The Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) has created a Language Open Educational Research (OER) Network which "showcases the work of open educators in the field of language learning and teaching." Language educators who use, create, or promote open educational resources and open educational practices can apply to be recognized with a digital badge representing their knowledge or skills.
UWEC's French professor, Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller, has been recognized as an OER Ambassador. To be considered an OER Ambassador, an instructor needs to be one who "actively promotes foreign language OER by sharing and modeling various open educational practices." Dr. Miller gave a presentation titled "A Free Intermediate French Sequence to Improve Accessibility to a Culturally Diverse and Complex Curriculum" in November 2020 at the first Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum conference. The material from Dr. Miller's transformation of intermediate-level French curriculum to being more multifaceted and diverse will be available as an open educational resource for others to use and adapt.
Dr. Miller and two of her French students were also recently quoted in a Spectator article about using OER in the classroom. Dr. Miller said that while OER can be more work than selecting a textbook to use, the improvements in accessibility to the students and the outcomes in the classroom outweigh the drawbacks.
Fourth-year French student, Alanna Cieslewicz said, “This format is so much more engaging and it makes it fun to learn.”
Julia Paschke, a first-year student said the cost reduction to students was a benefit and the OER learning feels more inclusive.
To read the full Spectator article, with quotes from McIntyre Library director Jill Markgraf, click here.
To learn more about Dr. Miller's OER Ambassador badge, visit the COERLL website.
