St. Clair County Community College will host more than 200 open education practitioners and advocates from across the state as part of the second annual Michigan Open Educational Resources (OER) Summit on Friday, Sept. 21.
Organized by Michigan Colleges Online, the MI OER Summit is a daylong event that brings together educators from Michigan community colleges, four-year institutions, state and regional organizations, and libraries to discuss how freely accessible, openly licensed text, media and other digital assets can increase student learning and success while reducing the cost of higher education.
Dr. Chris Gilliard, professor of English and rhetoric at Macomb Community College and 2018 Digital Pedagogy Lab faculty at the University of Mary Washington, will deliver this year’s keynote address. His presentation, “Interrogating Access: Privacy, Equity & Open Education,” will focus on understanding the risks and vulnerabilities of OER in contemporary society. Other topics at this year’s conference range from remixing OER for the classroom to measuring the impact of OER initiatives and more.
“The unique thing about the summit is that it caters to many audiences,” said Kendra Lake, SC4 dean of library services and academic technology. “The conference welcomes learners at all stages of their understanding to learn more about open education and the impact it has on the student experience. It also gives the college an opportunity to showcase the efforts that our faculty and staff have put toward embracing OER and the tenants of open education here on campus.”
Prior to the conference on Thursday, Sept. 20, OER leaders from Michigan community colleges and university libraries, along with representatives from the Library of Michigan and the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services, will hold their inaugural meeting on the SC4 campus, where they will discuss the current state of open education in Michigan and the potential for a statewide OER movement.
The 2018 Michigan OER Summit will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the SC4 Fine Arts Theatre, 323 Erie St., Port Huron MI. Faculty members, librarians, instructional designers, K-12 teachers and administrators, and students are invited to attend.
To register or for more information, visit mioersummit.org.
