As an educator in skilled trades and a student in the MALAT program, I am passionate about leveraging technology to aid in effective teaching and learning. After LRNT 524, I have been exploring Open Educational Resources (OERs) and how I can implement them into my practice. OERs are defined by Wiley et al. (2014) as “educational materials which use a Creative Commons license or which exist in the public domain and are free of copyright restrictions are open educational resources” (p. 781). My experience with OERs has been limited, but I hope that by exploring this technology in the course, I will gain a more wholesome understanding of them. In my institution, an OER program has saved students over 2.88 million dollars in the past six years (private communications, March 21, 2023), highlighting the significance of OERs in higher education. Through my experience as a student in the MALAT program, where OERs are widely used, I have seen firsthand how OERs can benefit students. I hope to see OERs used in the trades in the future by providing access to free resources and allowing instructors to share content across institutions openly.

For this course, my group is performing our critical inquiry into podcasting. Podcasts are defined by Rajic (2013) as a method for distributing audio files through the Internet for playback on portable audio players. I plan to explore the implications of utilizing podcasts as an OER and how podcasts compare to other mediums, such as video and written materials. As I have started to critically reflect on the use of podcasts as OERs, some of the ethical and accessibility implications have stood out to me:

Accessibility is critical in education to ensure that all learners, regardless of their background, abilities, or learning preferences, have equal access to educational resources. While podcasts can be convenient and engaging content, they may present barriers for learners with hearing impairments or other disabilities.

Following proper copyright and fair use laws is essential (Curry, 2014) and ensuring that students can access podcasts without creating accounts to protect their privacy and confidentiality. It is also essential for instructors to verify the accuracy, reliability, and impartiality of podcast content, as research has shown that misinformation can be prevalent in podcasts (Caramancion, 2022).

These reflections have prompted me to consider these questions.

  1. How can we make OER podcasts more accessible to learners with diverse needs and abilities?
  2. Are there any best practices or guidelines for educators to follow when using OERs as podcasts in their instructional practices?

I invite feedback from others on these issues and any other aspects to consider in exploring the use of podcasts as OERs.

References

Caramancion, K. (2022). An exploration of mis/disinformation in audio format disseminated in podcasts: Case study of spotify. 2022 Electronics and Mechatronics Conference (IEMTRONICS), Toronto, ON, Canada. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9795760

Curry, J. (2014). Podcasting in education practices and precautions. In Lynda Gansel (Ed.), Grounded designs for online and hybrid learning, (pp. 31-38). International Society of Technology in Education.  https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=i6epCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA31&dq=following+copyright+podcasts&ots=XsDW-wu29l&sig=6CMR-vTnm4EqWzzmifuAw7G0pkM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=following%20copyright%20podcasts&f=false

Rajic, S. (2013) Education use of podcast. The Fourth International Conference on e-Learning, Belgrade Serbia. http://elearning.metropolitan.ac.rs/files/pdf/2013/15-stajka-rajic-educational-use-of-podcast.pdf

Wiley, D., Bliss, T.J., McEwen, M. (2014). Open educational resources: A review of the literature. In: Spector, J., Merrill, M., Elen, J., Bishop, M. (eds), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology. Springer.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3185-5_63