The Open Education Conference registration is open with early bird pricing until Sept 30. This is an international conference that is inspiring in its future thinking and practical idealism. See hhttp://openedconference.org/2015/ for more information. Hope to see you there!
The position as first OER advisor for the U.S. Department of Education will be filled by Andrew Marcinek, a founder of EducatorU and a blogger on educational matters at http://andrewmarcinek.com/ . Check out the article in Campus Technology at http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/09/21/department-of-ed-names-first-oer-advisor.aspx
Our previous post on this position from SPARC is here, http://oer.hawaii.edu/u-s-department-of-education-to-hire-open-education-advisor-for-k-12/.
There is an interesting paper posted in the famous Arxiv hosted by Cornell University Library, “Redesigning a junior-level electronics course to support engagement in scientific practices,” by H.J. Lewandowski and Noah Finkelstein of the University of Colorado Boulder. See http://arxiv.org/abs/1507.03925.
The course syllabus is at http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys3330/phys3330_sp14/phys3330_syllabus_sp14.pdf and demonstrates a successful course in measurable outcomes of student engagement and retention of the concepts. The course does not require a textbook.
This is another example of a course redesigned to be more effective and became more affordable for students because of faculty who wanted to give their students hands-on practice in doing science.
Check out the post at http://www.sparc.arl.org/blog/education-department-hires-first-ever-open-education-advisor about OER getting major support from the U.S. Department of Education.
Open Educational Resources also have an important role to play in higher education. Open resources used with a more integrative use of online library resources, the Zero Textbook courses can transform classes taught at UH.
Doug Ward of the University of Kansas in a commentary in today’s CHE [Sept 8, 2015] argues that open source or library sources not only save students money but can offer a better way to teach. Ward suggests alternatives to going with a pricey textbook, such as,
“Scour the web and enlist your college’s librarians to find articles and posts that provide the same — or even better — information as in the textbook.” [bolding is mine]
See the article at http://m.chronicle.com/article/Why-You-Ought-to-Think-Twice-/232877/?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en
For Fall 2015, Leeward CC is offering 53 classes that have Textbook Cost: $0 designation* in the online course list. This designation applies to any class that does not require students to purchase textbooks. These classes include 7 sections of ENG 22, 2 sections of ENG 24, 17 sections of ENG 100, and 8 sections of ENG 200. Other classes include ENG 207 and 209, POLS 110, SOC 100, 151, and 250H, and WS 151. In addition, Leeward CC is offering its first open educational resources (OER) ENG 100 online course. Susan Wood, Professor CC of English, was the first at Leeward CC and in the UHCC system to create an open, online course for English 100.
As part of the UH system initiative, the Leeward Library and Educational Media Center (EMC) have promoted the use of OER, no-cost, and affordable solutions to support student success and make higher education more affordable. A May 2015 survey of Leeward CC students found that, of the 987 students responding, 55% did not purchase a required textbook for a course and 65% said that textbook costs influence their decision to enroll in a course.
This summer, the EMC and Library collaborated to offer a track in the Pacific Region Learning Summit entitled “Go Open, Go Free Using OER.” Participants included teaching faculty, librarians, and instructional designers from Leeward CC, Kapiolani CC, Hawaii CC, and UH Maui College. Leeward is the first campus in the UH system to design and deliver a professional development series to help faculty find and incorporate no-cost, low-cost, and creative commons licensed resources into their courses as replacements to costly commercial course materials.
The Library and EMC continues its partnership to promote OER as a viable alternative to expensive commercial textbooks and work with faculty members to identify and adapt OER materials for their courses. For more information, please see Leeward’s Open Educational Resources website.
*Textbook Cost: $0 classes are self-designated by the instructor. An instructor teaching classes that do not require students to purchase any textbooks may request to have this designation added to their classes in the online course list. Contact your Leeward CC Division Secretary to add Textbook Cost: $0 to the Banner SSA Text field for your classes.
UMUC announces that they have replaced all undergraduate textbooks with OER and other no-cost (to students) digital resources for this Fall semester. By Fall 2016, graduate materials will also be cost-free to students. This move was to save students money but also to change teaching to avoid relying on materials locked away in static textbooks. Read, http://www.umuc.edu/globalmedia/embedded-digital-resources.cfm .
We can do this at the University of Hawaii–contact oer@hawaii.edu to discuss further.