The Educator & Staff Professional Learning Plan is one component of the K-12 Voices for Open OER - DEIA Action Planning Guide.  This plan, and the entire guide, is intended as a strategic planning tool for district leaders wishing to promote the already pedagogically and financially compelling practice of creating or adapting open educational resources (OER) to help achieve district goals in serving all students through diversity, equity, inclusion, or accessibility (DEIA) lens.  The guide provides step-by-step planning tools, including examples, templates, and resources to help district leaders articulate and establish action plans for what we refer to as "OER-DEIA."  The entire guide is an open educational resource itself, free and openly licensed for reuse, remixing, and resharing.

This practical toolkit is designed to support open education leaders and community members across states and districts interested to increase awareness of OER and digital equity. It contains talking points, sample newsletter or website language, and sample social media posts, for anyone to use and adapt in their communications.

In October 2022, the #GoOpen National Network launched an important strategic policy action to advocate for integrating OER into digital equity implementations and this toolkit supports the network's communications strategies.

Funded by the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, P.L. 117-58), the Digital Equity Act of 2021 requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish grant programs for promoting digital equity, supporting digital inclusion activities, and building capacity for state-led efforts to increase adoption of broadband by their residents. As states craft their Digital Equity Plans, they have a unique opportunity to leverage OER to support equity and capitalize on improved digital infrastructure.

The #GoOpen Policy Letter and Guidance documents were shared with state level IT and broadband infrastructure leaders across the country and are available as resources featured in the #GoOpen Hub on OER Commons.

The GoOpen National Network is launching an important strategic policy action to advocate for integrating OER into digital equity implementations at a time when states are specifying their Digital Equity Plans.

Funded by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, P.L. 117-58), the Digital Equity Act of 2021 requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish grant programs for promoting digital equity, supporting digital inclusion activities, and building capacity for state-led efforts to increase adoption of broadband by their residents.

The State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program will be making distributions to states based on their populations, demographics, and availability and adoption of broadband. The Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program will also support efforts to achieve digital equity, promote digital inclusion, and stimulate adoption of broadband. This federal funding can provide an unprecedented opportunity to realize the full educational potential of expanding digital access and inclusion not only through connectivity and IT devices, but also through the integration of OER.

The GoOpen National Network is disseminating this letter to state leads of broadband, IT and digital equity to consider OER in their Digital Equity Plans during 2022-2023.

The letter can be copied and customized for those interested in communicating and advocating with state leaders about OER awareness and the potential benefits of OER integration into state plans.

Read the accompanying GUIDANCE document: https://www.oercommons.org/courses/goopen-guidance-maximizing-the-impact-of-digital-access-and-inclusion-by-using-oer?__hub_id=97

BACKGROUND: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”, P.L. 117-58) requires State Digital Equity Plans to identify barriers to broadband and device equity and accessibility. The plans must also feature objective measures of educational, workforce, health, and other benefits derived from closing connectivity gaps. Requiring or encouraging open licensing of digital materials, such as high-quality educational materials, is a powerful policy strategy for magnifying the educational and other social impacts of broadband access and inclusivity. With this goal as our guide, the #GoOpen National Network encourages you to work with the education leaders in your state to make open educational resources and other openly licensed materials a key element of your state’s Digital Equity Plan.

On Thursday, January 26, 2023, #GoOpen held a public webinar titled, “How Open Educational Resources Can Support Digital Equity in Your State”.  The session dove into the benefits of OER for digital equity, including hearing the perspective of a state that has invested in OER to promote equity. Featuring Connecticut education leader Doug Casey, the session provided specific examples of how participants might take action in their states to craft Digital Equity Plans that can leverage OER to support equity and capitalize on improved digital infrastructure.

On April 18, 2023, #GoOpen held a public webinar titled, "Integrating OER into Instructional Initiatives."  The session featured Rebecca Henderson, Curriculum Services Supervisor, Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, PA; Tracy Rains, Virtual Learning Specialist, Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8, PA; and, Kelly Hammond, OER and Open Pedagogy Adjunct, CUNY School of Professional Studies; and facilitator, Amee Evans Godwin of ISKME and the #GoOpen National Network.  

This guide is intended as a strategic planning tool for district leaders wishing to promote the already pedagogically and financially compelling practice of creating or adapting open educational resources (OER) to help achieve district goals in serving all students through diversity, equity, inclusion, or accessibility (DEIA) lens.  The guide provides step-by-step planning tools, including examples, templates, and resources to help district leaders articulate and establish action plans for what we refer to as "OER-DEIA."  The entire guide is an open educational resource itself, free and openly licensed for reuse, remixing, and resharing.

Use this checklist to make sure that all the requirements for open licensing are met. Please note that it is very helpful to review this checklist BEFORE you begin development work so that you are designing your resource with open licensing requirements in mind from the beginning.

These are full-course openly licensed resources for districts interested in exploring OER options when considering core instructional materials for district adoption.

This poster helps to explain the development process of the OER-DEIA Guide developed by K-12 Voices for Open, which can also be found on OER Commons.

Module home primarily starts with introduction and pronunciation of individual names cultivating scopes for interaction and sharing views. Breaker room discussions  generate initial thoughts, prior experiences and storytelling among learners from all walks of life. Each section of the module has relevant scholarly readings along with educational YouTube videos to facilitate the learners. Besides, discussion assignments, interactive sessions, in every module one homogenous group learner get the chance to present intercultural sessions with another homogenous group. For the final project requirement learners will design 5 online modules embedded with CRT online learning to demonstrate their application of knowledge. Finally, assessment questions provided for interactive interview and certification.  

World Education's Transforming Immigrant Digital Equity (TIDE) project aims to support service providers, policy makers, institutional decision-makers, and advocates for re-envisioning adult education, digital equity, and immigration at the national, state, and local levels.

On the TIDE website, there are informative resources for those who are new to the Digital Equity Act along with resources that support advocacy efforts.