Month: September 2022

Dr. Judith Pete is a lecturer and project coordinator at Tangaza University College in Kenya, Africa. I chose to highlight Dr. Pete after listening to her speak in the 25 Years of Ed Tech Between the Chapters (2021) podcast on Open Educational Resources (OER), and getting a sense of her deep passion and commitment to improving access to quality education in Africa. Pete grew up in a village in Kenya where she struggled to gain access to education, however, she eventually received a scholarship to pursue post-secondary studies where she began to explore how education could be accessible and affordable for marginalized communities (Pete, 2014).

Reflecting on her educational journey during the podcast with Pasquini (2021), Pete describes herself as a “transformed person who is also out, ready to transform others” (25:19). Her educational experience led her to discover OER and see its great potential for increasing access to education in Africa, while also recognizing the criticality of this access within the global community to prevent further divide from the ‘North’ (Pete, 2014). Pete’s PhD research focused on the role of OER in increasing access to University education among the marginalized communities in Kenya and she has since been involved in several studies looking at the impact of OER and online education within the African context. Pete belongs to the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN), a global network of PhD candidates whose research focuses on OER, where she led a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EDI) project looking at how open research communities could be more diverse, equitable and inclusive (Farrow, 2109). More recently, Pete has been advocating for the open use of data to counter the impact of climate change in Africa. Pete is an incredible advocate for OER while also serving as an inspirational role model for young girls in Africa. I believe that this is just the beginning of her story and impact on access to quality education in Africa. 

References

Farrow, R. (2019, March 12). Diversity, equity and inclusion project. Global OER Graduate Network. https://go-gn.net/research/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-project/ 

Global OER Graduate Network. (n.d.). GO-GN. https://go-gn.net/ 

Open Data Day. (2020, April 21). Opening up data to counter climate change in Kenya: Open data day 2020 report. Open Knowledge Foundation. https://blog.okfn.org/2020/04/21/opening-up-data-to-counter-climate-change-in-kenya-open-data-day-2020-report/ 

Pasquini, L. (Host). (2021, January 21). Between the chapters: Sharing about OER & our open practices (No. 11) [Audio podcast episode]. In 25 Years of Ed Tech. Transistor. https://25years.opened.ca/2021/01/27/between-the-chapters-oer/ 

Pete, J. (n.d.). Dr. Judith Pete. Google Scholar [Profile]. https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=kJPx3lsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao 

Pete, J. (2014, June 23). The role of OER in increasing access to University education among the marginalized communities in Kenya [Video]. Video Lectures. http://videolectures.net/ocwc2014_pete_marginalized_communities/ 

After reading the second third of 25 Years of Ed Tech, I am again reflecting on the history of many innovations in Ed Tech and my interaction (or lack of) with each. As time has advanced in the book, I see my personal history intertwined with each passing chapter. The chapters I have read this week have been less surprising, however interesting to learn of the origins, success, and failures of innovations in Ed Tech. 

Weller (2020) describes the introduction of social media, in particular Twitter, as being a revolutionary way to make connections globally and engage in meaningful discussions across disciplines. The democratization of the academic space through the use of social media has increased the importance of establishing an online identity. Weller (2020) uses the example of keynote speakers often being those with a solid online identity rather than a lengthy list of publications. I believe this to be the case across many, if not all sectors. In our current time, to amplify your voice, you likely need to have an established online identity with frequent and meaningful contributions to content and dialogue. 

In the chapter on Open Educational Resources (OER), Weller (2020) identifies the value of OER while also indicating the role that privilege can play in open education. In the Between the Chapters podcast, Laura Pasquini (2021) describes open education as being focused on “access and equity” (28:28). Although I wholeheartedly agree with this statement and the concept of open education and OER, I come from 15 years of work in community education in the not-for-profit sector and offer a different perspective. Managing an underfunded organization with limited opportunities to fundraise meant having to charge for much of our resources and education. In my heart, I wanted to be able to offer everything for free, yet the systems in place meant I could not. Many of our partner organizations with more robust funding could provide more resources at no cost and this was frustrating. From a not-for-profit perspective, funding can lead to privilege. When considering OER and open education, equity and access should be considered across the whole system, not just from the user perspective.

References

Pasquini, L. (Host). (2021, January 21). Between the chapters: Sharing about OER & our open practices (No. 11) [Audio podcast episode]. In 25 Years of Ed Tech. Transistor. https://25years.opened.ca/2021/01/27/between-the-chapters-oer/ 

Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of ed tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01 

After reading the first 8 chapters of 25 Years of Ed Tech, I feel that I have been living under a rock in many ways. The overall history of Ed tech is surprising to me because it dates further back than I had previously thought. In 1998, I was signing up for my first email address and unbeknownst to me, the first fully online undergraduate course would be developed in 1999 (Weller, 2020). I am left feeling fascinated at what was growing in the field of Ed Tech that I was completely unaware of. 

Reading these chapters lead me to reflect on my own experience and beliefs concerning Ed Tech. Weller (2020) discussed the creation and relevance of Wikipedia as one of the biggest successes of wikis. Weller describes Wikipedia as a useful tool in higher education and one with very few errors (2020). This immediately confronted my distrust in Wikipedia and caused me to navigate back to my undergraduate years as the source of this distrust. During this time, I remember being explicitly told not to use Wikipedia as it was not a reliable source of information. I took this instruction as a golden rule and have not looked back until enrolling in the MALAT program and found myself surprised when an instructor offered an idea, linking to further reading from Wikipedia. This was a moment that opened my eyes to the world and possibilities beyond a textbook in a formal education setting. Reading Weller’s (2020) chapter on wikis has, in a sense, granted me permission to trust Wikipedia and has reminded me that I likely have much to unlearn from my instructivist experience in my undergraduate years as I embrace the constructivist learning environment afforded in the MALAT program. 

References

Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of ed tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01