Ed Tech Ph.D. Student Selected for Open Education Resource Research Fellowship

Monday, October 12, 2015

Oklahoma State University Ph.D. student Alesha Baker has been selected as an Open Education Resource (OER) Research Fellow. Baker is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Education Technology program, housed in the College of Education.

Baker is one of 22 fellows chosen from a large pool of applicants representing universities in the United States and Canada. Through the selection process, the Open Education Group identified early career researchers and/or qualified Master’s and Ph.D. candidates to research Open Educational Resources.

As part of the fellowship, Baker will receive funding to attend two conferences, including the Open Education Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2015. In addition, fellows will receive mentoring in OER research and guidance in identifying, researching and writing specific OER projects. 

“The OER fellowship is a particularly good opportunity for Alesha because the focus this year is also about open textbooks, which aligns with her interests and back grounds in Libraries,” Education Technology Assistant Professor Tutaleni Asino said.  “OER is still an emerging field and I suspect that when Alesha comes back she will be a great resource not just to her Ph.D. cohort but to the large OSU community with regards to how to embrace and engage with the Open Education movement.”

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation sponsors OER Research Fellowships to do research on the impact of open education resources on the cost of education, student success outcomes, patterns of usage of OER and perceptions of OER.

The Open Education Group consists of BYU faculty John Hilton, Lane Fischer and Penn State University faculty Kyle Peck. Learn more at http://openedgroup.org.