OER and the Open Access Journey: New Frontiers for Faculty
Recording Link (requires UTA credentials to access): March Faculty Lounge on OER (led by Rosie Kallie)-20250319_120422-Meeting Recording.mp4
Facilitator: Rosie Kallie (RK), Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering
Special Guest: Megan Zara (MZ), Open Educational Resources (OER) Librarian
Panelists: Kimberly Breuer (KB) (History and Geography), Karishma Chatterjee (KC) (Communication), Jessica Kahlow (JK) (Instructional Design), Shelley Wigley (SW) (Communication)
Motivation: As faculty assessing new course books and materials for classes, at first glance, we likely use our faculty perspective. For example, topics covered, types of examples presented, scope and sequence. The price may seem reasonable to us. From the student perspective, students like to see copious examples at a low cost. The example Rosie Kallie presented was for an engineering textbook at $124.95, reasonably priced from a faculty perspective. However, for a student who is homeless or with other obligations, the price may be out of reach.
Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resources (OER): Zara gave a brief introduction to the world of OA and OER. OA grants free, unrestricted access to research outputs, peer-reviewed, like journal articles, books, etc, but licensing may be restrictive. OERs are free resources focused on teaching and learning. Additionally, OERs may have more open licensing, allowing them to be customized and shared. Examples of OERs are textbooks, videos, etc. UTA libraries offers grant funding for faculty to pursue OA/OER projects. Cost savings for UTA students last fall exceeded $5 million (US dollars).
Panelists Questions with excerpts of responses:
*Regarding the Impact of OA and OER: How has the OER resource(s) impacted your students? How has the OER journey impacted you as an educator?
As committed educators, the panelists were searching for relevant course materials with the appropriate scope and sequence of topics while also engaging their students throughout the course.
JK remarked how students liked that the OER text could be saved then it was easy to access throughout the semester. As an educator holding a wealth of Best Practices, creating a new OER book gave JK incentive to write everything down as book content.
SW stated that the impact on students is positive since students themselves created content for the book. Thus, students have more buy-in, more dedication on the assignments, etc they are creating. They can point potential employers to their contributions within the OER. They feel empowered because their work will help students, here and abroad, who use their OER. Last, SW notes that working on the OER has re-energized her creativity as an educator.
KC mentioned how students loved saving money by using an OER book (zero cost), loved the easy access to the OER book as well as seeing communications examples that cater to engineering and science students. Last, as an educator, KC stated that her OER journey is still evolving; the next step is reviewing this semester’s data from faculty and students, then tweaking the OER.
KB noted the History Department began looking for lower-cost resources for their online students, as an alternative to expensive traditional textbooks. She began searching for online books, if they existed. She located a short textbook on U.S. History on the State Department website. The department has expanded the Zero Cost materials to other courses as well. As an educator, KB remarked that the OER journey is both gratifying and terrifying. Last, the process takes longer than you think.
*Regarding Motivation toward OA and OER: How did you get started with OER or Open Access? As you review the insights, you will note a common theme of availability.
JK spoke of not being able to find desired resources for a course, “Assessment and Evaluation in Online Learning,” a book that would combine theory, best practices, and implementation.
KB was looking for resources that could replace a $100 textbook on “History of Science and Technology” along with a holistic approach, that is, the add-ons that publishers advertise like question banks, etc.
KC was not able to find just the right book for a Communications course focused on science and engineering students, a large service course of 20 sections each semester. A more recent book in use was expensive (over $100), expansive, yet professors felt overwhelmed by content, but only a small portion of the book was actually being used. A different approach was to create a shorter, focused OER with specific content.
SW did not find an existing book to fit the need of the “Public Relations Campaigns” course, the experiential capstone course required for PR majors. Creating an OER that would serve as a guide book for quick reference throughout the semester would be a better fit for the students.
*Regarding Obstacles or Advice on an OA and OER journey: What obstacles did you face, and how did you overcome them? and/or What advice, tips, or considerations would you share with others?
Possible obstacles: Time management since the OER project does take a lot of time. Set a schedule to write every day (e.g. 20 min). Getting the students to a place where they understand how they want their work to be licensed. Published-unpublished resources. Collaborators change jobs.
Advice: Interact with the OER librarian more, e.g. to help make the OER more interactive. For moral support, join the Professional Learning Community (PLC) for Open Education Open Access. Get Grad Students to help. If stuck, a change of scenery helps (e.g. eat outside). Once you find the first OER source, it opens up your thinking to how can I update my education practices in other ways.
Some Key Take-Aways: There are lots of resources available. There is support for you; it is not a lonely journey. The OA, OER journey is different for everyone. You can start small with homework, chapter readings, etc. You will learn something new in the process.