Open Science for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA)

More than ever, we need to dismantle barriers, promote understanding, and empower underrepresented communities ensuring open science and in particular open values are truly a transformative force. We need to understand that Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) and its values are more at risk than ever with the current political context worldwide. IDEA is a basic pillar for the future of open science and open education research because it addresses fundamental issues of fairness and opportunity. The Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) has been researching EDI since 2018 through several projects. Working together with the GO-GN team and members I am investigating the work done by previous and present EDI projects. This allows me to link my previous and current research on accessibility in varied contexts. Therefore, this presentation will combine my GO-GN scholarship and research presenting two case studies: Case study 1 - Empowering EDI: The Impact and Future of Open Education in Latin America. In this case study, we used existing GO-GN research findings and aligned them with the recent Dubai Declaration on OER by UNESCO. The results of this alignment produced five main themes: (1) Capacity-building. Involves creating opportunities for collaboration and high-quality research publication, particularly to enhance visibility and understanding of contributions. (2) Policy Development. While research publications can enhance visibility, OER sharing is more community-focused with challenges including the lack of a regional organisation. (3) Inclusive and equitable access. Effective communication in open research communities involves providing multilingual resources, informative webinars, local language support, diverse communication formats, and virtual networking spaces. (4) Sustainability models. Increase collaboration to build research networks between the Global North and South to create more cohesive and effective research. (5) International cooperation. Latin American stakeholders should increase visibility by publishing in multiple languages and leveraging AI translation systems for better outreach. Case Study 2 - Codesigning Open Software Solutions for IDEA. This case study adopts findings from my research projects on codesigning accessible virtual assistants mapped against the GO-GN EDI guidelines. The results of this mapping produced the five key themes below: (1) Empowering Diverse Voices. Codesign ensures that diverse voices are included in the development process to create software that is more responsive to the needs of different user groups. (2) Fostering Innovation. Codesign can lead to innovative solutions by bringing together people with varied backgrounds and perspectives. (3) Building Trust and Ownership. Being involved in the design process helps to feel a sense of ownership and trust in the open solution. (4) Promoting Ethical Development. All stakeholders have a voice in the development process to create software that is fair and equitable. (5) Improving Accessibility, Usability and User Experience. Involving end-users in the design process helps to improve the quality of the open solution from the beginning. We will finish this presentation by briefly exploring some of the GO-GN’s most recent work in EDI in open education, such as the Workshop in Brisbane in 2024 and discuss the plans forward. Attendees will leave this session with a greater understanding of how Open Science can support IDEA. 1. This piece of work adds valuable lessons learned in the space of open education research, and no doubt audience members will take meaningful lessons from it. It's unclear from this piece of work how it is explicitly linked to wider discussions on AI, which would be interesting to see. 2. Two potentially enlightening case studies which focus on OER in relation to IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility). The abstract would suggest that attendees will leave this session with a greater understanding of how Open Science can support IDEA but this is not explicitly stated.