As we know, just because a resource is open, doesn't mean it is inclusive to all learners. Through this workshop, participants will reflect on Emily Style's Windows & Mirrors Theory and examine ways it can be applied in OER classrooms to "open up" the OER to being more inclusive of all our experiences: yours, mine, and ours (OE"ours").
Mirrors (reflections of one's own self/experience) and windows (opportunities to view a different perspective/experience) challenges students to connect to the material in a deeper, more authentic, and uniquely personalized manner. Contrasting the polarizing environment in which many of our students live, this framework actually is not binary focusing on either/or, but instead grows rich in the middle ground where it is not one or the other, but both. It's not “Are we the same/different?” but “How are we the same and what can we learn from each other?” This humanistic teaching/learning strategy can be applied to a variety of disciplines, as well as across diverse content and course delivery methods, resulting in more open and inclusive education for all involved.
The workshop will allow participants to reflect, create, collaborate, adapt, devise, and integrate the theory into their own teaching & learning practices.
Learning Outcomes: Participants will: 1) Differentiate between open and inclusive educational resources 2) Explore the Windows & Mirrors Theory by Emily Styles through personal application 3) Examine it as a teaching strategy in OER classrooms for greater inclusion and engagement of our diverse student populations 4) Reflect, create, collaborate, adapt, devise, and integrate the theory into their own teaching & learning practices. (Sounds overwhelming, but this is all part of the final workshop "activity".)
