The EDI Committee’s work supports CCCOER’s strategic plan represented in Pillar #1: Advocate for open educational practices to empower contributions from diverse learners and educators who have been underrepresented.
The OER movement is deeply rooted in ensuring equitable access to information, but there is more we can do to help increase equity, diversity, and inclusion in our resources and practices. The development and use of open educational resources has the potential to create equitable learning experiences for all students and give teachers the ability to create and customize content to meet the needs of their students.
Committee Members | Book Club | Facilitator Training | CCCOER EDI Resource List
What do we do?
- Develop projects addressing equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Identify ways to increase equity in the Open movement.
- Present and promote workshops on the intersections of EDI and OER.
- Identify methods of increasing the representation of marginalized educators and students in leadership positions. CCCOER Pillar 1 Objective 1.1
EDI Committee members
Emeritus
EDI Book Club
In 2020, CCCOER established the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee to explore the intersection of Open Education and Equity. The committee has two areas of focus: the Next Steps which prioritizes presentations and professional development; and the Community of Practice committee which provides an opportunity for Open Education practitioners to discuss the issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The Community of Practice committee developed an EDI book club and held book club meetings during the summer of 2021. The first book selected was From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education by Tia Brown McNair, Estela Mara Bensimon, Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux, and Lynn Pasquerella. Multiple facilitators were recruited with two facilitators working together on each meeting. The OEG Connect platform was used to share the community norms and discuss issues related to the book.
This was a topical read, as we are seeing many organized efforts in the OER community focused on EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion). It was great to do this deeper dive on equity with colleagues across different schools and systems.
-Book Club Participant
In 2022, the CCCOER EDI committee led a second summer book club, and Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching by Rita Kumar and Brenda Refaei was selected as the book. Additionally, based on feedback from book club participants, a Facilitator’s Handbook and Facilitator’s Training was developed. The training and the facilitation handbook emphasized the importance of inclusive facilitation.
What participants had to say about the book club
I learned so much from others from institutions around the country. It was an eye-opening experience that I would recommend to anyone
That was a safe space for honest discussion
[What I liked about the book club were] the judgment-free conversations; the book itself — I learned SO MUCH!
I really appreciated the perspectives of others. I also really liked having a structure for reading FEW2ET because I don’t think I would have read it otherwise
CCCOER Facilitator’s Training
The facilitator’s training provides book club facilitators with an overview of their role during sessions. Topics include job responsibilities, pre-session preparation, discussion forum activities, a session plan, and facilitation tips. The development of the training was in response to feedback from 2021 book club participants for more structured discussion.
CCCOER Facilitator’s Handbook
The CCCCOER Facilitator’s Handbook was developed for individuals facilitating book club discussions, however, the content can apply to any type of facilitated discussion or activity around issues surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion. Sections cover the facilitator’s role, pre-session preparation, use of OEG Connect, activity planning, self-reflection tips, and community norms.
Community Norms
The EDI Book Club Community Norms were developed to ensure that the Zoom room was a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for discussions exploring the intersections of equity, diversity, inclusion, and open education. Facilitators read aloud the community norms at beginning of each book club session, ensuring that participants understand and reflect upon the purpose of the community before the discussion.
Facilitator Certificate
A facilitator’s certificate was developed in 2022 to recognize the work of our facilitators. Each facilitator that completes the facilitator training and facilitates a book club session receives this certificate in recognition of their effort.
Learning objects of the facilitator training and handbook
- Lead a virtual book club focused on equity, diversity, and/or inclusion even if you’re not an expert on the subject.
- Establish and enforce norms for book group conversations about EDI with diverse participants.
- Create an inclusive space for discussions that contribute to the advancement of equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education.
- Demonstrate knowledge of actionable steps to lead a community of practice for facilitators with a focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Engage and scale inclusive community leadership strategies for non-subject matter experts.
CCCOER EDI Resource List
To better connect the Open Education Community with EDI resources, the EDI Committee has developed a community-curated resource list.
View the CCCOER EDI Resource List
Have an EDI resource you would like to add to the list?
Submit an entry form.
If you would like to contribute more than one resource, please reach out to andrea.scott@slcc.edu and waydeo@hawaii.edu.