What do you get when you mix anatomy, 100,000+ images of the human body, open licensing, a sprinkle of innovation, and a whole lot of hard work?  Tune in to Stories of Openness: An Open Education Podcast this National Science Week to find out.

Episode 8 - Cailin Mellberg’s OER Story: The SPATIAL Project

In this National Science Week episode of Stories of Openness, we meet Cailin Mellberg, a lecturer of anatomy in Deakin’s School of Medicine. Cailin is the lead creator of the SPATIAL Project, a world-first openly licensed resource that allows anatomy students around the world to access high-resolution 3D images of the human body… for free (yes, free!). In a discipline where learning materials can set individual students back hundreds of dollars for a book, and cost institutions tens-of-thousands of dollars for equipment and subscription fees, The SPATIAL Project is revolutionising anatomy education. Tune in this National Science Week to hear Cailin’s stories about how he did it, how it’s shaping learning, and the impact the experience has had on him as a teacher.

About ‘Stories of Openness’

Stories of Openness is a limited series podcast AND research-by-podcasting project that using podcasting to both generate and share open research data. It’s podcasting about science, and science by podcasting! Each episode features a conversation with a university academic that has written an Open Educational Resource (OER), also known as open textbooks. These books are special because they carry an open copyright licence, so they are free (yes, free!) for anyone to download, save, share, or even adapt for their own needs. Listen as authors share their stories about creating more accessible learning materials and what it has meant for their students, their teaching practice, and beyond. This podcast is for anyone who is curious about OER or just loves hearing interesting people tell their stories.

Stories of Openness is hosted by Lauren Halcomb-Smith, Lecturer of Open Education at Deakin University Library. Lauren is a third-space academic, a co-founder of a disruptive grassroots open-access journal, and a lover of unconventional research methodologies. Lauren came to podcasting as a researcher looking for a methodology was reciprocal, accessible, and allowed for open data sharing. Lauren imagines a future where every university student has access to the resources that they need to succeed, and that libraries and open publishing are the key to that future. 

Stories of Openness by Deakin University is licensed under a CC BY NC 4.0 license. Each episode is an OER, open research data, and a non-traditional research output (NTRO).