Have you thought about how your course materials can create bridges from the classroom to the community?
The second round of OER (open educational resources) Awards is open for applications and the UA OER Awards Committee is looking forward to seeing more creative teaching practices come forward.
How are OERs used?
Wiley (2013) defines open pedagogy as educational activities that are only possible because materials are made available with an open license. He provides examples of assignments where students revise and remix OER to create content to further enhance the course itself or asking students to create or edit Wikipedia entries on topics discussed in a course.
Ehlers (2011) defines "open educational practices" as "practices which support the (re)use and production of OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path" (p. 4).
Tom Woodward expands on this view of open pedagogy to refer to "a general philosophy of openness (and connection) in all elements of the pedagogical process," where "[o]pen is a purposeful path towards connection and community" (Grush, 2013; italics in original).
No matter the definition you choose, the benefits of using OERs include:
- Reduced costs to students
- Freedom to modify or add content to your specifications
- Digitally accessible and downloadable, even before classes start
"I see Open Education Resources having an impact beyond my classroom. By creating materials that are useful for a larger audience, while meeting the needs of my learners, I can leverage OER as a way to enhance learning and break down barriers. Learners can then appreciate the connection and relevance of the course material to their future professional practice." ~ Valentin (Tino) Villatoro Assistant Professor & Clinical Coordinator, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (UA OER Awards 2018/19 Awardee)
About UA OER Awards
The previous round of OER Awards focused primarily on finding and integrating open educational resources into credit courses (also titled Course Enhancement award projects). Successful projects opened the classroom up to the community through assignments addressing current issues and/or relevant needs of the public. Modeling social responsibility in the classroom and the community alike is a foundational benefit of using and/or creating learning material with an open license.
This round, the UA OER Awards Committee also invites applicants to submit proposals to the new Amplification Fund which aims to extend and enrich existing open educational resources. By supporting instructors to engage students and the community in the development of open educational resources we expect the resulting products to address learning needs while being relevant and of immediate use to the public. This could occur through a series of workshops or collaborative partnership projects such as piloting the use of an OER from your classroom with a nonprofit organization. Amplification projects must build upon existing openly licensed materials which enable modification and redistribution (e.g. Creative Commons license CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, or CC-BY-NC).
Applicants who wish to enhance an OER that is not yet openly licensed are welcomed to contact CTL, Libraries, or the Copyright Office to explore an open license for their content prior to application.
Examples of OER Award projects may include:
- Find, customize, and use open educational resources.
- Replace traditional textbooks and other paid resources with open educational resources.
- Utilize OER in classroom activities to leverage open licensing by enabling students to modify and redistribute OER.
- Engage students, other educators, and/or the community in the development of open teaching resources.
- Solicit feedback and pilot the use of OER. Validate the alignment of the resource with stakeholder needs beyond the classroom.
- Develop version 2.0 of your existing OER by publishing on Pressbooks or other platforms to enhance engagement.
Learn more about open educational practices
To learn more about open educational practices, check out this CTL-hosted workshop with professor Dr. Michael B. McNally "Co-Creating OER with Students", this open textbook about creating open content with students, or e-mail ctl@ualberta.ca for a consultation to explore how OER can enhance learning for your students.
Apply for an award
Visit the Centre for Teaching and Learning Centre's website to apply.
And to learn more about the UA OER Awards and get support for preparing your application, consider attending an info session. Award projects from 2018/19 are listed here and awardees will be showcasing the results of their projects during Open Education Week in March 2019.
Applications are due by February 28, 2019.
Hendricks, C. (2015, April 11). What is open education?. Retrieved November 24, 2018, from http://blogs.ubc.ca/chendricks/2015/04/11/what-is-open-education/http://blogs.ubc.ca/chendricks/2015/04/11/what-is-open-education/
Ehlers, U.-D. (2011). Extending the Territory: From Open Educational Resources to Open Educational Practices. Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning, 15(2), 1-10.
Wiley, D. (2013, October 21). What is Open Pedagogy? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2975http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2975
Grush, M. (2013, November 12). Open Pedagogy: Connection, Community, and Transparency-A Q&A with Tom Woodward. Retrieved November 24, 2018, from http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/12/open-pedagogy-connection-community-and-transparency.aspxhttp://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/12/open-pedagogy-connection-community-and-transparency.aspx
Christiansen, Erik G. and McNally, Michael B. (2017). Open Enough? Choices and Consequences When Transitioning from Closed to Open Resources and Courses. https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z31P38Fhttps://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z31P38F