Producing your own OER content & empowering students

Hello! I am Mike Elmore and I teach political science at Tacoma Community College. I began working with open education pedagogy this year as a way to engage students as well as create content for an OER based Introduction to Political Science course we are developing for Project Kaleidoscope. When I started working with Project Kaleidoscope, I found that a really comprehensive OER textbook currently does not exist. So, I began exploring the possibilities of creating one with student contributions. I could relate to you the benefits and satisfaction I receive from incorporating students into a writing process. But, I believe their words are more powerful. So, I invite you to listen to a couple of students who have participated in the writing process: Bao Dang and Joanne Eller. They relate incredibly persuasive stories of their learning experiences with OER. Watching these two students as well as others blossom as scholars reminds me why I teach.