Equity and Innovation: Adding Human Voice to OERs

Abstract

Many students are facing multiple barriers to accessible education. Some instructors have attempted to help address these concerns through the adoption and use of Open Educational Resources (OERs). When questions of access arise, however, McWilliam (1999) reminds pedagogues to question what concept(s) does the word “access” refer to. For us, a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach to education works well with OERs aimed at levelling playing fields toward greater student equity.This column details a feasibility study we undertook and underscores that, while a professional human audio component might be cost-prohibitive, creators and utilizers can still create (human) voice audio components for their OERs that open access to more students.