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CC(oe)RStudent Co-Creation of Open Educational Resources
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Research Problem
There has been significant transformation in access to teaching and learning opportunities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Many of these changes have centered on the use of a wide range of digital technologies to facilitate interaction, knowledge and skills creation, and knowledge sharing. Power and Kay (2023) and Power et al. (2024) demonstrated how higher education faculty at two Canadian universities leveraged digital tools to transform their teaching and learning practices, particularly with respect to fostering engaging, collaborative, and democratic learning communities within their courses. Power (2024b) presented one such transformational approach, wherein graduate-level Education students collaborated on the co-creation of Open Educational Resources (OER). The approach saw students create interactive chapters for Open Access (OA) eBooks, leveraging the Pressbooks (2025) platform, in lieu of preparing traditional course research paper assignments. Power (2024b) highlighted the pedagogical rationale for the approach, which aimed to increase student engagement, increase collaboration, improve academic writing performances, and promote the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2022a, b).
The underlying questions to be explored by this research center on the impacts of collaboration on the co-creation of an Open Educational Resource on students’ experiences of community creation within a higher education course, and their perceptions of the impacts on their academic writing experiences and skills. This research will explore the perceptions of students who used the instructor-created “core readings” sections of the open access eBook The ALT Text: Accessible Learning with Technology (Power, 2024a), and who collaborated on the production and publication of the “Summer 2024 Critical Analyses” section of that eBook. The research will investigate students’ perceptions of the value of using OER resources, such as The ALT Text, as part of their academic studies. It will also investigate students’ perceptions of whether participating in the co-creation of sections of that OER achieved the intentions discussed by Power (2024b). Specifically, did their participation in the creation of an open textbook increase their engagement and satisfaction with the academic writing process? Did it promote the UDL principles of providing for multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression? And, did it leverage social, teacher, and cognitive presences to promote the establishment of a Community of Inquiry (CoI) (Athabasca University, n.d.; Garrison et al., 2000) or a Fully-Online Learning Community (FOLC) (Blayone et al., 2017; Webb et al., 2019)? The foundations of this research are highlighted in the Conceptual Framework presented in Figure 1.
Conceptual Framework
Research Questions
- Does collaboration on the creation of an open textbook impact student engagement with the academic writing process?
- Does collaboration on the creation of an open textbook impact student satisfaction in higher education courses, and with the academic writing process?
- Does collaboration on the creation of an open textbook promote UDL principles within higher education courses?
- Does collaboration on the creation of an open textbook promote collaboration between students, social and cognitive presences, and the establishment of Communities of Inquiry (CoI) and Fully-Online Learning Communities (FOLC)?
Significance of the Research
This research aims to examine the efficacy of the co-creation of open educational resources by students. It aims to answer questions related to students’ perceptions of the impacts of the OER creation process on their engagement and satisfaction with the academic writing process, their sense of engagement within academic learning communities, and the benefits of the incorporation of UDL principles on their academic experiences and success. The findings of this research will be beneficial to educators and instructional designers who seek to incorporate pedagogically-sound forms of alternative learning activities and assessments into the designs of their higher education courses.
Research Timelines
Detailed Research Proposal (Concept Document)
Research Team
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Dr. Rob Power
Assistant Professor, Education, Cape Breton University, Canada Dr. Rob Power is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at Cape Breton University. He has an extensive background in educational technology integration and instructional design for online and blended learning in K12, post-secondary, and workplace training contexts. Dr. Power has worked as an instructional design consultant and as the Leader of the Online Learning team with the Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia, Canada. He has also served in leadership roles with the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn) and the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (CNIE). Dr. Power is also a founding member of the Pedagogy, Education and Technology Lab (PETL) and the International Research Network for Innovative Sustainable and Seamless Learning (IRN-ISSE), and president of Power Learning Solutions.
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Robin Kay, PhD
Full Professor, Mitch and Leslie Fraser Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University, Canada Dr. Robin Kay is currently a Full Professor, and has served as the Interim Dean with the Mitch and Leslie Fraser Faculty of Education at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Canada. Dr. Kay received his MA in Computer Applications in Education at the University of Toronto and his PhD in Cognitive Science (Educational Psychology) at the University of Toronto. He has published over 160 articles, chapters and conference papers in the area of technology in education and has taught in the field of computer science, mathematics, and educational technology for over 25 years at the high school, college, undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Kay is also a founding member of the Pedagogy, Education and Technology Lab (PETL).
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References
Athabasca University (n.d.). CoI Framework. https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/
Blayone, T., vanOostveen, R., Barber, W., DiGiuseppe, M., & Childs, E. (2017). Democratizing digital learning: Theorizing the fully online learning community model. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0051-4
CAST (2022a). About universal design for learning. https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl
CAST (2022b). UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education model. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf
LinkedIn Corporation (2025). LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/
Power, R. (Ed.). (2024a). The ALT Text: Accessible Learning with Technology. Power Learning Solutions. ISBN 978-1-7390190-2-0. https://pressbooks.pub/thealttext/
Power, R. (2024b, November 6). Collaboration and Co-Creation to Transform Access to Learning. Invited Keynote presentation at the eCampus Ontario Technology + Education Seminar + Showcase 2024, 5-6 November 2024, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Power, R. & Kay, R. (2023). Higher Education Faculty Supports for the Transition to Online Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Educational Informatics, 4(1), 49-72. https://journalofeducationalinformatics.ca/index.php/JEI/article/view/191
Power, R., Kay, R., & Craig, C. (2023). The Effects of COVID-19 on Higher-Education Teaching Practices. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education, 38(2). https://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/1255/1899
Pressbooks (2025). https://pressbooks.org/
Webb, S., van Oostveen, R., Barber, W., Percival, J. & Childs, E. (2019). Co-creation of the digital space: Examining the use of web-based tools in Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) environments. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1237-1242). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210135/
Blayone, T., vanOostveen, R., Barber, W., DiGiuseppe, M., & Childs, E. (2017). Democratizing digital learning: Theorizing the fully online learning community model. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0051-4
CAST (2022a). About universal design for learning. https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl
CAST (2022b). UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education model. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf
LinkedIn Corporation (2025). LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/
Power, R. (Ed.). (2024a). The ALT Text: Accessible Learning with Technology. Power Learning Solutions. ISBN 978-1-7390190-2-0. https://pressbooks.pub/thealttext/
Power, R. (2024b, November 6). Collaboration and Co-Creation to Transform Access to Learning. Invited Keynote presentation at the eCampus Ontario Technology + Education Seminar + Showcase 2024, 5-6 November 2024, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Power, R. & Kay, R. (2023). Higher Education Faculty Supports for the Transition to Online Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Educational Informatics, 4(1), 49-72. https://journalofeducationalinformatics.ca/index.php/JEI/article/view/191
Power, R., Kay, R., & Craig, C. (2023). The Effects of COVID-19 on Higher-Education Teaching Practices. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education, 38(2). https://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/1255/1899
Pressbooks (2025). https://pressbooks.org/
Webb, S., van Oostveen, R., Barber, W., Percival, J. & Childs, E. (2019). Co-creation of the digital space: Examining the use of web-based tools in Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) environments. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1237-1242). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210135/