Natalie Miller is a Computer Science major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. While at College of the Canyons (COC) she was employed by the college and helped build their OER program. Now at Cal Poly, she is working to raise student and faculty awareness of OER, in addition to being one of eight California state university and community college students selected to launch the statewide OER Student Advocacy Network.
Tell me a little bit about yourself. What is your major? Can you tell us about your college journey?
I am a Computer Science Major, Entrepreneur Minor who transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from College of the Canyons (COC). While at College of the Canyons I earned ASs in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics, as well as a Certificate in Web Design.
My college journey has become a unique one because of Open. I decided to go to community college right out of high school because I had gotten into colleges, but I wanted to strive higher, I didn’t want to settle. I felt that being at home for a little longer, and starting fresh in an environment I was more familiar with would be good for me, and it was. During my three years at COC, I set my bar high, strived for the three degrees, and decided the best way to succeed was to get involved. During my first year of COC I got my first job on campus at the Health Center where I was hired to help clean up their website, but also ended up learning a ton about suicide prevention, mental health, physical health, and gave classroom talks on sexual assault prevention. I also joined the Honor program and joined the honors society on campus ‘Phi Theta Kappa’, where I became the officer of membership/marketing a year later.
My second year at COC was when I was recruited for the OER student position. A family friend of mine had heard about the position and said I would be perfect for it. She encouraged me to apply, so I did. I had no idea what the job was about, but I trusted her judgment, and she said I would be the best one to do it which was a huge compliment. From there I scheduled the interview, went to the interview, and it ended up being a ‘what day should we start you?’ conversation. Taking the first step into the unknown was exciting, and as I started getting more comfortable in the position, I succeeded in contributing because I was given the freedom to run with the program, and I understood the value of freedom and how much was possible. Between my extracurriculars, GPA, and my work; I contribute most of my success getting into schools like Cal Poly and USC to the OER job.
Natalie Miller was awarded the first Open Education Student Award in 2018. She received her award at the 2018 Open Education Conference held at the Delft University of Technology in Delft, Netherlands.
Once I came to Cal Poly it took a long time to get integrated into the new program and make new communities, but after about two quarters I felt more successful. My third quarter as Cal Poly Student, I was also awarded the first Student Award from the global Open Education Consortium in 2018. Taking a week of the quarter off to go to the Netherlands was a challenge, but I was so honored to be recognized for my work and even more excited to meet individuals involved in Open from around the world. One of my favorite parts about being involved with the Open community is the openness and welcoming feeling of all of the community.
During my time at Cal Poly, I had a job on campus with Resnet (Residential Networks), got involved in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and Cal Poly Entrepreneurs (CPE), led the off-campus Cal Poly Lofts housing community, got initiated into became the Vice President of Membership for Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority, and lastly was invited to be the only transfer student to be a 2019 Cal Poly Champion.
After I was presented the first Student Award from the global Open Education Consortium I have had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker for around 5 conferences/summits (online and in-person), and have been invited to multiple Open Education conferences as well as heading the Open Education Advocates.
What barriers, if any, have you encountered that have made it difficult for you to attend college and stay on track to complete your program (degree, transfer, certificate)?
Being a transfer student as well as being a female in a male-dominated industry has made my journey more difficult. I have received judgments, criticisms, and different treatment and verbal commentary for being a member of both communities. It took me a long time to find communities with female engineers/ female computer scientists as well as communities with transfers which ended up helping me a ton because then I had people who understood my struggles and helped me find additional resources I needed to succeed. Also being in a major with so many required classes has made completion difficult. Currently is it common for Engineers at Cal Poly to take 5 years to graduate from college, but the truth is that means the degree is much more expensive. If it wasn’t for community college, I would have a much harder time affording my journey.
How did you first hear about Open Educational Resources (OER)? Have you taken a class where the instructor used all free or open educational resources?
I first experienced an OER course the semester before I started my OER job in an online history course. I had no idea how special the material was, but I was so appreciative that it was free and I had it from day one. After spending so much money on textbooks the semesters before, I was relieved that I didn’t have to spend another chunk of money on a class I may never reference again, but also excited I would always be able to access the book in any location and any time after the course. It also helped me to learn how to work more on digital documents and be more integrated into our newer world of education.
I understand that you have been learning a lot about Open Educational Resources (OER). Tell me about some of the opportunities you’ve had to learn about this new way of teaching and learning?
While being in OER I have had the opportunity to practice skills including website design, marking, graphic design, editing and publishing, public speaking, leadership, coordination, workflow, authoring, and more. Being invited to speak at conferences, and seeing the student world of Open blossom has been one of my favorite parts of the journey. Being a young leader in this community has been so much fun and such an honor.
As an overview, I had the opportunity to help build the OER program at College of the Canyons, became a contractor for OER at College of the Canyons, was then invited to lead the Open Educational Student Advocates in creating the 2019 California Student Tool Kit, and am now being contracted out by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to assist with their Open Education program. Other events besides Open ones I have been invited to attend and speak at were CanInnovate, and ShapingEDU which both had many influential individuals that I have been so honored to meet.
How are you going to use that knowledge to help other students, faculty, or staff at Cal Poly?
It has taken a long time to find the OER individuals at Cal Poly, but I am about to be contracted out by Cal Poly to help with the marketing of OER to students and faculty. Cal Poly seems to have a good amount of classes with OERs or no-cost materials, but the campus is not really aware of what these materials are and how students can encourage professors to use Open resources to help their educational path.
The current plan is to try to get into the media sources across the school and to speak in front of students and faculty in efforts to make more awareness and encourage Open.
What is the greatest impact that OER usage can have on students?
With the price of education today, money is definitely a direct great impact. Besides money, I think OER delivers empowerment. It allows students to practice professional skills while still in college, to have a voice and input in their education, and to have confidence that the education system is not developed by just publishers alone. Open also gives students the opportunity to publish their own classwork, and share all of the things they have spent hundreds of hours learning. Instead of just throwing away assignments, they can now share and be recognized for them. The thing I look forward to most in the future of Open is open pedagogy: of the ability for students to create their own materials, assignments, and shape their education. With students investing so much into education, they deserve to make it what they want. After all, isn’t education supposed to be about the students?