In setting out to develop a course on the topic of diversity in the 21st century, we opted for a broad collaborative model in which no single individual would assume leadership of the course development process or of the vision of the class, and ownership of the course would never be restricted to any individuals or institutions as it will reside in an open learning environment, WikiEducator. The creation of a traditional classroom-based course is more often than not carried out in isolation with the final product largely reflecting the vision of one person: the instructor. Intellectual property agreements aside, that person goes on to more or less "own" the course. Team-teaching and teaching communities are notable exceptions. Online courses have, to a large degree, challenged leadership in the creation of courses as well as ownership of those same classes. Frequently a faculty member will teach an online course that he or she had little if any hand in creating. The course belongs to the institution in whose learning management system it resides. As for course development, online courses often, although admittedly not always, enable and encourage a more collaborative process. For example, curriculum and instructional designers often work alongside faculty. Sometimes librarians are invited into the effort as well. Our development of this course on diversity constituted an experiment: could we find a way to enable even more diverse perspectives and even greater collaboration?
A team of faculty members - full-time and adjunct - worked side-by-side and at a distance - with a curriculum and instructional designer, a librarian, and an administrator to craft a course with modules that treat the following aspects of diversity: ageism, ableism, race and ethnicity, religious intolerance, heterosexism, and classism. Disciplinary boundaries were set aside as participants brought their expertise from fields as diverse as human resource management, social work, political science, history, business, writing and education. Each module was to include art, music, and film, and the use of Web 2.0 technology was to be an integral part throughout the class. Indeed, the intent has been that the diversity of the team and of the tools used to teach would reflect the diversity of society itself.
However, the diversity of the content of the class and the collaborative process that went into course's development will not end with its launching in spring 2012. The students who register for the course - adult learners each with their own individual degree programs - will bring their varied life and work experiences and interests. In addition to posting on discussion boards and participating in individual and group projects, students will help to shape the course further. They will bring additional resources and help to set the course's learning outcomes. In this way, students and faculty will be teachers and learners alongside one another, all the while bringing precisely the diverse perspectives that the subject matter requires.
Once the course is launched, it will be open to others so that they might adopt it and adapt it for their needs major part of the vision for this course is that it will be an open educational resource (OER). Funded by the Office of the Provost for the State University of New York (SUNY) system, the course's modules will be available for training purposes at our own institution - especially useful as ours is a campus with 35 centers and units spread across New York - but also for use in other courses at institutions around the world. Along the way, others may "re-vision" and revise the course, thereby ensuring that it is always relevant, current, and always evolving...just as diversity itself is.
In addition to presenting and discussing various features of the course, the process behind its creation, and the technology that went into its development, the presenters are especially eager to learn about similar efforts on the part of audience participants. Those who attend are encouraged to share, for example, their experiences in or vision for collaborative course development, the creation of OERs, and the teaching of diversity.
