Stories of Openness: An Open Education Podcast

Stories of Openness: An Open Education Podcast@storiesofopenness

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2026 episodes (5)

Sarah Steen's OER Story: Workplace Role Play Scenarios
Ep. 05

Sarah Steen's OER Story: Workplace Role Play Scenarios

‘Workplace Role Play Scenarios’, published in 2023, is an internationally-recognised OER about helping students navigate difficult conversations, negotiation, and mediation in the workplace. In this episode, author Dr Sarah Steen generously shares her stories about how the OER came to be, it’s impact learners in and beyond Deakin, and how it’s shaping her own teaching practice in the brave new world of AI-enabled education. Guest bio: Dr Sarah Steen (FHEA) is a Senior Lecturer and Course Director at Deakin Business School. A passionate and innovative educator with over 15 years’ experience, she has developed an OER featuring role-play scenarios grounded in authentic, real-world contexts, providing students with rich opportunities to build critical employability skills. The OER has attracted over 6,000 visitors and has been adopted by Australian and international universities, as well as integrated into a state government training program. In 2025, Sarah received the Deakin University Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Employability in recognition of the OER’s impact. Links: Access the OER via Deakin Open eBooks: https://deakin.pressbooks.pub/workplaceroleplayscenarios/ View Dr Sarah Steen at Deakin: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/40976-sarah-steen Connect with Dr Sarah Steen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsarahsteen/ Find out more about this podcast: https://www.deakin.edu.au/library/teach/open-education/podcast Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.26187/deakin.24233626

Siva Krishnan’s OER Story: Communication and Teamwork Skills to Support Neurodiversity
Ep. 04

Siva Krishnan’s OER Story: Communication and Teamwork Skills to Support Neurodiversity

Dr. Siva Krishnan shares his stories about co-authoring ‘Communication and Teamwork Skills to Support Neurodiversity’, an OER published in 2025 and designed for staff and students to support the neurodiverse student body with communication and teamwork skills. Siva’s stories touch on his experiences of collaborating with a student as co-author, the impact the experience has had on him as an educator, and the impact the OER is having beyond Deakin. Guest bio: Dr. Siva Krishnan is the Associate Head of School and an Associate Professor of Engineering at Deakin University’s School of Engineering. Links: Access the OER via Deakin Open eBooks: https://deakin.pressbooks.pub/communicationteamworkskills/ View Dr. Siva Krishnan at Deakin: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/10101-siva-krishnan Connect with Dr. Siva Krishnan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siva-krishnan-4890861aa/ Find out more about this podcast: https://www.deakin.edu.au/library/teach/open-education/podcast Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.26187/deakin.28693058

Trish Corbett’s OER Story: Sustainable Marine Futures textbook
Ep. 01

Trish Corbett’s OER Story: Sustainable Marine Futures textbook

Dr. Patricia (Trish) Corbett shares the story behind ‘Sustainable Marine Futures’, an Open Educational Resource (OER) that explores how ocean science, sustainability, policy and community intersect to address key marine challenges. Trish shares how she came to create an OER, the impact it’s having on her students, and how it’s shaping her teaching practice. And, if you are wondering about the picture of the penguins on the cover, Trish has a story about that too! Guest bio: Dr. Patricia (Trish) Corbett is the Academic Director of Teaching for the Bachelor of Marine Science in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University. Links: Access the OER via Deakin Open eBooks: https://deakin.pressbooks.pub/sustainablemarinefutures/ View Dr. Patricia Corbett at Deakin: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/45265-patricia-corbett Connect with Dr. Patricia Corbett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-corbett-3589a4122/ Find out more about this podcast: https://www.deakin.edu.au/library/teach/open-education/podcast Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.26187/deakin.30907151

Sagarika Mishra’s OER Story: Business Finance textbook
Ep. 03

Sagarika Mishra’s OER Story: Business Finance textbook

Associate Professor Sagarika Mishra shares the story of why she wanted to create an Open Educational Resource (OER) about corporate finance. In a world where finance textbooks can be overwhelming for both students and teachings, ‘Business Finance’. Sagarika explains how she designed the book to make business finance concepts more easily understood, what it’s meant for her students, and how it’s changing the way she thinks about teaching. Guest bio: Associate Professor Sagarika Mishra (Deakin Faculty of Business and Law) is an interdisciplinary researcher with expertise in AI in corporate settings, corporate culture, corporate governance, and climate risk on financial markets. Links: Access the OER via Deakin Open eBooks: https://deakin.pressbooks.pub/corporatefinance/ View A/Prof Sagarika Mishra at Deakin: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/1151-sagarika-mishra Connect with A/Prof Sagarika Mishra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagarika-mishra-64850b6/ Find out more about this podcast: https://www.deakin.edu.au/library/teach/open-education/podcast Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.26187/deakin.24239683

Danielle Hitch’s OER Story: Enabling & Optimising Recovery from COVID-19
Ep. 02

Danielle Hitch’s OER Story: Enabling & Optimising Recovery from COVID-19

Associate Professor Danielle Hitch is an occupational therapist, academic, an Open Educational Resource (OER) creator, and a great storyteller. In 2023, Danielle published ‘Enabling and Optimising Recovery from COVID-19’, an invaluable resource focused the assessment, management and support of people experiencing Long COVID. This episode features stories about creating an OER about long covid, including how storytelling is used in the book itself, as well as how it’s shaping learning and teaching at Deakin. Guest bio: Associate Professor Danielle (Deakin Faculty of Health) has been at Deakin for nearly 20 years. She has also been an occupational therapist for 25 years and an active researcher in her field for 15 years. Links: Access the OER via Deakin Open eBooks: https://deakin.pressbooks.pub/enablingoptimisingrecoverycovid19/ View A/Prof Danielle Hitch at Deakin: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/1035-danielle-hitch Connect with A/Prof Danielle Hitch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-hitch-38318581/ Find out more about this podcast: https://www.deakin.edu.au/library/teach/open-education/podcast Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.26187/deakin.24239785