2024 Founding Fellows

In terms of themes, they could be organized around different stages of OER development, so that the Fellows can pick one that most suits their institutional needs. So maybe something like:

"Mapping your journey" (needs assessment, data collection, resource inventory, strategic plan, etc.)
"Gathering your party" (creating a committee/task force, finding allies/artners, outreach to faculty/students)
"Equipping yourself for the journey" (developing infrastructure, resources, technology, personnel, etc.)
"Setting out on the road" (setting specific goals/timelines, developing operational plan, implementation & tracking)
"Stopping at the Inn" (assessment & reflection on recent efforts, discussions about successes/failures, revisiting strategic plans and goals, gathering feedback from faculty adopters/student users, etc.)

Yes, all of the above from your resident D&D geek whose about to start Season 2 of The Rings of Power.  I can't help it!

I think some of the capstone projects can be natural offshoots of the curriculum. Some of these can include:

1. Create an OER Implementation Plan for a Department

• Project Description: Mentees work with a specific department within their institution to develop a detailed plan for implementing OER across multiple courses. This could include identifying high-enrollment courses, curating existing OER materials, and creating training resources for faculty.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees learn strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and how to align OER initiatives with institutional goals.

2. Design an OER Adoption Toolkit for Faculty

• Project Description: Mentees design a toolkit that helps faculty understand, find, and adopt OER in their courses. The toolkit could include step-by-step guides, templates for adapting materials, and case studies of successful OER integration.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees develop skills in instructional design, resource curation, and faculty development.

3. Conduct an OER Impact Study

• Project Description: Mentees conduct a research study to measure the impact of OER adoption on student learning outcomes, cost savings, or student engagement at their institution. The study could involve surveys, data analysis, and reporting.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees gain experience in educational research, data collection and analysis, and report writing.

4. Develop an OER Professional Development Course

• Project Description: Mentees create an online or in-person professional development course for faculty on how to adopt and create OER. The course could cover topics like open licensing, integrating OER into the curriculum, and best practices for ensuring quality.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees enhance their teaching and curriculum development skills while contributing to the professional growth of others.

5. Create a Multilingual OER Resource

• Project Description: Mentees work on translating an existing OER textbook or creating new OER materials in a language other than English. This project would involve linguistic and cultural adaptation to ensure the resource is relevant and accessible to non-English speaking students.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees develop skills in translation, cultural adaptation, and international education.

6. Organize an OER Awareness Campaign

• Project Description: Mentees plan and execute a campaign to raise awareness of OER among students and faculty at their institution. This could include events, social media outreach, creating promotional materials, and working with student organizations.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees learn project management, marketing, and advocacy skills.

7. Build a New Repository of OER in OERTX for a Specific Discipline

• Project Description: Mentees curate and organize OER materials for a specific academic discipline or subject area, creating a centralized hub in OERTX. This could involve identifying gaps in existing resources and collaborating with faculty to create new content.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees develop skills in resource curation, digital librarianship, and discipline-specific knowledge.

8. Create Interactive OER Content

• Project Description: Mentees develop interactive learning modules or multimedia resources using OER. This could involve using tools like H5P, creating video tutorials, or developing simulations and games that enhance student engagement.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees enhance their skills in digital content creation, interactive learning design, and educational technology.

9. Host an OER Workshops

• Project Description: Mentees organize a local or regional conference or workshop focused on OER. This event could bring together educators, librarians, and administrators to share best practices, showcase OER projects, and discuss challenges and opportunities in OER adoption.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees develop event planning, networking, and community-building skills.

10. Create an OER Accessibility Audit

• Project Description: Mentees conduct an accessibility audit of existing OER materials at their institution, identifying areas where resources may not meet accessibility standards. The project could include creating guidelines or tools to help faculty ensure their OER materials are accessible to all students.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees gain experience in accessibility standards, user experience design, and inclusive education.

11. Develop a Community of Practice Around OER

• Project Description: Mentees establish a Community of Practice (CoP) focused on OER at their institution, bringing together faculty, librarians, and other stakeholders to collaborate, share resources, and support each other in OER adoption and creation.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees develop community-building, leadership, and collaboration skills.

12. Integrate OER with Service Learning

• Project Description: Mentees design a service-learning project that involves students in the creation or adaptation of OER materials for use in community education programs. This could involve partnerships with local schools, nonprofits, or other community organizations.
• Learning Outcomes: Mentees develop skills in service learning, community engagement, and experiential education.

As discussed in our meeting on Tuesday, I like the idea of future Fellows developing some of the needed resources we've identified while designing the curriculum, and I'm sure the need for additional resources will arise as the curriculum evolves across cohorts.

I'd also love to see capstone projects focused on cross-institutional, regional, or state collaboration. Ideas include:

• Regional and/or statewide Communities of Practice (could utilize OERTX)
• Open educator directories (could utilize OERTX)
• Community-led webinar series
• Cross-institutional impact research
• State policy advocacy
• Creating peer review processes (a favorite of mine from the parent post)
• Standardizing course-marking practices (another favorite of mine from the parent post; could also fall under state policy advocacy)

I really like the Open Educator directory - I know that Florida Virtual Campus has a "statewide leaders" list but it doesn't cover everyone in the state by a long shot.  This would be a great resource.

I am also a fan of the course-marking practices. I do think there are opportunities to go beyond just the standard markings and tie to Sec. 51.4521 to ensure information is shared appropriately in class schedule and/or development of information campaign to students to increase awareness of course materials and benefits.

In thinking about Capstone themes I have two major questions that are keeping me from having fully-fledged capstone project ideas.

1. Time: How long will the fellows have to work on the capstone? Many of the people who are in the fellowship program are very busy. We are asking them to go through a program, complete activities, have regular mentor meetings and complete a capstone project on top of their regular duties. Before I think of a project I think it would be important for us to know what timeframe we are expecting. That may help us build a list of ideas because we know the project could fit into the allotted timeframe. The Capstone project could also be an action plan for a project. This could provide an actionable timeline, goals, and objectives that could help them complete a project that may not fit in the allotted timeframe of the program.
2. Audience: Who will be the audience of the capstone project? As a fellow, is the idea to create projects that create the next OER leaders in Texas? Would this mean Capstone themes should revolve around leadership? Or should the capstone projects be geared towards supporting those who are beginning their OER journey and as the OER leaders/mentors of Texas we are providing documentation to help new OER practitioners in their new role? 

The Capstone project for the first cohort could be to choose a module within the fellowship curriculum and do a peer review. This could help point out deficient areas or maybe pieces of the curriculum that could be more developed. Maybe the first cohort can create assignment templates, discussion prompts, or create one of the resources that we saw as “needed” in that area.