York University summer study abroad course to focus on South Korea
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The Department of Politics in York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional (LA&PS) studies is offering a summer study abroad course that will take students to Seoul, South Korea for an experiential learning experience.
The course, Global Political Studies 3581 – South Korea: The Politics of Youth and Old Age, is open to all undergraduate students at the University with an interest in Korea, and offers students an opportunity to become immersed in South Korean culture, while learning about the country’s politics of youth and old age.
A street in Seoul, South Korea
The course is a socio-political overview and analysis of South Korea during the past 50 years, including the rapid changes that have occurred. While in Seoul for three weeks, students will hear from experts in the fields of politics and social policy and will participate and observe different activities highlighting the tensions, political debates and cultural shifts that arise from rapid economic and social change.
Yonsei University campus
Students will participate in field trips within Seoul and take a trip to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea. The course also provides students with the opportunity to interact with local students at Yonsei University, with which York University has a partnership agreement, and Chung-Ang University.
Romy Darius, a former student in the class and York alumnus, says the course “was not just a course for me. It was an experience that has been the foundation to my achievements since graduating from York. This course was a part of my journey and will be the one that I will cherish forever.”
Professor Thomas Klassen, who will be teaching the course, says it is “an extraordinary opportunity to learn about South Korea, focusing on its rapid transformation in the past five decades.”
Interested students are encouraged to attend an info session on Jan. 11, 2023, to learn more about the course and meet Klassen.
Indigenous Metaverse project joins UNESCO campaign to promote and protect Indigenous languages
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La version française suit la version anglaise.
A York University-funded project to develop an Indigenized curriculum and create experiential education opportunities has joined the UNESCO organization to promote and protect endangered Indigenous languages.
Funded by York’s Academic Innovation Fund (AIF), Biskaabiiyaang: The Indigenous Metaverse has joined the global community for UNESCO’s International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL) 2022-2032.
This image shows the player interacting with a Birchbark canoe. As part of Biskaabiiyaang’s cultural history activities, players will learn how to build a canoe virtually using skills passed down through generations (image: Biskaabiiyaang.com)
Biskaabiiyaang joins 1,400 associated organizations working together to promote and protect Indigenous languages. The project, which received $40,000 in funding through the AIF, will design an Indigenous-led metaverse delivering Anishinaabe language and First Nation cultural competency programs within a virtual world.
Professor Maya Chacaby, a Sociology Department faculty member at York University’s Glendon Campus, is the project lead and Biskaabiiyaang’s chief visionary.
As part of the IDIL, Biskaabiiyaang will share and exchange Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) resources and contribute to a growing community of action for Indigenous languages. It will also share stories, tools, and research into metaverse learning as the project develops, produced by its network of First Nation Elders, Anishinaabe community members, the Indigenous Youth Council, and its partners Nokiiwin Tribal Council, York University and UniVirtual.
“We highly value the opportunity to further our knowledge of Indigenous languages and issues through connecting with the global community,” says Chacaby.
William Prensky, the founder and chairman of the board for UniVirtual, the company building Biskaabiiyaang in the metaverse, says, “Since work began on Biskaabiiyaang, it has been an honour to listen to the Anishinaabe community, not only to learn what they know but also how they feel.
This image shows a player’s character coming face-to-face with Animikiikaa (Thunderbirds), some of the most powerful Spirit Beings of Anishinaabe cosmology. This is an example of Biskaabiiyaang bringing traditional creation stories to life in the virtual world (image: Biskaabiiyaang.com)
“Connecting with Indigenous communities on a global scale through the UNESCO platform is a wonderful opportunity for our project, its partners, and for our team members as individuals; through learning and listening to Indigenous voices working for change, our worlds, both virtual and real, will be better for it. The centuries of Indigenous experience are vital if we are to survive, after having ignored those voices for far too long.”
The IDIL’s Global Action Plan provides a strategic framework for its community – from UN-system entities, national governments, Indigenous peoples’ organizations, civil society and academia, to the private sector. Biskaabiiyaang supports the Global Action Plan by providing a sustainable, lifelong learning environment that will archive, safeguard, and revitalize Anishinaabemowin. Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples will be able to access Biskaabiiyaang as part of their formal or non-formal education at any time, regardless of geographical location.
Further in line with the Global Action Plan, Biskaabiiyaang’s process and vision recognizes and respects Indigenous knowledge. Through systems of digital empowerment, Indigenous communities are contributing their expertise to programs in Indigenous knowledge, histories, language, sciences and philosophies.
Through the IDIL community and over the following decade, Biskaabiiyaang aims not only towards the resurgence of Anishinaabemowin but of all Indigenous communities and languages across the world.
Le projet Indigenous Metaverse se joint à la campagne de l’UNESCO pour la promotion et la protection des langues autochtones
Ce projet financé par l’Université York vise à élaborer un programme d’études autochtones et à créer des possibilités d’éducation expérientielle. Il s’est joint à l’UNESCO pour promouvoir et protéger les langues autochtones en péril.
Financé par le Fonds d’innovation académique (AIF) de York, Biskaabiiyaang: The Indigenous Metaverse a rejoint la communauté mondiale pour la Décennie internationale des langues autochtones (DILA) 2022-2032 de l’UNESCO.
Biskaabiiyaang rejoint les 1 400 organisations associées qui travaillent ensemble pour promouvoir et protéger les langues autochtones. Le projet, qui a bénéficié d’un financement de 40 000 dollars de l’AIF, vise à concevoir un méta-univers dirigé par des Autochtones qui propose des programmes de compétences culturelles des Premières Nations en anishinaabemowin.
La professeure Maya Chacaby, membre du corps professoral du Département de sociologie du campus Glendon de l’Université York, dirige le projet Biskaabiiyaang et en est la chef visionnaire.
Dans le cadre de la DILA, Biskaabiiyaang partagera et échangera des ressources en langue anishinaabemowin (ojibwé) et contribuera à une communauté d’action croissante pour les langues autochtones. Le projet partagera également des récits, des outils et des recherches sur l’apprentissage au moyen d’un méta-univers au fur et à mesure de son développement, qui sont produits par son réseau d’Aînés des Premières nations, de membres de la communauté anishinaabe, du Conseil des jeunes Autochtones et de ses partenaires, le Conseil tribal Nokiiwin, l’Université York et UniVirtual.
« Nous savons gré de cette possibilité d’approfondir notre connaissance des langues et des questions autochtones en nous connectant à la communauté mondiale », déclare Mme Chacaby.
William Prensky, fondateur et président du conseil d’administration d’UniVirtual, la société qui construit le méta-univers de Biskaabiiyaang confie : « Depuis que nous avons commencé à travailler sur Biskaabiiyaang, nous sommes honorés d’écouter la communauté anishinaabe, non seulement pour apprendre ce qu’elle sait, mais aussi ce qu’elle ressent.
« La connexion avec les communautés autochtones à l’échelle mondiale grâce à la plateforme de l’UNESCO est merveilleuse pour notre projet, pour ses partenaires et pour les membres de notre équipe à titre individuel; en apprenant et en écoutant les voix autochtones qui œuvrent pour le changement, nos mondes, tant virtuels que réels, s’en trouvent rehaussés. » Les siècles d’expérience des Autochtones sont essentiels si nous voulons survivre, après avoir ignoré ces voix pendant bien trop longtemps. »
Le plan d’action mondial de la DILA fournit un cadre stratégique à sa communauté qui va des entités du système des Nations Unies, des gouvernements nationaux, des organisations de peuples autochtones, de la société civile et du monde universitaire jusqu’au secteur privé. Biskaabiiyaang appuie le plan d’action mondial en fournissant un environnement d’apprentissage durable qui archivera, sauvegardera et revitalisera l’anishinaabemowin. Les peuples autochtones et non autochtones pourront accéder à Biskaabiiyaang dans le cadre de leur éducation formelle ou non formelle à tout moment, indépendamment de leur emplacement géographique.
Toujours en accord avec le plan d’action mondial, le processus et la vision de Biskaabiiyaang reconnaissent et respectent les connaissances autochtones. Grâce à des systèmes d’autonomisation numérique, les communautés autochtones apportent leur expertise aux programmes relatifs aux connaissances, à l’histoire, aux langues, aux sciences et aux philosophies autochtones.
Par le biais de la communauté de la DILA et au cours de la décennie suivante, Biskaabiiyaang vise non seulement la résurgence de l’anishinaabemowin, mais aussi celle de toutes les communautés et langues autochtones à travers le monde.
Put your creativity to work in the classroom, scholarship
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By Elaine Smith
York University’s Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) is now accepting 2023 grant applications and Will Gage, associate vice-president, teaching and learning, encourages faculty to put their creative ideas to work.
Will Gage
The Academic Innovation Fund, which first awarded grants in 2011, supports projects that advance York University’s priorities in terms of teaching, learning and the student experience. It offers opportunities to pilot, develop and test curricular or pedagogical innovations that support eLearning, experiential education (EE), student success and retention strategies and internationalization within the curriculum. Grants also support the scholarship of teaching and learning.
This year, once again, it will give priority to projects that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a way of reflecting York’s longstanding commitment to building a more sustainable and just future, as noted in the University Academic Plan.
“For 2022, we set the expectation that 30 per cent of our funding would go toward projects that reflected the SDGs, but, in fact, 100 per cent of our Category I applications related to at least one SDG, while 92 per cent touched on two or more and 75 per cent addressed three or more,” says Gage. “People see the value of building the SDGs into their projects.”
Phase IV of AIF funding offers three categories of grants:
Category I funding will support initiatives of schools, departments and/or Faculties to strategically embed one or more of the four indicated institutional priorities – eLearning, experiential education (EE), student success and retention strategies and internationalization within the curriculum – in undergraduate or graduate degrees;
Category II A funding will support curricular innovation projects;
Category II B will support curricular innovation – innovative course prototyping; and
Category III funding will support scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) projects focused on 21st century learning.
Gage anticipates seeing projects that take equity and decolonization into consideration, as well as those providing opportunities for globally networked learning, which was first introduced as a result of a 2015-16 AIF grant.
“GNL is a good mechanism to support internationalization without the extra costs of studying abroad,” he said.
He also expects to receive applications that reflect technologically enhanced or “entangled” learning. (Learn more about entangled pedagogy.)
“Pedagogy always comes first in considering how to teach, but the role of technology today is not just to enhance, but to enable certain aspects of teaching,” Gage said. “We are now at the point where newer technologies enable you to teach differently, whether that’s by using peer assessment using a tech platform such as KRITIK or using augmented or virtual reality to do a simulation. You are able to connect people in ways that couldn’t happen without technology.”
AIF proposals must be submitted to the dean of your Faculty for review and ranking. Each Faculty has its own deadlines, but the ranked packages will be forwarded to the AVP, Teaching & Learning on Feb. 17, 2023. To assist interested faculty, the Office of the AVP, Teaching and Learning and the Teaching Commons will be offering a series of workshops to help develop AIF applications. Stay tuned to the AIF website.
“AIF continues to be a demonstration of the commitment York University has to teaching and learning and to enhancing the experiences of our students and faculty,” said Gage.
Faculty of Science launches Community 2022 initiative
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This week, the Faculty of Science formally launched its Community 2022 initiative, which is aimed at helping faculty, staff and students reconnect in person and support the return to a more robust on-campus presence.
From left: Karyn Davies, executive assistant and manager, Dean’s Office, with Gerald Audette, associate dean, faculty
“At the beginning of this term, we conducted a survey asking our community to outline what supports they most needed to reconnect with their Faculty of Science community members for a successful return to campus,” says Faculty of Science Dean Rui Wang. “Many expressed a sense of disconnection stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the community feedback, we collectively created this Faculty-wide, year-long initiative.”
Survey respondents overwhelmingly asked for more opportunities to connect in person within the Faculty, according to Melissa Hughes, senior advisor, Strategic Engagement & Policy in the Faculty of Science. “Our community also wanted more streamlined access to information on health and well-being and University policies related to COVID-19, seminars on research office policies and procedures and hybrid remote work, and improved technological supports for teaching.”
The Dean’s Office kicked off this community reconnection initiative with a Faculty-wide barbecue for the start of the fall semester. For some faculty and staff hired during the pandemic, it was their first time meeting colleagues in person; for others, it was an emotional reunion with colleagues they hadn’t seen since 2020.
The Community 2022 website, launched on Tuesday, Nov. 1, features events and supports for faculty, staff and students:
Events for social reconnectionamongst faculty, staff and students, including Faculty-wide social gatherings open to faculty, staff, and graduate students, a monthly Dean’s Luncheon, and forthcoming events for undergraduate and graduate students to connect with their peers.
Initiatives to welcome community members who joined the Faculty during the pandemic, such as guided Faculty of Science tours and a Dean’s Luncheon for new faculty.
Supports for the return to more robust in-person teaching, with improved access to information on COVID-19 policies and procedures, teaching and learning supports, as well as improved channels to address technology support issues, including a forthcoming information technology roundtable.
Faculty of Science-led seminars on research office policiesand procedures and promotion of University-led seminars to help with the transition to hybrid remote work.
Promotion of health and well-being through more streamlined access to information on University resources for faculty, staff and students, and forthcoming resources to help instructors support students’ well-being within their courses.
Upcomingimprovements to the physical environment of the Faculty to encourage in-person connection, including a renewed student gathering space, improvements to the staff lunchroom and Dean’s Office reception area, and other improvements as needed.
The initiatives will be rolled out through the 2022-23 academic year. The Community 2022 website will be updated as events and resources are added. Wang notes that the initiatives support and are in alignment with the Faculty’s five-year strategic plan, Science for the Future.
“I want to thank our community for their feedback that informed the creation of this initiative, and for all they bring to their work within the Faculty of Science every day,” says Wang. “Community 2022 builds on our Faculty’s strong sense of belonging, togetherness and commitment to support one another. We are excited to continue building our Faculty of Science community together.”
Inaugural York University Game Jam pursues a better tomorrow
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The first-ever York University Game Jam, taking place Nov. 4 to 6, offers student teams the opportunity to conceptualize, design and build a functioning game.
Working in a condensed period of time, participants in this innovative event will work to create a small, experimental game from beginning to end. The tight timeline encourages creative thinking and innovation.
The game jam event encourages students to create socially responsible games in the spirit of the serious games movement, an area of particular expertise in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design. The SDG Games Challenge will run over one weekend and be open to all York University students who will work in small groups of five to six to create a game that tries to solve or educate about one of the UN SDGs. The game jam will be a friendly competition: a judging panel will select the best game made during the event. The winning team will receive a prize, including merchandise donated by local game companies like Ubisoft Toronto.
The event is open to all York University students and encourages participants with any level of experience in game development who wish to participate and make games.
More information about the event can be found here.
Welcome to the October 2022 issue of ‘Innovatus’
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Will Gage
Welcome to the second issue this year of “Innovatus,” a special issue of YFile dedicated to teaching and learning innovation at York University. This issue of our monthly newsletter focuses on Open Educational Resources, or OERs.
OERs represent an extraordinary opportunity for York University. These educational resources help to remove barriers that limit access to education. OERs also serve to expand what instructors can offer students as these freely available materials can be accessed, adapted, and modified with few or no restrictions. These materials in turn can serve to enhance student access to learning while possibly reducing costs, something that is particularly important as we navigate the new economic challenges posed by this post-pandemic world.
Together with Joy Kirchner, dean of University Libraries, I co-chair York University’s open education steering committee. I invite you to join us on this fascinating journey. You can keep up to date by subscribing to the Open Education listserv, details on how to access the listserv are available on the Open Education Steering Committee website.
In this issue of “Innovatus,” the articles recount some of the experiences our colleagues have had with OERs and offer resources for instructors interested in learning more.
I hope the ideas presented in this issue are both informative and inspiring.
Sincerely,
Will Gage Associate Vice-President, Teaching and Learning
Faculty, course directors and staff are invited to share their experiences in teaching, learning, internationalization and the student experience through the “Innovatus” story form, which is available at tl.apps01.yorku.ca/machform/view.php?id=16573.
In this issue:
Opening our eyes to the possibilities of OER “The decision to devote this issue of ‘Innovatus’ to Open Educational Resources (OER) is a deliberate one,” writes Joy Kirchner, dean of Libraries at York University, in her letter to the community. “Across Canada, there is a national conversation happening about how academic institutions use OER, support OER adoption and creation in the classroom, and how OER facilitate innovative pedagogy.”
French as a second language educators build OER repository As part of the larger goal of building a unified, intersectoral community of practice among French as a second language (FSL) educators, Professors Muriel Péguret and Dominique Scheffel-Dunand are building a multilingual hub that includes a repository of Open Educational Resources (OER), such as textbooks, articles and videos.
York faculty create Open Educational Resources, advancing UN SDGs Faculty develop innovative Open Educational Resources (OER) that are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and reveal the positive impact on teaching and learning.
The decision to devote this issue of “Innovatus” to Open Educational Resources (OER) is a deliberate one. Across Canada, there is a national conversation happening about how academic institutions use OER, support OER adoption and creation in the classroom, and how OER facilitate innovative pedagogy.
Joy Kirchner, dean of Libraries
As the articles in this issue of “Innovatus” show, instructors at York University have already made great strides in adopting and creating OER.
There is a real opportunity for York University to be a leader in open education. In fact, I will be hosting a pivotal National Open Education Strategy Summit, Nov. 9 and 10, at York University. This event will gather major stakeholders across the country, including representatives from key national higher education organizations such as Universities Canada, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), Vice-Presidents Teaching & Learning Table Canada (VPTL Canada), Campus Books Canada, Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA), the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), Student Union Etudiante, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, eCampusOntario and BCCampus. As well, faculty, librarians, educational developers and administrators from across the country will be attending to discuss how a federal strategy can be developed to support the adoption, adaptation and creation of OER on a national scale.
Open Education is a pedagogical philosophy that removes access barriers to education. OER are openly licensed, freely available educational materials that can be used, accessed, adapted and redistributed with no or limited restrictions. OER come in a variety of formats, including textbooks, courses, multimedia, streaming video, data and supplementary materials. As the COVID-19 pandemic required courses to pivot to an online format, instructors demanded more online resources, a situation that put OER into the spotlight.
Here at York University, there is a strong interest in open education. We actively support the adoption and creation of OER. I currently co-chair York’s Open Education Steering Committee (OESC) with Will Gage, associate vice president teaching & learning. The OESC focuses on coordinating and promoting the creation, mobilization, and discovery of OER produced by the broader York community, as well as investigating avenues towards adopting open course materials to enhance the student experience at York University.
In fact, open education and OER dovetail perfectly with York’s University Academic Plan (UAP). The UAP’s priority, From Access to Success, calls for the University to support students from all backgrounds in their educational journeys. OER are one of the tools that can help make the university environment more accessible to students by providing access to course learning materials from the first day of classes, for free.
Incorporating OER into the curriculum also helps the University advance the UAP priority, 21st century learning, as OER can help make York a more attractive learning environment for students since these resources are not only free, but instructors can also tailor them to the specific learning needs of York students. Finally, open educational practices also help York instructors, staff and students contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). Using OER in the classroom helps instructors contribute to UN SDG 4: Quality Education, as it promotes no cost open access to teaching and learning resources. OER are embraced by UNESCO they encourage inclusive and equitable quality education and are a means to facilitate international cooperation. The York community has the opportunity to directly contribute to UNESCO’s OER in action program with linkages to other UN SDGs.
Ultimately, open educational practices herald a new way of thinking about teaching and learning, one that embraces a spirit of sharing and exchange where authors use open licenses that empower other instructors to share, reuse and even remix their learning resources to create custom learning experiences for students.
As you read through the stories in this issue, join the York University Libraries, the OESC and instructors engaged in this area in imagining a world where educators share and innovate through building upon each other’s teaching and learning resources to create a more equitable, inclusive learning environment. Then, take the next step and get involved. York has a robust group of people supporting the creation, adoption and adaptation of OER, and we encourage all York instructors to explore how OER can enrich the student experience in your classroom and beyond.
Joy Kirchner Dean of Libraries
An Open Educational Resources mini-course offers innovative options for York instructors
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By Elaine Smith
The Open Educational Resources mini-course provides instructors with the necessary background knowledge and skills to engage with innovative, open pedagogical tools.
Stephanie Quail
As busy as York University instructors are, it’s worth carving out the time for a new four-week mini-course as it provides the necessary tools to create or incorporate OER into courses, says Stephanie Quail, scholarly communications librarian.
“OER can save you time,” said Quail. “There are OER repositories that include high-quality teaching and learning resources. Instructors can either use the materials as is, or depending on the open license, they can revise and remix the content.”
Quail and colleague, Sarah Coysh, director of the Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Infrastructure Department, developed the course in 2020 at the behest of the Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) steering committee. Any faculty member who receives an AIF grant is now encouraged to take the course and starting this fall, the course will be open to all instructors at York University.
OER are openly licensed, freely available educational materials that can be used, accessed, adapted and redistributed with no or limited restrictions. The online OER course, which will start in late November, will be offered by York University Libraries both synchronously and asynchronously. The four module mini-course covers a variety of valuable topics:
OER 101: What is OER? Including examples of OER and how they benefit students and faculty.
Copyright & Creative Commons licenses: An exploration of the range of open licenses available to creators and how to choose a licence that makes the most sense for their project.
Finding and evaluating OER: How to find OER for your subject areas and evaluate them.
Create or adapt pre-existing OER: Learn how to create your own OER or adapt those already online.
Quail says the course is designed to not be onerous, given the other demands on instructors’ time. Completing assignments is optional and assignments are structured to help faculty walk away from the course with a game plan for creating or using OER in their courses.
Sarah Coysh
The York University Libraries website also has a resource available that explains the procedure for depositing your OER into YorkSpace, York’s own institutional repository. Lukas Arnason, assistant professor of French studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional studies (LA&PS), took the OER training and said it was “the best professional training I’ve received at York. It was a cut above. I came out of it feeling that I had a handle on something that had been a complete mystery to me before. It was really empowering.
“I loved the way the course was organized. The separate modules were nicely self-contained and they built on one another.”
He was pleased to have the chance to work with H5P, a platform for building resources and something to which he hadn’t been exposed previously. “Rather than hand students a massive textbook, you can offer them a mix of resources and make lessons interactive,” Arnason said. “It’s especially useful for language professors, because you can build electronic components for practise and reinforcement outside the classroom.”
Sophie Bury, director of Learning Commons and Reference Services in the York University Libraries, took the training as part of a 2020 AIF grant to develop the Student Guide to Group Work.
“The excellent OER training program … formed the backbone behind this project and enabled us to take this guide to a new level by equipping our team with the skills needed to make this a true OER, featuring original content, the adaptation of existing OER, and best of all, by moving us beyond an initial conception of an exclusive focus on the York community, to ensure academic colleagues internationally can share or adapt this resource in line with the terms of our creative commons license,” Bury said.
Mary-Helen Armour
Mary-Helen Armour, an associate professor who teaches planetary science courses in the Faculty of Science, has been using OER for years and finds them an invaluable tool. She learned by doing, working with colleagues in professional associations in workshops and at conferences to test them and adjust them to her needs.
“In recent years, eCampusOntario has started supporting the development of OER, but they don’t have a discipline-specific focus,” she said. “The OER I use are ways to give students a different experience beyond multiple choice tests in the areas I teach. The OER also allow you to use current scientific data in some fairly simple ways, so students feel connected with how scientists actually do things.
“For instance, I can try to tie assignments into recent satellite space missions to show students how scientists use the data, or to slides created by mission experts where we can talk about the mission’s impact. OER slide sets from groups like NASA are great for those of us who don’t have time to assemble slick graphics. They make for a much richer student experience.”
French as a second language educators build OER repository
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By Elaine Smith
As part of the larger goal of building a unified, intersectoral community of practice among French as a second language (FSL) educators, Professors Muriel Péguret and Dominique Scheffel-Dunand are building a multilingual hub that includes a repository of Open Educational Resources (OER), such as textbooks, articles and videos.
Dominique Scheffel-Dunand
OER are free teaching and learning resources that typically use a Creative Commons license that allows users to retain, revise, remix, reuse and redistribute content. This is also known as the 5Rs of OER. Muriel Péguret and Dominique Scheffel-Dunand received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities to create this online repository and hub, and it is currently in its second iteration.
The pair are striving to ensure that “the project and repository become THE reference for OER in FSL,” said Péguret, coordinator of language programs and academic coordinator of the Glendon BEd program. “We plan to have resources in English and in Indigenous languages, in addition to French, so it can be used by all learners who are engaged in FSL. We also want to aggregate FSL resources from other repositories so people don’t need to search multiple sites.”
They have engaged the services of another colleague, Mirela Cherciov, sessional assistant professor in linguistics and language studies at Glendon, to develop OER useful to the FSL community for continuing education and professional development purposes.
The project is called Camerise, which is the French-Canadian name for the Haskap berry, a native nutritious fruit from the blue honeysuckle that grows in northern climates. The name has symbolism: the superfood characteristics of the berry represents knowledge and effervescence; its tendency to grow in clusters symbolizes community; it grows close to the ground, reminiscent of the bottom-up process of OER creation; and it can be transformed into many derivatives.
“These are resources developed by the FSL community for the FSL community, including teachers, administrators and parents – many stakeholders,” said Scheffel-Dunand, associate professor of French studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).
Muriel Péguret
“You can constantly iterate and rejuvenate knowledge,” said Scheffel-Dunand. For example, Le Littéraire dans le quotidien (The Literary in the Everyday) is an open textbook and represents a new pedagogical approach to reading and writing at college and university lower levels and is applicable to all languages. This OER, conceptualized by Joanna Gay Luks at Cornell University, is currently being adapted by FSL educators in the Grand Erie District School Board and the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board to develop foundations in understanding Indigenous ways of living and being in FSL programs from elementary to secondary levels in both school boards.
Both project leads note that multilingual OER repositories are already common in both Norway and Finland; Canada is working to catch up.
“OER encourage people not to start from scratch when creating teaching materials,” noted Péguret. “It fits with our complex, changing world. It is good pedagogy to adapt materials to your audience and it also gives teachers the flexibility of being in control of their own resources.”
Although anyone may use an OER, such as a textbook, podcast, or video, and adapt it for their own needs, the licensing requires them to give credit to the original author. This ensures that the original author receives attribution in the remixing process.
By using Camerise, FSL practitioners will be able to:
search for a resource;
retrieve and compare similar resources;
group resources on their personal dashboard;
share resources with peers;
comment, review and engage in discussion;
link external resources and contextualize them with new metadata and modify them based on the OER’s Creative Commons license; or
deposit OER that you have authored.
There are hurdles to overcome in encouraging FSL practitioners to create resources for Camerise, said Scheffel-Dunand, who notes that people must overcome their uncertainty about transforming, rather than creating resources. In situations where there are many authors originating a paper or a work, they will need to negotiate the type of license applied to the OER. In addition, every aspect of the resource – text, video, etc. – must be verified as an OER, which requires the checking and recording of each external resource’s copyright status.
“It requires a change of culture,” said Péguret. “We want people at all levels to create, share and adapt OER, and we hope that bachelor of education programs will train students to do so, allowing the culture to change naturally over time.”
Péguret and Scheffel-Dunand also plan to connect with Indigenous colleagues to ensure that they can embed Indigenous ways of knowing into the FSL curriculum and into the repository. “We want to include them in the process,” Scheffel-Dunand said. “Until we live those dialogues, we can’t predict which knowledge will lend itself to translation, but the dialogue is open.” The current iteration of the repository is now online and the creators are eager for feedback about the resources and functionalities that colleagues would like to see. Colleagues are encouraged to visit the Camerise website and submit feedback via the webform.
Des pédagogues du FLS créent un référentiel REL
Dans le contexte de l’objectif global de bâtir une communauté de pratique unifiée et intersectorielle chez les enseignants et enseignantes de français langue seconde (FLS), Muriel Péguret et Dominique Scheffel-Dunand élaborent actuellement une plateforme qui comprend un référentiel de ressources éducatives libres (REL), notamment des manuels, des articles et des vidéos.
Les REL sont des ressources d’enseignement et d’apprentissage gratuites et généralement basées sur une licence Creative Commons qui permettent aux utilisateurs, de retenir, réviser, remixer, réutiliser et redistribuer le contenu, en d’autres mots les 5R des REL. Elles ont reçu un financement du ministère des Collèges et Universités de l’Ontario pour créer ce référentiel et cette plateforme en ligne, qui en est à sa deuxième itération.
« Nous souhaitons que le projet et le référentiel deviennent LA référence en matière de REL en FLS, a déclaré Mme Péguret, coordonnatrice des programmes de langues et coordonnatrice académique du programme B.Éd. de Glendon. Nous prévoyons avoir des ressources en anglais et en langues autochtones, en plus du français, afin qu’elles puissent être utilisées par toutes les personnes apprenantes engagées dans le FLS. Nous voulons également regrouper les ressources de FLS provenant d’autres référentiels afin que les gens n’aient pas besoin de faire des recherches sur plusieurs sites. »
Les deux professeures ont fait appel aux services d’une autre collègue, Mirela Cherciov, pour élaborer des REL utiles à la communauté FLS à des fins de formation continue et de développement professionnel.
Le projet porte le nom d’une baie très nutritive originaire des climats nordiques, la camerise. Ce nom a une valeur symbolique : les caractéristiques de ce super aliment représentent la connaissance et l’effervescence; sa tendance à pousser en grappes symbolise la communauté. Comme elle pousse près du sol, cela rappelle le processus ascendant de la création de REL. De plus, elle peut être transformée en de nombreux produits dérivés.
« Ce sont des ressources développées par la communauté du FLS pour sa communauté, y compris les enseignants, les administrateurs et les parents – de nombreux intervenants, a déclaré Mme Scheffel-Dunand, professeure agrégée d’études françaises à la Faculté d’arts libéraux et d’études professionnelles. Vous pouvez constamment itérer et rajeunir les connaissances. »
Par exemple, Le Littéraire dans le quotidien est un manuel libre qui représente une nouvelle approche pédagogique de la lecture et de l’écriture aux niveaux inférieurs et qui est applicable à toutes les langues. Ce référentiel REL, conceptualisé par Joanna Gay Luks à l’Université Cornell, est actuellement adapté par les éducateurs de FLS du Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB) et du Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB) pour développer les bases de la compréhension des modes de vie et d’existence autochtones dans les programmes de FLS des deux conseils scolaires, du niveau élémentaire au niveau secondaire.
Les deux chefs de projet font remarquer que les référentiels REL sont courants en Norvège et en Finlande; le Canada s’efforce de rattraper son retard.
« Les REL encouragent les gens à ne pas partir de zéro lorsqu’ils créent du matériel pédagogique, a indiqué Mme Péguret. Cela convient bien à notre monde complexe et en constante évolution. C’est une bonne pratique pédagogique d’adapter le matériel à son public et cela donne également aux enseignants l’option de contrôler leurs propres ressources. »
Tout le monde peut utiliser des REL, comme un manuel, un balado ou une vidéo, et les adapter à ses besoins, mais la licence exige de mentionner l’auteur original afin qu’il soit mentionné dans le processus de remixage.
En utilisant Camerise, les praticiens du FLS seront en mesure de :
• Chercher une ressource; • La récupérer et la comparer avec des ressources similaires; • Regrouper des ressources sur un tableau de bord personnel; • Partager des ressources avec des pairs; • Commenter, réviser, entamer une discussion; • Mettre dans le référentiel les REL dont on est l’auteur.
« Cela nécessite un changement de culture, a déclaré Mme Péguret. Nous voulons que les gens à tous les niveaux créent, partagent et adaptent les REL. Nous espérons que les programmes de licence en éducation formeront les étudiants à le faire, permettant ainsi un changement de culture naturellement au fil du temps. »
Les deux professeures prévoient également entrer en contact avec des collègues autochtones pour s’assurer qu’elles peuvent intégrer les modes de connaissance autochtones dans le programme de FLS et dans le référentiel.
« Nous voulons les inclure dans le processus, a déclaré Mme Scheffel-Dunand. Tant que nous ne vivons pas ces dialogues, nous ne pouvons pas prédire quelles connaissances se prêteront à la traduction, mais le dialogue est ouvert. » L’itération actuelle du référentiel est en ligne et les créatrices sollicitent de la rétroaction sur les ressources et les fonctionnalités que leurs collègues souhaiteraient voir ajouter. Elles les encouragent à visiter le site Web et à soumettre leurs commentaires avec le formulaire Web.
York faculty create Open Educational Resources, advancing UN SDGs
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By Angela Ward
Faculty develop innovative Open Educational Resources (OER) that are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and reveal the positive impact on teaching and learning.
Faculty members who are engaged in the process of creating OER reveal the impact this has on the teaching and learning experience, both in the classroom and beyond. They note that the interactive resources provide a tremendous opportunity for both instructors and students to learn and adapt as the world becomes increasingly more digitized.
Raymond Mar
Raymond A. Mar, associate professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, and the creator of OER tutorials for data analysis, notes the financial difficulties students face when it comes to purchasing expensive textbooks. He says that OER not only reduce costs for students but also increase access to a wider audience, aligning with UN SDG 1 (no poverty) and UN SDG 4 (quality education).
“I think that making these resources more accessible increases the likelihood that they’ll be used more widely, which can really magnify your impact,” says Mar.
The OER tutorials he created are grouped in the resource “Research Methods: Interactive Demonstrations in ‘R’ at York (ReMInDeRY),” and are designed to help students learn a statistical programming language called R.
Mar explains that learning this software can be quite challenging for students as they move from a point-and-click interface to writing lines of code. R is becoming the predominant way of analyzing data for many fields, and being able to analyze data using R is a valuable skill to have in the workplace. When he first reviewed the available introductory tutorials for R, Mar thought that they remained intimidating.
“Even downloading and installing the software can be tricky for people,” he explains. “I created these tutorials to be the smoothest and easiest on-ramp to learning R, with everything available in a web browser window and no need to install any software.”
In this OER, students visit the website link, and receive an introduction to the basics of R with easy-to-understand language and quizzes to show their progress. From these tutorials, students can move onto learning more advanced skills in the software.
As a result of R being open source and free, packages have been created to improve its capabilities in creating interactive maps and websites. Mar points out how R can contribute to other SDGs by allowing users to produce persuasive data graphics that can speak to SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 13 (climate action).
Similarly, Tsvetanka Karagyozova, assistant professor (teaching stream), Department of Economics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), sees connections to many SDGs in the OER she developed with an interdisciplinary team.
Tsvetanka Karagyozova
“I was interested in creating OER because textbooks and peer-reviewed course materials are the gold standard in economics but over time they become more expensive,” adds Karagyozova. “At York, I typically leave one copy of the textbook required for the course on reserve at the Scott Library, so I can see how well-used that textbook is.”
Karagyozova was part of a group of York collaborators, including Ida Ferrara, associate professor, LA&PS, and Edward Furman, professor, Faculty of Science, and Ricardas Zitikis, an associate professor of statistics from Western University. They also secured support from research assistants, a project manager and Xpan, an external contractor for the virtual reality (VR) experiment.
United under the Risk and Insurance Studies Centre (RISC) at York, they received funding from eCampusOntario Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) program to develop a fully online course, Economics of Insurance and Decision Making Under Risk, accompanied by a VR behavioural lab. Because this OER uses a Creative Commons licence, it allows others to freely adopt, adapt, and build on the materials.
“Some of the SDGs are embedded in the course materials,” Karagyozova explains. “One of the modules, for example, is dedicated to microinsurance and economic growth. We look at how microinsurance can promote sustainable and inclusive growth in developing countries, serving as a risk mitigation mechanism that can break the poverty cycle and elevate women out of poverty.” This directly addresses UN SDG 1 (no poverty) and UN SDG 5 (gender equality, and empowering women and girls).
She adds that with the high cost of textbooks, students in developing nations sometimes do not have access to basic learning materials. OER within niche fields like hers can be shared with learners globally, opening them up to the world.
Eric Armstrong
Eric Armstrong, chair and associate professor, Department of Theatre, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD), also touches on the global reach OER can have on communities. His open textbook, Lexical Sets for Actors, is internationally accessible and has garnered interest from the United Kingdom (U.K.), fulfilling a need they have for accent training.
“There are lots of resources to teach people accents and phonetics (the sounds of language) but the lexical resources available are outdated, buried in a philosophy and pedagogy that’s often biased towards a standard speech,” he explains.
Armstrong says he is open to working with others to make variations of the book for different audiences and needs. He has even received feedback from his U.K. partner on changes they would like to see. Because Armstrong’s OER is licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, his OER allows for other instructors and educational institutions to remix and adapt the OER to tailor it to their local teaching context.
He approached the creation of the textbook learner with variability in mind. There are sample sentences for actors to practice their accents, which employs a creative writing component. It was also written with accessibility and many demographics in mind, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and non-binary communities. The OER’s inclusivity impacts areas outside the university as well.
“I’m also using the book with colleagues who are learning to be this type of teacher or trainer,” he adds. “Not working just in university settings but with professional actors, coaching them for roles. This resource stretches beyond the walls of academia.”
In looking towards the future of OER, Armstrong says, “The OER we are creating now will serve as models for others to get involved and to show that it can be done. People start to think differently about the nature of teaching, the nature of resources and about the nature of our responsibility to create a different kind of learning experience.”
