Name: Make a Zine and Make Community
Start: 2026-10-08T16:20:00-0400
End: 2026-10-08T16:50:00-0400

All sessions are available online except round tables, special activities, and workshops.

Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT

ID: 34010

During this round table session, participants will discuss reasons that we need support right now, and will learn how to make zines as one way to create community. Making things together (crafts, OER) can help us develop relationships, have fun, and feel a sense of accomplishment. We will discuss the ways that we might be able to find connection and hope through the values of open education. Working in higher education in the United States is especially difficult at this moment in history. Beyond the headline-grabbing threats and cancelled research funding, educators are still feeling effects from the pandemic lockdowns and altered teaching practices that began in 2020--2021. Many students today feel anxious and isolated, and have minimal coping skills to handle those feelings. Many have difficulty reading and comprehending written instructions, and some are so overwhelmed by the demands of what used to be a typical college semester that they just shut down or give up. I find this heartbreaking, frustrating, and exhausting. On top of that, I am part of a minority of faculty in my department who use open resources, which can cause a feeling of isolation. Using OER over time has led me to develop and articulate my values around education--especially public higher education--that go beyond “free is good for students” to include “education is a human right” and “my institution exists to serve the people who live in the region, whoever they are.” Sometimes I remix or create new open content, but in recent years the amount of extra work to take the materials from “class handouts” to “open resources that are proofread, formatted, licensed, posted, and publicized” has been beyond my capacity. That said, I have been able to find sources of resilience! I have found like-minded individuals within my institution. We have made changes to our classes that encourage hope and play and just talking to each other more. I attribute the latter to my decade-plus use of OER, which allowed me to decouple my teaching from the rigid structure of a commercial textbook. It has become a habit, now, to check my assumptions, figure out what my students’ needs are now, and then to find or make something that will meet those needs. Zines (from the word magazines) are 8-page booklets folded from a single sheet of letter-sized paper. The zine maker writes, draws, makes collages for each page. The zine can then be photocopied, folded, and distributed.I have used zines in classes as a way for students to engage with the course material in cognitive, affective, creative, and tactile ways that are different from what they usually do. Students summarize and create and imagine something new using what they have learned in class, and they enjoy it so much. Materials and examples will be provided.

Speakers

Elizabeth Siler

Professor, Worcester State University

Elizabeth Siler is a professor at Worcester State University in the Business Administration and Economics Department. She teaches management classes to undergraduate students and almost exclusively uses open education resources, and is an advisor for the Fiber Arts Circle student... Read More →

Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

Round Table

Speaker Modality In-person
Track Catalyzing Human Connection Creativity and Curiosity to Thrive

Tickets

Success you have shared X tickets.

OEGlobal 2026

Elizabeth Siler

Get help with the event

Success you have shared X tickets.

OEGlobal 2026

Elizabeth Siler

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Get help with the event