau talked about using the data to share with campuses and bust myths, especially at more affluent institutions to address the myth of no student need at these institutions. What a good point to keep reminding us all about! Gallant then shared a GoogleDoc with several questions. The first question was: how do you use data for your open project? There were several people who shared their new positions and initiatives. Most needed to log data and show trends to their stakeholders, funders, and universities. Another question was about solutions people had, and several participants listed continued surveying and institutional support are helpful. Some mentioned using their networks to learn from peers, including following an Excel expert on social media! Nizami asked about how much longer do we have to prove the value of open with data. This activity of crowdsourcing through structured questions was fantastic. This session made me think about the importance of continuously documenting the use and connections made through open educational practices and the opportunities for systematic studies.
