This chapter will explore the various ways you can build programming and communities of practice to support open pedagogy at your institution. It also identifies various resources and opportunities for learning and engagement within the broader Open community. It includes adaptable materials to kick-start building your own community around open pedagogy, as well as templates for designing open pedagogy assignments such as MOUs and author agreements as a way to ensure the work is equitable and provides student agency. 

The Open community is built on the belief that “caring is sharing.” If you’re approaching open pedagogy with a social justice lens, the work of creating and implementing projects is inherently communal rather than individualistic.

When building a community of practice, think about how you can leverage existing partnerships and programs at your institution. This can help with marketing, outreach, and technology support. If your teaching and learning center offers workshops or online learning modules, could you partner to offer training in open pedagogy? If another unit offers learning communities, could you create one on open pedagogy? Are there existing groups related to instructional design, educational technology, or teaching support that you could join and present to?

What if you don’t have support at your institution? You’re not alone. Think about how you can build relationships and adapt available resources beyond your institution. Are there potential partners in your local community, perhaps at a neighboring institution or in a community group? What about in your state or consortia? Below, we share some of the numerous North American resources.

Are you looking for something specific? Here are the topics covered in this chapter:

• Creating Equitable Faculty Development Programs
• Examples of Open Pedagogy Communities
• Opportunities for Learning and Community Building
• Finding Funding and Resources

Creating Equitable Faculty Development Programs

The suggestions in this section are coming from the perspective of our multi-institutional group. As we consider how to create equitable faculty development programs it’s critical to acknowledge the differing contexts and levels of privilege that exist within varying institutions. The goal is to provide a list of suggestions and considerations that come from the experiences of facilitators and designers of various types of programming.

Whether you are planning a multi-year fellowship or a single workshop, here are some questions and considerations that can support the creation of equitable learning environments for faculty:

Examples of Open Pedagogy Communities

Faculty Fellowship Model

Designing, developing, and implementing an open pedagogy project allows educators and learners to apply, experiment, reflect on, and adjust our own practices. Creating collaborative, brave, and interdisciplinary spaces are essential for faculty to explore transformative and engaged pedagogies.  However, developing a multi-phased in depth faculty development program (which includes asynchronous sessions as well as facilitated synchronous sessions) is often outside of the scope and resources of many institutions. So, where might you begin? During OpenEd23, Nicole Wilson, Elaine Kaye, and Liz Chenevey (JMU Libraries) presented the following digital poster about one example of a faculty Fellowship. The presentation includes a link to the Pressbook resource Opening Up: A Fellowship for Open Pedagogy, which provides openly licensed copies of all program materials. We suggest that you explore the poster first in order to:

• • Understand the three-phased approach to this design process
  • Explore the logistics, design choices, and materials including the applications, MOUs, funding model, and participant materials.
  • Imagine implementing a fellowship at their university by considering their next steps

Faculty Learning Community Model

Interdisciplinary faculty learning communities can create a community of practice around open pedagogy. At the University of Arizona, Cheryl (Cuillier) Casey piggybacked on Faculty Affairs’ existing Faculty Learning Communities to offer semester-long learning communities focused on OER, open pedagogy, and Pressbooks. They expanded membership to include staff (e.g., program managers and instructional designers) and students too. Casey co-facilitated with different campus partners, which eased the workload and capitalized on each facilitator’s unique knowledge and skills. One co-facilitator was a faculty member; two others worked in Online Learning’s educational technology unit. The educational technologists were able to provide training in H5P and other campus-supported technologies that members were interested in using for open pedagogy (e.g., VoiceThread). Faculty Affairs’ advertising reached people who hadn’t been on their OER radar before. In Summer 2023, learning community participants requested weekly dedicated OER Work Time hours, where facilitators were available to answer questions in Zoom but participants could go off camera to have focused work time. Casey has shared resources (emails, PowerPoint decks, and other communications) from Spring 2023, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, and 2020 that you’re free to adapt and reuse. Also see webinars below for advice on running open pedagogy learning circles. Miami University’s Center for Teaching Excellence offers recommendations, suggested activities, and other resources for faculty learning communities. Every Learner Everywhere also provides a Guide to Building a Faculty Learning Community.

Incubator Model

The University of North Carolina (UNC) System Open Education Group’s Open Pedagogy Incubator is a semester-long model that brings together a cohort of interdisciplinary instructors from across the various UNC-system schools. Participants develop competencies in open pedagogy through a series of hands-on workshops, curated readings, and cohort discussions. The synchronous virtual program is facilitated via Zoom.

Project model

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship is an international partnership where faculty work in cross-institutional, interdisciplinary teams to create renewable assignments with a Creative Commons license. The assignments are based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, addressing critical social issues such as inequality, poverty, education, climate change, and peace and justice. Fellowship teams include two to three instructors from different disciplines and different institutions to maximize student impact. Participating institutions have included Montgomery College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Maricopa Community Colleges, Pima Community College, Community College of Baltimore County, Thompson Rivers University, and Langara College. A 2021 OE Global Voices podcast described the project, which won the Open Pedagogy category of the 2020 Open Education Awards for Excellence. The UN Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship Toolkit serves as a guide for institutions and instructors who want to adopt and adapt this model. It includes a variety of openly-licensed renewable assignments that can be assigned and applied to a variety of subject areas and disciplines.

Other models, such as the “team approach,” could be applied to open pedagogy. At Salt Lake Community College, OER classes are developed by an instructional technologist and two faculty members. They meet to decide on the class’s learning objectives. This same team approach can be used in developing open educational practices. When developing a quality course, the focus should be on planning the activities so they are aligned with the learning outcomes. In the area of OEP, the learning outcomes should be described to the student using the active learning approach.

Open in Service of Other Goals

The California Community College system has developed and implemented the Open For Antiracism course since 2020. This program is a mix of synchronous and asynchronous faculty development, community building, and coaching opportunities. Learn more about how this program has been designed and implemented, as well as the next steps for the future.

Opportunities for Learning and Community Building

To develop your own community and spaces of learning consider the following resources.

Community of Practice

Open Education Network’s (OEN) Open Pedagogy Community of Practice: This group meets via Zoom on the last Wednesday of each month from 1-2 pm Eastern. It’s advertised as a “safe and informal space for open pedagogy practitioners at OEN member institutions to come together and share wins, challenges, opportunities, and hot topics surrounding the practice of open pedagogy. OEN members can contact Tanya Grosz at grosz045@umn.edu to be added to the Zoom invite.

Programs

• OEN’s Certificate in Open Educational Practices: This yearlong program pairs librarians and faculty members to learn about the range of open educational practices in the fall, then work together to create a personalized action plan to implement an open educational practice project in the spring. The Certificate in Open Educational Practices online course is openly licensed and available to all.
• SPARC’s Open Education Leadership Program Curriculum: This yearlong program, which is on hiatus for 2023-24 while it’s redesigned, hasn’t specifically focused on open pedagogy but it has included a module about it. Curriculum materials include an Open Pedagogy Worksheet (licensed CC BY). In previous iterations, SPARC’s program followed the academic year and began with an intensive online course in the fall, followed by an independent capstone project in the spring.
• Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Professional Program in Open Education: Offered since Fall 2022, this online program includes a foundational course on open educational pedagogies, plus electives and applied courses on other topics. The entire program is designed to be completed within one year. Learners who have already completed the OEN’s Certificate in Open Education Librarianship and SPARC’s Open Education Leadership Program may qualify for advanced entry. The OEN Action Plan Project satisfies the outcomes of the Field Project course. The SPARC program satisfies the outcomes of the Open Educational Resources and Pedagogies and Field Project courses.
• The Rebus Community’s Textbook Success Program: Designed for faculty, librarians, administrators, and managers, this program combines a 12-session course plus regular support calls. Resources (available to anyone) include the Rebus Community’s Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students, a handbook for faculty interested in practicing open pedagogy by involving students in the making of OER (winner of the 2018 Open Education Award for Excellence). Making Ripples: A Guidebook to Challenge Status Quo in OER Creation explores intentionally centering students in OER creation and strategies for incorporating equitable practices into pedagogy.

Web Resources

• The Open Education Network’s Open Pedagogy Portal includes teaching and learning resources, examples by discipline, and resulting student work.
• The Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap features case studies and resources, as well as other support for planning, implementing, and sustaining an open pedagogy project.
• Open Pedagogy Approaches: Faculty, Library, and Student Collaborations offers various examples of textbook projects, student projects, and open course design.

Journals

The following journals are good places to learn about open pedagogy and to submit your case studies and research on open pedagogy:

• Research in Learning Technology (RLT) (open access)
• International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL) (open access)
• Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy
• Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (JOERHE) (open access)
• Open Praxis (open access)

Templates

A variety of resources offer openly licensed templates you can use or adapt to get started.

An Open Pedagogy Lesson Plan Template guides you through developing learning objectives, identifying needed resources (e.g., readings and technology), creating activities, and formulating assessments.

The “Scoping Your Project” module in the Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap helps you hone in on the what, when, how, and where of an open pedagogy project with students. There’s also guidance for scoping your values and goals and scoping your capacity.

Templates of student MOUs and author agreements can be found here:

• Author Agreements (MOUs) and Contracts in the Open Education Network’s Pub101 Curriculum
• MOU for Students and Faculty in A Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students
•  Practices for Upholding Academic Integrity Handout
• Statement on Student Rights in Open Environments
• Student Agreement to Publish Course Work under a Creative Commons Licence

Conferences

Open education conferences have been expanding at the international, national, regional, and state levels. These are great places to learn, network, expand your open pedagogy community, and share your work:

• Open Education Global Conference: Sponsored by Open Education Global, this three-day, in-person conference is usually held outside the United States. According to the OE Global website, “The conference was first held in 2005 as the OCWC Global Conference. Since then, the OE Global Conference has become the most internationally diverse annual event devoted exclusively to open education, attracting researchers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, and students from countries worldwide. This is the conference for anyone wanting a global perspective on open education.”
• Open Education Conference: Held annually in North America since 2004, this conference focuses on OER, open pedagogy, and open education initiatives. According to the conference website, “As of 2022, the conference transitioned to leadership by a community-elected board of directors, guided by a strategic vision. Conference operations are currently housed within SPARC.”
• The Association for Learning Technology sponsors an annual OER conference that is held in a different spot in the United Kingdom each year,
• The Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) maintains a list of upcoming open education conferences and events.

Webinars and Conference Sessions

CCCOER offers a number of recorded webinars on the topic of open pedagogy:

• “Open Education and Community Impact” (2023). Speakers: Keith Anderson (Mesa Community College–Red Mountain Campus), Rebecca Vásquez Ortiz (Santa Ana College), Jamie Thomas (Santa Monica College)
• “Practical Steps for Implementing Antiracist Teaching with Open Pedagogy” (2023). Speakers: Amanda Taintor (Reedley College), Suzanne Wakim (Butte College)
• “Open Pedagogy As a Tool for Student Empowerment” (2022). Speakers: Karen R. Cangialosi (Keene State College), Cristin Cash (Montgomery College),, Stacy Katz (Lehman College, The City University of New York)
• “Integrating Anti-racist Pedagogy into Your Classroom” (2021). Speakers: Alisa Cooper (Glendale Community College), Shawna M. Brandle (Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York)
• “Open Pedagogy with Faculty & Students” (2020). Speakers: David Dwork (Paradise Valley Community College), Jessica Parsons (Paradise Valley Community College), Zev Cossin (Montgomery College), Eduardo Chaves Serrano (Montgomery College), Karen Cangialosi (Keene State College)
• “Designing for Open Pedagogy” (2016). Speakers: Suzanne Wakim (Faculty Butte College) and Mike Elmore (Tacoma Community College)

The OEN’s YouTube channel offers numerous recorded webinars on the topics of open pedagogy and learning circles:

• “Train the Trainer: Open Pedagogy Workshop” (2023 OEN Engage!): Speakers: Tanya Grosz (OEN) and Jamie Witman (OEN). This two-hour train-the-trainer session shares how to effectively facilitate an open pedagogy workshop and an open pedagogy learning circle for faculty and faculty partners. It offers a customizable slide deck and curriculum you can adapt for your own local needs.
• “How to Facilitate an Open Pedagogy Learning Circle” (2023). Speakers: Amanda Larson (Ohio State University, OEN’s Open Pedagogy Fellow) and Jamie Witman (OEN). This 90-minute train-the-trainer session shares a customizable Open Pedagogy Learning Circle Curriculum developed for the Open Education Network.
• “Getting Started with Open Pedagogy” (2022). Speakers: Will Cross (North Carolina State University), Lindsey Gwozdz (Roger Williams University), and Heather Miceli (Roger Williams University). They provide differing perspectives on the why and how of open pedagogy.
• “Open Pedagogy” (2022). Speaker: Will Cross (North Carolina State University). This session was part of the synchronous instruction for the 2022 Certificate in OER Librarianship. Cross explains the benefits of open pedagogy and ways to get involved.
• “Learning Circles for Instructional Improvement” (2021). Speakers: Karen Pikula (Central Lakes College), Kate Brau (Hibbing Community College), Mark Gucinski (St. Cloud Technical and Community College), Monica Roth Day (Metropolitan State University), Dan Allosso (Bemidji State University), Carolyn Weber (Minnesota West Community and Technical College), and Nick Heisserer (Central Lakes College). Pikula and participating faculty explain how OER Learning Circles provide facilitated pathways for faculty to author ancillary materials, redesign their courses with OER, or author their own OER.
• “Your Discomfort is Valid: Supporting Big Feelings in Open Pedagogy” (2021). Speakers: Amy Hofer (Linn-Benton Community College), Silvia Lin Hanick (CUNY), Liz Pearce (Linn-Benton Community College), Lori Townsend (University of New Mexico), and Michaela WiliHooper (Linn-Benton Community College). The practice of open pedagogy may evoke feelings of pride, discomfort, self-confidence, vertigo, and other more or less comfortable feelings — both for students and for educators. This session explores these affective dimensions through a handful of learning theories that illuminate the challenges and possibilities of open pedagogy, and how open pedagogy intersects with transformative learning, threshold concepts, safe spaces/brave spaces, and more.
• “The Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap” (2021). Speakers: Bryan McGeary (Pennsylvania State University) and Christina Riehman-Murphy (Pennsylvania State Abington). This session explores their Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap, a resource to assist faculty in planning and sustaining successful open pedagogy projects. The step-by-step guide helps faculty think through the process of scoping, implementing, sustaining, and sharing their own open pedagogy projects. The Roadmap also encourages faculty to consider issues such as student agency, assessment, and the role of open pedagogy in fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

The Open Education Conference has numerous recordings of sessions that address open pedagogy (see 2023 archive, 2022 archive, 2021 archive, 2020 archive):

• “Alternative Assessments Meets Open Pedagogy: What Are Students Really Learning?” (2022). Speakers: Debbie Baker & Carla Ghanem (Maricopa Community Colleges). This session covers ways to assess student learning in open pedagogy.
• “Bringing Learning Design to Open Pedagogy” (2022). Speakers: Debbie Baker & Carla Ghanem (Maricopa Community Colleges). They explore how open pedagogy builds upon established learner-centered pedagogies.
• “Integrating Open Pedagogy Into a Communication Course: Pedagogical and Practical Value Added” (2022). Speaker: Heather J. Hether (University of California, Davis). This case study involves collaborative syllabus-building, student development of test questions, and student scholarship for a course web site.
• “Open Pedagogy and Ungrading: Overlapping Pedagogies of Care” (2022). Speaker: Heather Miceli (Roger Williams University). This session explores ungrading in assessing an open pedagogy project.
• “Students as Co-Inquirers: Collaboration in Course Content Creation” (2022). Speaker: Alyssa White (University of Lethbridge). White, a graduate student, shares a case study.
• “Students Perspectives on the Intersection of Open Pedagogy and Community Engaged Learning” (2022). Speaker: Christian Williams (Assumption University). Williams shares research on community engaged learning.
• “Taking Action: Redesigning a Course Using Open Pedagogy for International Studies Students” (2022). Speakers: Amanda Larson & Hilary Bussell (The Ohio State University). They share how they redesigned a course, scaffolded the student experience, and how to use Pressbooks/Hypothes.is or similar tools.
• “The Wikipedia Assignment: How Instructors and Students Are Expanding Wikipedia Through Open Pedagogy” (2022). Speakers: Helaine Blumenthal (Wiki Education), Stephanie Turner (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Lisbeth Fuisz (Georgetown University), Kathleen Sheppard (Missouri University of Science and Technology). They explore the pedagogical value of having students contribute to Wikipedia as well as its limitations and challenges.
• “Yeah, I Wrote That!: Advancing Open Educational Practices to Foster Student Engagement” (2022). Speaker: Kristina M. De Voe (Temple University). This session addresses renewable Wikipedia assignments in undergraduate Media Studies classes.

Open Oregon Educational Resources has archived webinars:

• “Imagining an Open Future with Robin DeRosa” (2021). Speaker: Robin DeRosa (Plymouth State University, cofounder of Open Pedagogy Notebook). This session discusses how open tools and practices can transform pedagogy and contribute to student success.
• “Open Pedagogy Through Collaboration” (2020). Speakers: Kimberly Davies Hoffman (University of Rochester) and Alexis Clifton (Tacoma Community College). Davies Hoffman and Clifton edited the anthology Open Pedagogy Approaches: Faculty, Library, and Student Collaborations, which focuses on open pedagogy projects in higher education that involve faculty and library collaborations. The book’s chapters model ways to implement open pedagogy in small and large-scale ways.
• “Open Pedagogy” (2017). Speaker: Amy Hofer (Open Oregon). This session explains what open pedagogy is and how to sustainably incorporate it into your course.

Finding Funding and Resources

If you need funding for your open pedagogy project, you may need to get creative in exploring sources of money. The first suggestion as you start looking for funding is to find someone (or multiple people) at your institution with experience with budgeting and finances. Build these relationships, ask questions, find out what’s been done in the past. There are always formal rules and policies for spending within any institution, but there are also often creative ways to gather support for various projects. As you consider your funding needs could you:

• Ask your unit for one-time funds.
• Partner with another campus unit or department. Finding collaborators can be a critical component.
• Seek donor funding; consider exploring the previously provided resources to see what funding streams are available.
• Find curriculum-level grants at your institution. Consider how your project might fit into the teaching or scholarship goals of your institution.
• Consider exploring grant opportunities outside of your institution.
• For projects that may be tied to communities outside of your institution, you may consider crowdfunding.

As you are crafting your program or project here are some examples of how funds can be used:

• Faculty or participant financial support. This could be course buy-outs, faculty stipends, honorarium etc. Often what this looks like depends on the institutional policies and culture.
• Funding may also be used to support other programming needs like food, physical space, technology resources, or other needs of participants. For a faculty development program or community of practice funding can also be used to bring in guest speakers.

The Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap offers resources for exploring structural and systemic support and logistical support.