Digital Humanities has delivered 14 new Open Education Resources (DH-OER). These projects are about
- multilingualism
- open education practices
- new media pedagogies
- foundational literacies
At a “gala” event (on Zoom), champions and their team members contributed towards the DH-OER Champions Showcase and Celebration event.
Personally, the DH-OER project has been a marvellous journey for me. Although I only stepped in towards the end of the project (see introductory blog post from July 2023), I met almost all of the DH-OER leads in the first month or two who were drawn from universities across South Africa. I also noticed how some champions began taking ownership of their digital identities and opening up their educational practices to the world. The Digital Storytelling Workshop (and my rubbish attempt at a Pecha Kucha) was also embarrassing but fun. And now, as the project ends, I’m encouraged by the collaborations developing between champions and a growing interest in the Digital Humanities in South Africa from all over the world.
Time Line of the DH OER Journey
Certificates for participants have (finally) been sent out. This round of the project is complete. The H5P timeline (see above) recounts the two-year journey that began in December 2021 and culminated in November 2023. The github file (see below) contains details about the final showcase presentations.
https://github.com/Web-learning/DHOER
I’m happy with what was accomplished by all the champions. However, as you can see from the timeline, this project was too drawn out. The current DH OER model is much too extended. Some improvements can be made to the timeline and milestones. With Anelda’s help, I’ve been looking to https://openlifesci.org/openseeds/ for guidance on running a structured open education programme that encourages sharing, connecting and empowering within a set timeframe. I’ve also penned a project report. SADiLaR can do the following.
- Consider what they have learned by running this experience,
- Start a set of critical conversations about the way this particular project was formulated, structured and executed, and
- Discover ways to make the project sustainable and continue contributing positively towards subsequent DH-OER development.
Digital Humanities is only at the beginning of its Open Education Resources journey. OERs need to become an accepted and recognised part of their academic project in South Africa. SADiLaR has an opportunity to strategically build upon the champions’ experiences over the past two years. Perhaps it can model itself around initiatives like “Open Seeds” or Mozilla Open Leaders. Create a structured, responsive, and effective mentorship programme staffed by a team that will guide and socialise OER champions through the concepts, processes, and techniques of using and developing open education resources. We can use what was learned this time to improve the project’s next iteration.
Thanks to all who joined me on this journey.