benjamin haas’s Profile

Speech 100 is a required course for most BMCC students, the aim of the course is to develop effective skills in speech communication. This course hub was developed as an OER (Open Educational Resource) for faculty to utilize in the hopes that by offering a central resource and an open place where colleagues could collaborate, we could increase access to higher education and cultivate a community of democracy and diversity. We all know the tremendous benefits that using OER (Open Educational Resources) provide to our students. At BMCC alone it is estimated that students have saved $6 million! Besides the obvious financial benefit to our students, using OER materials has contributed to a culture of equity on campus by providing access to information. It is our hope that beyond the financial incentives, faculty can work together and use OER to pursue Open Pedagogy. According to DeRosa and Jhangiani, open pedagogy is “a site of praxis, a place where theories about learning, teaching, technology, and social justice enter into a conversation with each other and inform the development of educational practices and structures.” Using Open Pedagogy will allow us “to build a more empowering, collaborative, and just architecture for learning.” By embracing OER we are reimagining our vision of higher education and recognizing that we can transform our pedagogy to be learner-centered and thus much more beneficial and accessible to our students.

Speech 100 is a required course for most BMCC students, the aim of the course is to develop effective skills in speech communication. This course hub was developed as an OER (Open Educational Resource) for faculty to utilize in the hopes that by offering a central resource and an open place where colleagues could collaborate, we could increase access to higher education and cultivate a community of democracy and diversity. We all know the tremendous benefits that using OER (Open Educational Resources) provide to our students. At BMCC alone it is estimated that students have saved $6 million! Besides the obvious financial benefit to our students, using OER materials has contributed to a culture of equity on campus by providing access to information. It is our hope that beyond the financial incentives, faculty can work together and use OER to pursue Open Pedagogy. According to DeRosa and Jhangiani, open pedagogy is “a site of praxis, a place where theories about learning, teaching, technology, and social justice enter into a conversation with each other and inform the development of educational practices and structures.” Using Open Pedagogy will allow us “to build a more empowering, collaborative, and just architecture for learning.” By embracing OER we are reimagining our vision of higher education and recognizing that we can transform our pedagogy to be learner-centered and thus much more beneficial and accessible to our students.