Human Elements in OER Work: Developing an Ethic of Hospitality and Care

Abstract

For project managers and subject matter experts alike, OER projects can be labor-intensive. It can be easy to view such projects as merely functional, driven by project-management methods and production techniques. In the same way that teaching combines disciplinary facts and perspectives with social engagement, motivation, and design -- and because OER work is also with and for people -- these human aspects are an integral part of creating course materials. This brief presentation highlights several perspectives, challenges, and examples related to hospitality and care within OER creation projects related to an OER. These touch on communication strategies, roles of project managers and subject matter experts, human limitations including boundaries, burnout, and conflict, and understanding and leveraging stakeholder motivations -- including student savings, but also learning, curiosity, creativity, and the value of worthwhile work.