Presenters provide a research-informed model for creating OER materials that support teachers in implementing multiliteracies pedagogy across various teaching contexts. We first outline the process of creating this model, and then exemplify with a resource for analyzing and adapting text-based activities using the knowledge processes framework of multiliteracies pedagogy.
Over the past two decades, scholars and practitioners have applied multiliteracies approaches to postsecondary language programs (e.g., German Department, 2011; Kern, 2000; Paesani, Allen, & Dupuy, 2016; Swaffar & Arens, 2005). Empirical research highlights the feasibility, outcomes, and perceptions of multiliteracies pedagogy, yet few studies have investigated how teachers learn about and implement it. This research underscores the long-term nature of teachers’ conceptual development, their difficulties in applying concepts to instruction, and their entrenched discourses and practices around multiliteracies and other pedagogical approaches (e.g., Allen, 2011; Allen & Dupuy, 2013; Dupuy & Allen, 2012; Menke, 2018; Menke & Paesani, in press). One implication of these findings is the need to identify and develop multiliteracies professional development (PD) resources that are meaningful for teachers. Our aim is to address this implication by providing a model for creating OER materials for PD around multiliteracies pedagogy that are relevant across a range of teachers and teaching contexts. First, we argue that OER resources intended to support multiliteracies practices must respond to both teacher needs and research findings. This requires creating practical resources in which theoretical concepts are purposefully embedded to aid teachers in understanding and implementing multiliteracies pedagogy. We then present a multi-year process of creating PD resources that incorporate OER and universal design principles (CAST, 2019; Wiley, n.d.). This process includes researching teacher understandings and applications of multiliteracies pedagogy; identifying and designing needed resources; addressing constraints of OER-enhanced PD; and piloting, refining, and publishing resources. We exemplify this process with a resource for analyzing and adapting text-based activities using the knowledge processes framework of multiliteracies pedagogy. This resource illustrates the OER life cycle for materials creation (Santally, 2011) and universal design features including multimodal content, clear language, and customization. We conclude with future directions for OER-enhanced PD around multiliteracies pedagogy.
