Access to whose point of view? OER texts and content diversification at Australian universities

Dr Sarah Lambert, Deakin University 

Abstract: Dr Lambert is the Chief Investigator of the Australian research project “Open Textbooks as Social Justice: A National Scoping study“. The project aims to investigate to what extent that open textbooks have the potential to act as social justice in the Australian Higher Education context as they have in North America and Canada. Emerging findings suggest that Australian academics are beginning to engage with the potential of open texts and learning materials to help remediate the ‘white-washing’ of the curriculum in some disciplines. Insights will be shared from the interviews of academics of Nursing, Archaeology, Cultural Studies, Fashion, Psychology and Philosophy who are undertaking various Open Education Practices to de-colonise their curriculum and reading lists at Australian Universities including the writing of open texts and curation of open learning materials.

Dr. Sarah Lambert is a leading researcher, collaborator and practitioner of social justice and widening participation in education. Currently an Honorary Research Fellow at Deakin University, her research explores gendered and socio-cultural barriers to education mediated by technology. She has recently published on the gendered impacts of emergency remote schooling during COVID19 and is currently Chief Investigator on Australia’s National scoping study of OER Texts funded by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE).