Seventeenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society

Abstract

As the pandemic closed down campuses in March of 2020, there was already the beginning of innovative usage of the Open Educational Resource (OER) software Scalar. Although it was designed to be a digital humanities platform for scholars to write digitally native, Scalar was being piloted as an e-portfolio software for our Master of Management in Library and Information Science (MMLIS) program at the University of Southern California (USC). This pilot proved more valuable than we imagined as it now serves as the capstone software. It is allowing our alumni to use it as a career search tool, to follow their careers, track their scholarly pursuits and to publish in a digitally native space. Additionally, the Scalar capstone projects serve as the end of program assessment tool for accreditation. What we did not foresee was how Scalar would go viral with inventive applications including moving in person exhibits online, virtual CV, training programs, assessment, digital archiving, special collections outreach and many more unconventional applications. Due to the pandemic, the use of Scalar software usage has increased exponentially and continues to be used in inventive innovative and imaginative ways and imaginative areas. In this showcase we will share the diverse and ingenious applications that Scalar is being used for. We will address how to get started using Scalar for a variety of projects. We will suggest how this free academic software can be applied with resourceful approaches that facilitate teaching, learning, scholarly pursuits, virtual exhibits, assessment, training, programs, and planning.