About the Fellowship
The development of this project and program has been a valuable experience but is also an incredible amount of labor. This point is important because the context in which this work was supported from an organizational standpoint may not be familiar to many readers. At our institution, James Madison University, the JMU Libraries houses not only all of the traditional Libraries services, but also includes a unit which supports academic technologies and instructional design. The creation of the Opening Up Fellowship is an example of this cross-disciplinary work made possible by this organizational structure and is a part of a multifaceted approach on our campus to create a culture of Open that embraces the relationships between Open Access, Open Educational Resources and Open Pedagogy. The Open Education Librarian, Liz Thompson, convenes and leads a working group of Libraries faculty and staff who engage in various aspects of Open work in an effort to have a more robust and holistic approach to Open. On our campus the Libraries is well known as a strong partner in the area of faculty development – alongside partners like our teaching and learning center and other groups within various colleges. This unique organization of services provides us with a privileged perspective and access to resources that may not exist in the same way on other campuses or other educational settings. It is from this space of deep collaboration between Liaison Librarians and Instructional Designers that this program came to be and also the reason we felt it was imperative to share the program structure, materials, and details through an open license.
As readers go through this program it’s also valuable to understand the perspective and expertise that informed this work. The collaborative work of designing and developing this program was a space where we created materials and activities for faculty grounded in the values of Open Pedagogy(OP) and Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP), while also integrating the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. Bringing these frameworks together provides faculty with a strong foundation to understand why and how Open Pedagogy can be a powerful approach to creating critical and equitable learning spaces. It’s our intention that by sharing this work we can affect change by implementing Open Pedagogy as a pathway to creating a more socially just world.
An aspect of the design process and relationship building that was critical in this process is the way in which our collaborative work, and the program, are based in the values for OP and CPD. Our intention was to create a fellowship model that centered community building and was intentionally designed to be a slow-paced and supportive environment that fosters curiosity, exploration, and growth. This type of learning space allowed faculty to explore information literacy concepts, Open Pedagogy frameworks, and instructional design principles in an intellectually challenging way that included deep reflection and community engagement. Another key goal of this program was to ensure that faculty were able to have the time and resources to create assignments/projects that were ready to implement. The value in this approach is the ability to go beyond exposure or understanding and to support faculty as they experience, learn, and build their confidence as they become contributors to Open. As we finalized the development of the program we wanted to provide an experience with Open Pedagogy for the faculty participants. Thus, we have built into the program opportunities for faculty to contribute directly to the materials that make up this Pressbook. We are currently in the process of developing a plan for faculty to engage with the Pressbook and share their assignments, project examples, and other related materials.
*Please note: We will be making some updates in Spring 2024*
Fellowship Outcomes
By completing this fellowship, participants will make progress towards:
- Deepening their experience with Open Pedagogy and OER in order to identify their own path of engagement.
- Critically analyzing their pedagogical, curricular, and assessment choices through a social justice lens
- Improving equity in the classroom through their pedagogical, curricular, and assessment choices
- Creating pedagogical, curricular, and/or assessment materials to share with their community
Materials for this Fellowship
This fellowship has two companion documents: the Evolve Guide and the Project Design Template. The Evolve Guide is where you will have your personal space to do the reflective activities from the modules. Click this link to go to the Evolve Guide template. There are instructions on the document for making a copy for yourself. No one (not even the facilitators!) is able to view your personal Evolve Guide. Throughout each phase of the program, we will provide updated sections of the guide with related activities for you to copy and paste into your personal document.
