Opened Culture is a pioneering collaboratory and strategic consultancy dedicated to empowering educational institutions and communities. We stand as a beacon for change in the educational sector, offering a unique blend of strategic insight, practical support, and community engagement to revolutionize how education is delivered and experienced.

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11 May Digital Literacies and Open Culture—A Playbook for HBCU Educators and Allies

Posted on May 11, 2025 in Insights, Playbooks and Guides, Research by
PLAYBOOK

How do digital literacies equip educators and students to sustain an open culture?

This playbook guides educators in developing critical, creative, and collaborative digital literacies essential for open educational practices. Readers will explore foundational digital literacies, apply skills through practical strategies, and reflect on how to integrate ethical, inclusive, and effective digital engagement in their teaching contexts.
Open the Playbook

About the Playbook

Digital literacies shift our focus beyond technology itself, emphasizing instead how learners and educators critically engage, create, collaborate, and ethically participate within digital environments. This playbook provides educators, instructional designers, and academic staff with strategies to enhance competencies essential for navigating open educational resources (OER), responsibly using artificial intelligence (AI), and fostering inclusive digital citizenship.

Structured around digital literacies, this guide emphasizes practical approaches to ethical digital communication, creative content production, responsible AI usage, and collaborative innovation. By adopting a staged framework, institutions can progressively embed digital literacies across curricula, promoting culturally relevant pedagogies, critical thinking, and civic engagement. Ultimately, this playbook serves as a strategic resource for academic communities to participate meaningfully and ethically in open digital environments.

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Using the Playbooks

This playbook is more than a guide. It’s a living resource, and you’re encouraged to shape it with your voice and experience.

As you read, consider engaging with comments that expand, question, or contextualize what you see here. Your insights help build a richer, more relevant resource for everyone in the open education community. Try any/all of the following ways to contribute using the comments feature:

  • Stories from your classrooms or campus, especially student stories that show how these ideas come to life.
  • Frameworks or strategies you’ve adapted or developed based on this content.
  • Case examples from your work, showing how you’re applying these concepts in practice.
  • Citations or resources that deepen the conversation or introduce related scholarship.
  • Affirmations or attestations—brief notes that validate what resonates, or flag what challenges your thinking.

Whether you’re trying out an idea for the first time or scaling a practice across your institution, your comments are part of the story we’re writing together. Let this be a space where theory meets action, and where community fuels change.
Explore the Playbook

About This Project

Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and in partnership with MERLOT and SkillsCommons, this project led by Tennessee State University brings together over 30 HBCUs into hubs that engage in professional development focused on open educational practices and culturally-affirming pedagogies. Addressing the critical need for accessible educational materials, the initiative empowers educators and students at HBCUs and other MSIs to enhance learning through open resources. By supporting these institutions in embedding and sustaining open practices, Opened Culture helps ensure that education is not only accessible but also culturally affirming and reflective of the diverse communities it serves.

Opened Culture

Opened Culture is a pioneering collaboratory and strategic consultancy dedicated to empowering educational institutions and communities. We stand as a beacon for change in the educational sector, offering a unique blend of strategic insight, practical support, and community engagement to revolutionize how education is delivered and experienced.

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