The workshop aims to help participants leverage open practices to promote access to education. It will guide them in examining relevant policies and identifying opportunities for open practices within their institutional contexts. Participants will analyze case studies from different institutions and develop action plans for advocating open education at their own schools. The workshop uses structured discussion, presentations, and small group work to help participants compare approaches across institutional types and cultural settings.

1. Title: Leveraging Institutional Open Practices to Promote Access to Education
Venue: 1st International Conference of the African Virtual University, 20 – 22 November 2013,
Nairobi, Kenya
Facilitators:
● James Glapa-Grossklag, Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources, and
Distance Learning, College of Canyons, and President of the Advisory Board for the
Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
● Kathleen Ludewig Omollo, International Program Manager, Office of Enabling
Technologies, University of Michigan Medical School
Keywords: open education, policy, strategy, elearning production and engagement,
organizational change, distance learning,
Workshop Length: 2-4 hours
Objectives:
● Locate open practices within one’s institutional mission
● Provide a framework for identifying opportunities for and comparing institutional open
practices within one’s own institutional context
● Identify and address incentives, policies, and practices for adopting open licenses
Instructional Goals and Outcomes:
● Participants will identify opportunities for and compare institutional practices with their
own institutional contexts.
● Participants will leave the workshop with tactics for advocacy and integration of open
education in varying institutional and cultural contexts.
Workshop Description: This proposed workshop will guide participants in examining the policy
environment and organizational culture desired for effective open education activities, including
identifying and addressing relevant policies at the departmental/faculty, institutional, national, or
association level (such as for recognition, promotion, intellectual property, quality assurance,
etc.) that can either support or hinder the goal of increasing access to educational experiences.
This formal and informal policy environment is a common area of interest for many educators
and institutions that are curious about or are currently pursuing open education activities.
Drawing from case studies from a two-year community college in the U.S., an undergraduate
and post-graduate research university in the U.S., and a regional network of health sciences
institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, the facilitators will present a framework for understanding
own’s organizational culture, and for identifying opportunities for open practices within that
institutional context.
Target audience: senior administrators and leadership, teaching staff, support staff.
Proposal shared here under a CC BY License. Copyright 2013 Regents of the University of Michigan and
College of the Canyons. Written by James Glapa-Grossklag and Kathleen Ludewig Omollo.

2. Structure: The workshop will consist of structured discussion, with highly participatory group
work in response to case studies and prompts from the presenters. The first portion of the
workshop will feature presentations about open education strategy and tactics at College of the
Canyons, University of Michigan, and the African Health Open Educational Resources (OER)
Network. The bulk of the time will be spent in small group discussion in order for workshop
participants to effectively draw on each other’s collective knowledge about institutional policies,
distance education, intellectual property, and media-enabled learning. Finally, participants will
develop an action plan for advocacy and integration of open education in their own institutions.
Activities: The presentations and structured discussion in small groups will follow a similar
structure to enable the audience to make comparisons across varying contexts. Our points of
discussion and comparison are:
● Reaffirming the mission of one’s institutions in relation to type of institution and target
audience
● Identifying and articulating the value of open education in support of that mission
○ e.g. defining access in the community college context means open enrollment,
lower costs, and supporting non-traditional students
○ e.g. defining access in terms of a public research institution means transparency
and adaptability of processes for innovation, ease of contextualization for other
cultures or languages, and portability of educational materials across varying
mediums, devices, and types of computer networks
● Gaining buy-in with a variety of stakeholders
● Anticipating and responding to opposition
● Documenting and demonstrating increased access through open education within one’s
own contexts
● Prepare action plan to introduce or expand open education within one’s own contexts
Intended Outcomes: In order to encourage the continued discussion, promotion, and adoption
of open education at participants’ respective institutions, we will share all of the workshop
materials (e.g., presentations, notes, guides) in an editable format and under a Creative
Commons Attribution (CC BY) 3.0 license. The resulting materials will be publicized through
existing open education networks (e.g. the Community College Consortium for OER, Open
CourseWare Consortium, African Health OER Network).
Equipment: Requested equipment and room configuration for the workshop include: projector
with VGA input, projection screen or surface, tables and chairs set up for 4-5 small groups of 58 people each, one flip chart or dry erase board per small group, markers. If possible, access for
participants to electrical outlets and a wireless Internet connection would also be helpful.
Proposal shared here under a CC BY License. Copyright 2013 Regents of the University of Michigan and
College of the Canyons. Written by James Glapa-Grossklag and Kathleen Ludewig Omollo.