Category Archives: oa.case.oer

Open and affordable textbooks: approaches to OER pedagogy | Emerald Insight

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Abstract:  Purpose

Following is an overview of the open and affordable textbooks (OAT) program, strategies for outreach, as well as discuss approaches that faculty awardees have taken to designing their courses. This paper aims to address a couple issues such as the effectiveness of open educational resources (OER) resources, the process of creating OER resources and how faculty and instructors have updated their courses and adjusted their pedagogy.

 

Design/methodology/approach

This paper describes five cases where the faculty adopted open pedagogy. They include a general chemistry course, psychiatry clerkship, microbiology lab, a medical Spanish course and a radiology elective in a medical school.

 

Findings

The use of open pedagogy promotes two things: up-to-date resources and practical experience. Since the creation of the Rutgers OAT program, faculty and instructors have been rethinking how they teach their courses. Students enjoy the content more and faculty loves the increase in engagement. As the program continues to grow, the creativity fostered by open pedagogy improves education for everyone involved.

 

Originality/value

The paper offers a general overview of an effective open and affordable program at a public research university. It demonstrated the effectiveness of the program while also offering examples of novel course materials for interested librarians and faculty. It opens the possibility from just finding resources to creating them and how they improve education.

Navigating support models for OER publishing: case studies from the University of Houston and the University of Washington | Emerald Insight

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Abstract:  Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe programs that support open educational resources (OER) publishing in academic libraries. Insights, opportunities and challenges are shared in relation to the broader open education movement.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides two case studies describing the development of OER publishing programs at large, public research universities – the University of Houston and the University of Washington. Each program takes an Author DIY approach to publishing support and is in the early years of supporting OER adoption and creation.

Findings

These case studies demonstrate the need for a greater focus on decision-making and workflows. They illuminate challenges and opportunities for librarians supporting OER initiatives, including adapting existing models of OER publishing, navigating institutional culture, moving OER programs beyond affordability and how to sustain and scale OER programs with shifting institutional support.

Originality/value

OER is an emerging program area within academic libraries, and much of the focus has been on outreach and advocacy around affordable alternatives to commercial textbooks. Little has been written about programmatic initiatives to support OER publishing. This paper adds unique examples to the OER literature and raises new questions around support for OER publishing.

Caring for students in postsecondary open educational resource (OER) and open education initiatives: inviting student participation and voice | Emerald Insight

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Abstract:  Purpose

This paper aims to examine librarians’ professional motivations and theoretical perspectives to attend to care and student voice, as they pursue open educational resource (OER) initiatives in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine OER initiatives that serve as models for their work at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), describe how they have attended to care and student voice in their work to date and reflect on how they hope to continue to do so in their future OER initiatives.

Findings

The authors find connections between theoretical perspectives for care in education and the values and ethics of both the open education movement and librarianship. They propose that these connections provide a foundation for librarians to align their professional motivations and practices in support of learning. The authors provide examples of OER programming that attend to care and student voice and offer related strategies for practitioners to consider.

Originality/value

Librarians at many post-secondary institutions provide critical advocacy and support the adoption, adaptation and creation of OER in higher education. Theories of care, values and ethics in the open education movement and librarianship provide a foundation for librarians to attend to care and elevate student voice as they undertake OER advocacy and initiatives.

6/24 Textbook Heroes: Growing an Open Education Initiative Through Recognition and Gratitude – YouTube

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“Communication plays a central role in acknowledging and educating communicates about affordability barriers faced by students and the potential of OER. In early 2019, KU Libraries launched an initiative called “Textbook Heroes” to express gratitude for advocacy and innovation in course materials affordability at the University of Kansas. Textbook Heroes are members of the KU community who’ve taken extraordinary initiative to increase access to and affordability of required course materials by implementing and advocating for OER and other low and no cost course materials. Find out how a librarian and a communications manager collaborated to build a low cost, high impact program, and hear from a hero instructor who’s saving KU students a quarter million per year.

Presenters: Josh Bolick, Scholarly Communication Librarian, KU Libraries; LeAnn Meyer, Communications Manager, KU Libraries; Meggie Mapes, Introductory Course Director, KU Communication Studies….”

Open Knowledge in the Curriculum: Building competencies, attributes and literacies – Open.Ed

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“At the University of Edinburgh we believe that the creation of open knowledge and open educational resources are fully in keeping with our institutional vision, purpose and values, to discover knowledge and make the world a better place, while ensuring that our teaching and research is diverse, inclusive,?accessible to all and relevant to society.  This commitment to open knowledge is more important now than ever,  in the midst of a global pandemic that has disrupted education for millions of learners around the world. Indeed in response to the COVID-19 crisis, UNESCO has issued a Call for Joint Action to support learning and knowledge sharing through Open Educational Resources (OER) with a view to building more inclusive, sustainable and resilient Knowledge Societies….”

Open Educational Resources: Building Collaborative Bridges: The Serials Librarian: Vol 0, No 0

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Abstract:  Dr. Sarah W. Sutton presented the experiences of Emporia State University’s Open Educational Resource (OER) task force, particularly its collaborations with both internal and external stakeholders, as well as the results of its work as a case study. She focused on sharing how collaborations with stakeholders influenced the process, choices, and outcomes of the task force (particularly those that are transferable and may have benefits for other institutions of higher education).

 

Open Educational Resources: Building Collaborative Bridges: The Serials Librarian: Vol 0, No 0

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Abstract:  Dr. Sarah W. Sutton presented the experiences of Emporia State University’s Open Educational Resource (OER) task force, particularly its collaborations with both internal and external stakeholders, as well as the results of its work as a case study. She focused on sharing how collaborations with stakeholders influenced the process, choices, and outcomes of the task force (particularly those that are transferable and may have benefits for other institutions of higher education).

 

Enhancing OER Support by Developing a Workflow and Service Model

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Abstract:  My capstone project for the 2018-19 SPARC Open Education Leadership Program focused on developing internal infrastructure in order to support a new and quickly growing OER program at the University of Houston (UH). The primary goals of my project were to develop an OER adoption workflow to support instructors in replacing commercial textbooks, and to develop a service model for an effective and sustainable level of OER support.

This report details the process of completing the capstone project, which included conducting an environmental scan of OER needs at UH, reviewing existing OER workflows and similar resources, developing an OER adoption workflow specific to the UH context, and beginning to develop a service model for OER support. Successful completion of the capstone project is evaluated by comparing project outcomes to the desired goals. 

Lessons learned include recognizing the value of documentation, resisting perfection, understanding my own process, and acknowledging my progress and successes. This project would not be as successful without my SPARC mentor, Camille Thomas (Scholarly Publishing Librarian, Texas Tech University), who provided constant guidance and support.

OER as an Institutional Survival Strategy | Confessions of a Community College Dean

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“Shift focus from “tuition and fees” to “total cost of attendance,” and foster the adoption of OER at scale.  Money not spent on textbooks can offset tuition increases from a student perspective, while still allowing needed operating revenue to flow to the institution.

In the right context, done well, OER represents the rare win-win.  A student facing a tuition increase of, say, a hundred dollars a semester probably breaks even with a single course moving to OER, and comes out ahead if two or more courses do.  Tuition may go up, but total cost of attendance — the meaningful number — remains flat or even drops. Even better, OER allows every single student to have the book from the first day of class, which can help with course completion and retention, and therefore enrollment.  (One of the most powerful predictors of retention is GPA. Students with GPA’s below 2.0 drop out at much higher rates than students above 2.0. Not having the book affects academic performance; presumably, having the book may affect it in a positive way.) You can maintain a sustainable funding level for the college, keep costs down for students, and improve retention rates at the same time.

In essence, it redirects revenue from publishers to colleges and students. Yes, that takes a bite out of some commercial publishers, but that’s their problem.  They should have thought of that before charging $300 for an Intro to Physics textbook, or before bundling non-transferable software codes with textbooks to short-circuit the used book market….

I ran some back-of-the-envelope numbers for Brookdale over the last few days, to see how much money OER has saved or will save students in the coming year.  Based only on courses that have already committed to adopting it, we’re looking at over a million dollars per year in textbook cost savings….”

Rebus Projects – Marking OER Courses: Best Practices and Case Studies

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“The “Texas Toolkit for OER Course Markings (a living guide)” is a living document that can help colleges and universities develop and implement processes to share information with students about courses that use open education resources (OER). This project expands the toolkit to include case studies representing a variety of approaches to OER course markings, brief stories from the perspectives of various stakeholders, and a more robust analysis of stakeholders, options, and barriers. Items slated for further exploration include platform specs, talking points for stakeholder groups, graphic illustrations and flow charts, communication opportunities and roadblocks, branding considerations, and impact….”

The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics

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“There are multiple indicators which suggest that completion, quality, and affordability are the three greatest challenges for higher education today in terms of students, student learning, and student success. Many colleges, universities, and state systems are seeking to adopt a portfolio of solutions that address these challenges. This article reports the results of a large-scale study (21,822 students) regarding the impact of course-level faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER). Results indicate that OER adoption does much more than simply save students money and address student debt concerns. OER improve end-of-course grades and decrease DFW (D, F, and Withdrawal letter grades) rates for all students. They also improve course grades at greater rates and decrease DFW rates at greater rates for Pell recipient students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education. OER address affordability, completion, attainment gap concerns, and learning. These findings contribute to a broadening perception of the value of OERs and their relevance to the great challenges facing higher education today.”