The open access model is extremely useful for reaching potential students otherwise unable to participate in a traditional education. Time and distance no longer matter, and opportunity arises from a non-tuition model of delivery. Materials are available freely and malleably across multiple dimensions: not just time and place, but also differences in culture, ethnicity, politics, and related characteristics. Perhaps more difficult to address are disadvantaged communities, such as Chester, Pennsylvania, home to Widener University, a private institution with civic engagement in its strategic mission. While many curricula include service-learning components, a variation on this paradigm is evolving within the Professional Writing Program. For over a decade, the Professional Writing Program has accentuated experiential community engagement as a pedagogical model. After learning course material, students (consultant) collaborate with an intermediary agency (client) to produce materials that benefit a target audience (community). In addition, the Professional Writing Program has been developing a new educational paradigm—the LOOC (Localized Open Online Content) —that acknowledges a possible barrier between open access education and disadvantaged learners. This one-hour Action Lab, intended for individuals with limited to moderate levels of familiarity, will examine the LOOC model. After a brief review, participants will brainstorm situations in which the LOOC may engender social change through education, particularly for individuals in disadvantaged communities. Potential applications, as well as inherent limitations, will be openly discussed. Ideally, the session will close with identification of a network of individuals interested in further exploring this strategy for extending the reach of open access education.
