Unlocking the equity potential of AI through Open Educational Resources (OER)

Generative AI (GenAI) tools have changed the landscape of equity in higher education, functioning increasingly as assistive technology or equity tools for many students. Students can use their preferred GenAI tool to create alternative formats of learning materials, translate or explain texts, support task planning and initiation, and more. Without absolving institutions of their responsibilities, these applications may offer students greater agency, independence and flexibility to navigate barriers and meet access needs. Yet copyright restrictions on course resources can limit the equity affordances of GenAI, putting institutions, staff, and students at legal and ethical risk. We explore these tensions and consider how open resources offer an alternative pathway to equitable learning. Our presentation is the outcome of a cross-disciplinary collaboration between an inclusive education academic with an AI focus, a university copyright manager, and an open education academic. We use a storytelling approach to explore the experiences of a fictionalised undergraduate educator and four students navigating their unit. Throughout the session, we use a simple visual metaphor to argue: GenAI tools offer real equity affordances, but copyright restrictions present a barrier to accessing them, and prioritising open resources at the design stage can unlock these barriers and contribute to more inclusive and flexible learning environments. Our presentation is conceptual and design-focused. It addresses the symposium theme of ‘GenAI and Assistive Technology as enablers of inclusion’ by showing how GenAI can enhance inclusion when supported by intentional design. It supports UDL 3.0 in content and format, emphasising learner agency and the reduction of systemic barriers. Participants will leave with an increased understanding of how GenAI could support equity, recognise related copyright risk, and identify strategies for prioritising open resources.