FOOTHILL COLLEGE IHE Accessibility in OER Implementation Guide
Overview
In this section, you and your team will engage in a Landscape Analysis to uncover key structures and supports that can guide your work to support Accessibility in OER. You may or may not answer all of these questions, but this is an offering.
Section One: Landscape Analysis for Accessibility in OER in Local Context
In this section, you and your team will engage in a Landscape Analysis to uncover key structures and supports that can guide your work to support Accessibility in OER. We exnourage to explore some of the questions from each category. You may or may not answer all of these questions, but this is an offering. We ask that you complete Parts One, Two and Six.
Part One: Initial Thoughts
What is your team's initial goal for this series?
- to familiarize ourselves with the principles and tools of accessibility in OER
Part Two: Introductory probing questions:
- What does accessibility look like in our organization? How do we measure accessibility?
- Online environment - faculty just learning how to make courses accessible. It is still an add-on/retrofit rather than embedded in design. Use Pope Tech to gauge accessibility. Focus on bringing awareness and learning how to make (online) materials accessible. It is the P button; it is not Bruno the little guy (he is not accurate).
- At a recent student forum many asked for accessibility. "If there aren't captions I'm not watching it." They use mobile devices - need headers to find what they need. Colors are also problematic - too creative with colors = hard for students.
- Physical accessibility - problems with doors not working (the push button does not work!)
- F2F instructors still go through Canvas certification so they get exposure to accessibility that way.
- If other accessibility accommodations needed the students work with DRC (Disability Resource Center) to get their specific needs met. (Ask DRC)
- How to reengage faculty who went thru POCR (Peer Online Course Review) in one of the first cohorts
- MEETINGS need to be accessible!
What does OER look like in our organization? How do we measure access to OER?
- Optional, increasingly used.
- Only a fraction of ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) sections use OER. Many are ZTC b/c no text, etc.
- Still some hesitation/concern around "quality"
- ZTC grant in motion, movement to support OER adoption.
- Best traction is with OERs that faculty feel they can use as-is, off the shelf
- Opportunity to work together in the discipline? Others who teach the same course
- OER language added to the new "Guidelines for Equitable Course Outlines of Record" document!
- Collection development librarian has OER in position description - being more formalized as part of librarian job responsibilities. Becoming part of what the library does.
- The library’s LibGuide on OER is robust. But faculty do not know about them!
Part Three: Clarifying questions for accessibility:
What is the organizational structure that supports accessibility?
Who generates most of the accessibility structures/conversation in our organization?
Where do most educators get support with accessibility?
What content areas might have the largest gaps in access to accessibility?
Part Four: Clarifying questions for OER:
What is our organizational structure that supports curricular resources? (what does curriculuar resources mean?)
What is our organizational structure that supports OER?
Who generates most of the curricular resources in our organization?
Where do most educators get support with curricular resources?
What content areas might have the largest gaps in access to curricular resources/OER?
Part Five: Clarifying questions for Faculty learning and engagement:
What Professional Learning (PL) structures have the best participation rates for our educators?
What PL structures have the best "production" rates for our educators?
What incentive do we have to offer people for participating in learning and engagement?
Who are the educators that would be most creative with accessibility and OER?
Who are the educators that would benefit the most from accessibility and OER?
Part Six: Final Probing questions:
What is our current goal for Accessibility in OER and why is that our goal?
to familiarize ourselves and our colleagues with the principles and tools of accessibility in OER
Who have we not yet included while thinking about this work?
- College governance committees including Academic Senate and COOL (Committee on Online Learning)
- DRC, Student Services, Educational Technology Services (ETS,) ASFC (Associated Students of Foothill College) (student voice)
What barriers remain when considering this work?
- Knowledge of the resources
- Understanding the how of OER
- Concerns about the quality of OER
- Time: learning, finding, and curating OER
- Financial incentives
- Goes against “past practice”
What would genuine change look like for our organization for this work?
- A certain percentage of courses using accessible OER
- Verifying current OER texts in use are accessible
- What classes would have the biggest impact on our students for adopting OER
Section Two: Team Focus (Finish before May 25th to share during Implementation Session Two)
Identifying and Describing a Problem of Practice
The following questions should help your team ensure that you are focusing your collaboration.
- What is your Team’s specific goal for this series? You may consider using AEM Quality Indicators for Creating Accessible Materials to help add to or narrow your work. Written guidelines through adoption of Pope Tech dashboard .Comprehensive learning opportunities through the revision and promotion of OER LibGuide
- What other partners might support this work? Online Learning, Library, Professional Development Coordinator, DRC
- What is your desired timeframe for this work? The next academic year, 2023-24
- How will you include diverse voices and experiences in this work? Working throughout the campus, visits to different groups to build awareness of importance of project
- Please create a Focus Question that explains your goal and provides specific topics that you would like feedback on. This is what you will share in your breakout groups for feedback. How can we promote and encourage adoption of accessible OER
- (Save for during May 25th's session.) What feedback did you receive from another team during the May 25th Implementation Session? We engaged in conversation about challenges at both of our institutions.
Section Three: Team Work Time and Next Steps (Complete by the end of Implementation Session Three)
Sharing and Next Steps
What was your redefined goal for this series?
Promoting the Pope Tech dashboard and Revised/Accessible OER LibGuide
What does your team want to celebrate?
Working together and learning more.
What did your team accomplish? If you have links to resources, please include them here.
Expanded our knowledge about accessibility in OER.
What are your team’s next steps?
Breakdown our redefined goal into smaller strategic steps.