Supplement your Foreign Language class with OER
Presenters: Gemma Morawski and Ani Alcocer
The presentation will consist of presenting different OER that are used in our Language classrooms. The presenters will demonstrate how to use four different tools that have been helful in their own classes and will be a perfect addition to synchronous and asynchronous learning environments.
Learning Outcomes: – The public will learn how to use existing OER materials in their Foreign Language classes
– The public will learn how to use different tools in a distance learning environment or an in-person classroom.
Libros en Español: Creating Language Equity through Open Education
Presenters: Robin Miller, Juan Jesús Payán
Do a quick search for Open Educational Resources (OER) in any language other than English, and it quickly becomes clear that current OER materials lack linguistic diversity. In this session we will present a new digital texts project, Libros en español, a robust collection of Spanish language, open access texts, hosted on the City of New York’s (CUNY) instance of Manifold. We will introduce you to the Manifold publishing platform and to its new reading group function, which is a great way to foster student engagement through social annotation of digital texts. You will also see an example of how Manifold and Libros en español are currently being used at Lehman College (CUNY) to create an Open Education course, Conociendo a Galdós (Meeting Galdós). We hope that our presentation will inspire you to create and advocate for the development of Open Educational Resources in languages other than English at your own institution.
Learning Outcomes:
- Gain an understanding of the importance of Open Education/Open Educational Resource production in languages other than English.
- Learn about Manifold, an open-source publishing platform, and see an example of how it can be used to create a zero-textbook-cost course.
- See how Open Education/Open Educational Resources in Spanish can foster a greater appreciation and elevate voices from the Spanish-speaking World.
French-Language OER in Québec: Challenges and Opportunities
Presenters: Chloe Lei, Jean-Michel Lapointe
A recent report by Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) indicates that only 15% of French-language institutions mentioned any involvement in OER compared to 40% of English-language institutions in Canada.
In the primarily French-speaking province of Québec, OER development in higher education is relatively limited but there have been a number of initiatives recently to address the issue.
This lightning talk will discuss some of the challenges facing OER development in Québec, demonstrating OER advocacy in another language is so much more than just direct translations of resources, but requires significant time and efforts tailoring to the local context.
As well, two OER initiatives in the province will be highlighted: a joint project of 4 universities on the development of high-quality OER, as well as a network of OER advocates on the dissemination and sharing of knowledge and expertise.
Meet MetaDocencia: Volunteer Community Building for Teaching in Spanish, Online, and on Short Notice
Presenters: Nicolas Palopoli, Elio Campitelli, Laura Acion, Paola Corrales, Yanina Bellini Saibene
Synchronous and asynchronous online teaching was completely underutilized in Latin America before Covid-19. By early 2020, online higher education in Argentina was at the same stage as higher education had been fifteen years ago in the USA. On March 16th, 2020, all the in-person classes and training opportunities were canceled in Argentina due to the pandemic. As academics, researchers, and teachers with deep ties to the Latin American research and teaching community, we saw the need to train teachers in applying practical, easy-to-implement, and evidence-based teaching techniques that allow them to move their classes online effectively and on short notice. Hence, we founded MetaDocencia, an open, free, volunteer-lead, not-for-profit, educational organization and community.
MetaDocencia empowers Spanish-speaking instructors to teach effectively using evidence-based teaching practices. We develop and deliver reusable training resources on concrete and practical student-centered teaching methods. We also nurture an inclusive and collaborative educational community. We achieve our mission with the work of a fast-growing group of volunteers with experience in teaching technical skills, delivering online classes, and working remotely, both locally and globally. We actively participate in and even lead global open communities, such as The Carpentries, LatinR, and R-Ladies Global.
We have largely focused on a 3-hour workshop called “Introduction to Online Teaching Essentials”. This hands-on workshop builds on open educational resources to teach how to run a synchronous classroom and includes practical evidence-based tips for delivering an engaging online class. This is a first-steps workshop where we introduce all the basics from our teaching philosophy (e.g., code of conduct, open licensing, community building, privacy). Participants experience each of our tips and advices starting at pre-registration and stay in touch afterwards through our Slack. Since March 27th, 2020, we taught this workshop 38 times to a large fraction of the 1,100+ Spanish speaking teachers who registered their interest, with over 90% completion rate. All MetaDocencia’s services are free and are carried out through 100% volunteer work, with a small grant by Open Bioinformatics Foundation to cover infrastructure costs.
During this session we will share our experience, hoping that it will enlighten others who are also willing to build open and inclusive communities to improve education.
Learning Outcomes:
Attendants will get practical advice on how to prepare and deliver student-centered online workshops using good teaching practices. They will be presented with open educational resources to directly incorporate in their classrooms and the steps to replicate MetaDocencia in their local communities.
