During our meeting, the group that discussed awareness raising identified goals, audience, and communication strategies (see notes http://goo.gl/jCpk1H).
What are the key messages we should communicate about the z-degree? What’s the evidence or support for these messages?
Perhaps this is far-fetched and naive, but is there a celebrity willing to be a spokesperson or advocate for this movement? When I worked in adult basic education there were a number of celebrities, writers, politicians, etc. who had earned a GED who volunteered to be in PSAs and promotions for the GED.
Also, a few years ago StudentPIRGS discussed a Save Students a Billion Dollars campaign, with an infographic that showed textbook savings by state, like the old fundraiser thermometer. I am not sure if this is still an active campaign but we could certainly adopt something like it to give folks an easy way to see the impact and urgency around OER adoption.
I am, and probably always will be, a big believer in the power of student voice to get open into most conversations. I think it is incredibly powerful to hear a student describe how her learning changed when she encountered open materials, and then have describe how learning with open materials was different than any other course she has ever experienced.