Open Educator as Bartender
After several months of transition let me pick up the thread.
It has been good to take a break. Take time to reflect, recharge, and reimagine open and my role in it. One aspect I have found myself thinking about is “remix”. The central idea of remix is to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix existing works to create something new. Remix has been a common creative practice throughout human history.
Remix came to the forefront of my thinking during my work at Creative Commons. While remix has a long history it is currently legally prevented by the default exclusive copyright regime applied on intellectual property. In his book “Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy” Lawrence Lessig, one of the cofounders of Creative Commons, adapted the remix concept for the digital age, documenting its benefits and explaining how Creative Commons licenses remove the friction proprietary copyright creates and enable the creative practice of remix.
Remix is an essential element of open education. It is specifically called out as one of the 5R’s of Open Educational Resources (OER):
1. Reuse - Content can be reused in its unaltered original format - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
2. Retain - Copies of content can be retained for personal archives or reference - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
3. Revise - Content can be modified or altered to suit specific needs - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
4. Remix - Content can be adapted with other similar content to create something new- the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
5. Redistribute - Content can be shared with anyone else in its original or altered format - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)
While remix is an integral element of open education the actual practice of remixing OER is not widespread practice. It’s always been a bit surprising to me that remix is not a pervasive practice in open education.
In the early days of Open Educational Resources my BCcampus colleague Scott Leslie did a presentation on Open Educator as DJ where he showed how the creative process and workflow of being a DJ can be adopted and adapted by educators working with Open Educational Resources. In Scott’s analogy Search, Sample, Sequence, Record, Perform, and Share are equally effective ways for both a DJ and an open educator to perform their craft. Just as a DJ remixes songs into a compilation an educator can remix OER into a learning experience.
One fun activity I wanted to do in my transition was take a course in bartending. It occurred to me that bartending is all about remix -mixing together different ingredients to create something new. I thought it might be playful and fun to take a course on bartending and see whether there were frameworks, ideas, and practices that could transfer to open education remix. Perhaps the long history of bartending could inform the relatively new and nascent history of Open Educational Resources remix. So in the interests of expanding my own creative practice and learning more about remix I signed up in April 2023 to take the Fine Art Bartender certification course in Vancouver.
The eight day course took place in person in an intensive, very hands-on format roughly following this structure:
Day 1: The basics of bar operations including bartending station setup and bartending equipment. An introduction to vodka and practice making vodka based cocktails.
Day 2: Mixes, garnishes and glassware along with liqueurs and making shooters.
Day 3: Responsible service and a focus on gin including the unique practice associated with making martinis.
Day 4: Geographic origins of rum and tequila along with source ingredients, fermentation/distillation processes. The benefits of ageing and blending and knowing what makes the difference between a basic spirit and premium ones. Practice making rum and tequila cocktails.
Day 5: Focus on different types of whiskies and associated cocktails.
Day 6: Wine including types, serving, pairing, and tasting.
Day 7: Focus on Beer including classifications, changing kegs, dispensing and serving.
Day 8: Final exam. Four rounds of timed cocktail preparations plus written test.
Taking the course generated a whole series of questions and ideas in my mind on how the remix practice of bartending might apply to open education. Below I share a few of those, in italics, as a means of stimulating your own thoughts on the parallels between the two practices. I’d love to do a workshop with other open educators where we collectively explore these questions and ideas.
My introduction to bartending began with an orientation to the basic setup of a bartending station including the tools of the bartending trade - scoop, tongs, shaker, strainer, muddler, spoon, etc., and how to use them. I wondered what the equivalent in open education is? What might an open educator remix station look like and what tools of trade does an open educator use in doing remix?
A central focus of bartending is understanding each of the primary types of spirit - vodka, liqueurs, gin, rum, tequila, whisky, wine, and beer. We learned where and how each spirit is made along with what differentiates a basic spirit from a premium one. In bartending spirits are the central building block around which a drink is made. That led me to wonder: What are the equivalent central building blocks in open education? Do we know where and how OER are made? Is there such a thing as basic open education which we differentiate from premium open education?
Making cocktails involves combining spirits with other mix ingredients to create something new. The remix process follows a prescribed sequence involving specific measures, types of mix, mixing methods, glassware, and garnishes. I asked myself: What are the remix ingredients used in open education? What proportions and measures of open education combine in ways that create the equivalent of a memorable, flavourful, cocktail? What are the equivalents to glassware and garnishes in open education?
In bartending there are four primary ways of making a cocktail; 1. Build on ice, 2. Shake and strain, 3. Shake and pour, 4. Stir and pour. What are four main ways of creating open education?
To make cocktails memorable they are given special names - eg. Cosmopolitan, Tequila Sunrise, Old Fashioned, Moscow Mule, etc. To make them replicable each drink has a specific recipe. Classic cocktails often come down to the same basic ratio: 2:1:1. Two parts spirit, one part sweet, and one part sour, commonly known as the golden ratio. How are types of open education named to make them memorable and replicable? Are there recipes and golden ratio’s in open education?
The bartending course involved extensive practice. We literally made hundreds of cocktails. The final exam required us to do four timed rounds of making cocktails. Each round involved making four cocktails, randomly selected from the approximately one hundred cocktails we learned to make, in four minutes. We had to know from memory what was in each drink, combine and mix the ingredients correctly, serve it in the appropriate glassware, and use the right garnish all within the allotted time. Can open educators quickly, and accurately, remix specific types of open education?
In bartending some drinks are intended to accompany a meal either before, during, or after. What constitutes a “meal” in open education and are there open education experiences designed to meet the before, during, and after aspect of a meal.
Bartending remix is an art and each of us were encouraged to develop our own “style” that includes social engagement with customers at the bar. Is the creation and remix of open education a social activity and what constitutes an engaging open educator style?
These are but a sampling of the thoughts and questions I had. I had to study harder for this course than I had in many years, but it was playful, fun and thought provoking. I believe bartending remix has a long tradition from which open education can learn.
As a corollary to Scott Leslie’s Open Educator as DJ here is an Open Educator as Bartender photo of me at the Fine Art Bartending School.
One surprising thing I hadn’t anticipated in the ensuing weeks and months since I completed my bartending course are the many requests I now get to make cocktails. Friends and family all want to sample my homework or have specific requests for drinks they want me to make. I’ve always been primarily someone who only drinks wine and beer but now social occasions often include me making cocktails as part of the overall experience. I find myself perusing the cocktail menu more when dining out and watching the skill and style of the bartenders. Organizers of an upcoming high school reunion I’m attending have asked me to make a commemorative cocktail -the school colours were red and gold and the school sports teams were the Comets, so I’m busily designing a Comet Cocktail (ideas welcome). There is a element of fun and levity to all this that I wish was part of open education. The creative practice is not just the skillful practice associated with making drinks but learning peoples favourites, encouraging them to try something different, inventing something new, and the social delight of enjoying a cocktail and conversation with others.
