OER Learning Community Template - Canvas Commons

Members of UT Austin's OER Working Group received a mini grant from our campus' Center for Teaching & Learning to develop an instructor learning community (ILC) focused on OER and affordable course materials as tools for equitable and inclusive teaching practices. The affordable nature of these materials allows students to have immediate access, and open licenses enable instructors to improve cultural responsiveness, accessibility, and innovative pedagogies. Our goals for the ILC were to enable participants to: • Understand the spectrum of affordable learning materials available openly or through campus services, with an emphasis on OER • Search for OER relevant to the courses they teach in repositories and evaluate them using open rubrics • Evaluate course materials for basic accessibility best practices and cultural responsiveness; identify opportunities to enhance these aspects of OER and self-created course materials • Identify and interpret open licenses associated with OER created by others and those they wish to apply to their own materials

Material Type: Full Course

Authors: Ashley Morrison, Hannah Chapman Tripp, Lydia Fletcher

Open Educational Resources Community of Learning

This course is a guide for creating a self-paced community of learning-style curriculum for understanding the basics of Open Educational Resources (OERs). Originally developed in Canvas, this guide includes five learning modules with reflection questions, optional live discussion topics, and quizzes.  The purpose of this OER Community of Learning curriculum is to establish a campus-wide baseline knowledge on the subject of OERs.

Material Type: Full Course

Authors: Stephanie Towery, Lisa Ancelet, Laura Waugh, Amanda N Price

Building OER Sustainability on Campus

Join us for this webinar to hear how colleges are transitioning from individual faculty OER course adoptions to entire departments and OER degree pathways. OER leaders at colleges who have reached critical mass in their implementation will share best practices for sustaining faculty engagement, student involvement, project funding, and institutional commitment to OER adoption for the enhancement of teaching and learning. Our featured speakers are both longtime community college leaders in the OER movement at regional and district levels. They will engage each other in discussions on the themes mentioned above and invite questions from webinar attendees.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Lisa Young

Growing Open Education in Michigan, Oregon, & California

Open Education Week is an ideal time to hear from our community members who are leading open education initiatives on their campuses and across their states to reduce costs for students and empower faculty to enhance learning in their classrooms. We will hear from two OER librarians and a faculty member who are successfully growing awareness and adoption of open educational resources. They will share the successes and challenges of coordinating statewide efforts and influencing their colleagues to adopt OER in their courses.

Material Type: Lesson

Authors: Amy Hofer, Regina Gong, Vera Kennedy

A Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students – Simple Book Publishing

A handbook for faculty interested in practicing open pedagogy by involving students in the making of open textbooks, ancillary materials, or other Open Educational Resources. This is a first edition, compiled by Rebus Community, and we welcome feedback and ideas to expand the text.

Material Type: Textbook

Author: Edited by Elizabeth Mays

Modifying an Open Textbook: What You Need to Know

This is a five-step guide for faculty, and those who support faculty, who want to modify an open textbook. Step-by-step instructions for importing and editing common open textbook file and platform types are included.

Material Type: Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Amy Hofer, Anita Walz, Annie Johnson, Cheryl Cuillier, Karen Lauritsen, Kathleen Labadorf, Peter Potter, Richard Saunders

Seeking a sustainable OER ecosystem

As the collection of available OER – the OER commons – has grown, a collection of institutions and organizations that contribute to and draw on the commons has developed around it. Sustaining this “OER ecosystem” of content and stakeholders that transform the content into innovative approaches in the classroom to improve student experiences is vital to realizing the potential impact of OER. To inform this report, we conducted over 20 stakeholder interviews, as well as a literature review of OER and other open-driven industries.

Material Type: Primary Source

Authors: Lee Green, Nathan Huttner, Rachel Cowher

Resource for the Resource MCC Group

Image credit: Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries OER Program Guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  This template is for use by participants in the Resource for the Resource series to help identify and share ideas for OER implementation at their Instutitution.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Jessica Zbeida, Kristen Cook, Yolanda Gonzalez, Mary Sides

Humanities 1301

The course is an examination of the Human Condition that pulls from a wide variety of disciplines—the Humanities, Classical Studies, and the Sciences. The integration of these different disciplines enables the OER material to facilitate an interdisciplinary conversation about the human experience through the use of printed and visual classic texts, lecture videos, interactive student materials, and original assessment tools. 

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Kim Miller-Davis

OER Core Elements Series - Resources and Recordings

This resource will contain all of the recordings and documents from the OER Core Elements Series. 

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Joanna Schimizzi

World Regional Geography

Rather than present students with a broad, novice-level introduction to geography, emphasizing places and vocabulary terms, this text approaches geography as experts understand the discipline, focusing on connections and an in-depth understanding of core themes. This thematic approach, informed by pedagogical research, provides students with an introduction to thinking geographically. Instead of repeating the same several themes each chapter, this text emphasizes depth over breadth by arranging each chapter around a central theme and then exploring that theme in detail as it applies to the particular region. In addition, while chapters are designed to stand alone and be rearranged or eliminated at the instructor's discretion, the theme of globalization and inequality unites all of the regions discussed. This core focus enables students to draw connections between regions and to better understand the interconnectedness of our world. Furthermore, the focus on both globalization and inequality helps demonstrate the real-world application of the concepts discussed. Colonialism, for instance, rather than a historical relict, becomes a force that has shaped geography and informs social justice. This thematic approach is also intended to facilitate active learning and would be suitable for a flipped or team-based learning-style course since it more easily integrates case studies and higher-order thinking than the traditional model. Each chapter begins with a list of learning objectives. This text was written with the backward course design model in mind and the content of each chapter was structured around these learning objectives. Because of this backward design focus, the length of each chapter is considerably shorter than most traditional textbooks. The intention is for the instructor to supplement the text with problems, case studies, and news articles and to use the text as a springboard for discussing deeper issues. The chapters are written in an accessible style, often addressing the student directly, and the author's voice has intentionally tried to remain present in the text. Following the Washington Post's gender-inclusive style guide, the singular they is intentionally used throughout the text. Rhetorical questions are also used to help students reflect on concepts and to encourage them to dig deeper and consider concepts from different perspectives.

Material Type: Textbook

Author: Caitlin Finlayson

Physical Geography Lab Manual

Lab Manual for Physical Geography Course.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Aline Nortes Gregorio, Jeremy G. Patrich, Scott J. Crosier, Taya C. Lazootin, Waverly C. Ray

Physical Geography

Physical Geography, also called earth science, is the study of our home planet and all of its components: its lands, waters, atmosphere, and interior. In this book, some chapters are devoted to the processes that shape the lands and impact people. Other chapters depict the processes of the atmosphere and its relationship to the planet’s surface and all our living creatures. For as long as people have been on the planet, humans have had to live within Earth’s boundaries. Now human life is having a profound effect on the planet. Several chapters are devoted to the effect people have on the planet.The journey to better understanding Earth begins here with an exploration of how scientists learn about the natural world and introduces you to the study of physical geography and earth science.

Material Type: Full Course, Textbook

Introduction to World Regional Geography

The discipline of geography bridges the social sciences with the physical sciences and can provide a framework for understanding our world. By studying geography, we can begin to understand the relationships and common factors that tie our human community together. The world is undergoing globalization on a massive scale as a result of the rapid transfer of information and technology and the growth of modes of transportation and communication. The more we understand our world, the better prepared we will be to address the issues that confront our future. There are many approaches to studying world geography. This textbook takes a regional approach and focuses on themes that illustrate the globalization process, which in turn assists us in better understanding our global community and its current affairs.

Material Type: Textbook

Author: R. Adam Dastrup

World Regional Geography

Rather than present students with a broad, novice-level introduction to geography, emphasizing places and vocabulary terms, this text approaches geography as experts understand the discipline, focusing on connections and an in-depth understanding of core themes. This thematic approach, informed by pedagogical research, provides students with an introduction to thinking geographically. Instead of repeating the same several themes each chapter, this text emphasizes depth over breadth by arranging each chapter around a central theme and then exploring that theme in detail as it applies to the particular region. In addition, while chapters are designed to stand alone and be rearranged or eliminated at the instructor's discretion, the theme of globalization and inequality unites all of the regions discussed. This core focus enables students to draw connections between regions and to better understand the interconnectedness of our world. Furthermore, the focus on both globalization and inequality helps demonstrate the real-world application of the concepts discussed. Colonialism, for instance, rather than a historical relict, becomes a force that has shaped geography and informs social justice. This thematic approach is also intended to facilitate active learning and would be suitable for a flipped or team-based learning-style course since it more easily integrates case studies and higher-order thinking than the traditional model.

Material Type: Textbook

Author: Caitlin Finlayson

Physical Geography

This textbook was designed especially for College of the Canyons students, as a resource to instill the knowledge and adventure that the discipline of geography holds for so many of us. The following units will cover a wide array of topics such as: Earth’s grid system, rivers, oceans, deserts, basic geology, and cartography.

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Jeremy Patrich, Trudi Radtke

Physical Environment: An Introduction to Physical Geography

An OER Geography Textbook

Material Type: Textbook

Author: Michael Ritter

Physical Geography and Natural Disasters – Simple Book Publishing

Introduction to physical geography including a background on data collection and scientific methods of study.

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Ma, R. Adam Dastrup

The OER Starter Kit for Program Managers

The OER Starter Kit for Program Managers was created to bring attention to the work that is involved in building and managing an OER program, from learning about open educational practices and soliciting team members to collecting and reporting data on your program’s outcomes. Regardless of your program's scope and your own experience with OER, we hope that the Starter Kit for Program Managers will have some tips to help you along your way.

Material Type: Case Study

Authors: Abbey K. Elder, Apurva Ashok, Jeff Gallant;, Marco Seiferle-Valencia, Stefanie Buck

Marking Open and Affordable Courses: Best Practices and Case Studies

This collaboratively authored guide helps institutions navigate the uncharted waters of tagging course material as open educational resources (OER) or under a low-cost threshold by summarizing relevant state legislation, providing tips for working with stakeholders, and analyzing technological and process considerations. The first half of the book provides high-level analysis of the technology, legislation, and cultural change needed to operationalize course markings. The second half features case studies by Alexis Clifton, Rebel Cummings-Sauls, Michael Daly, Juville Dario-Becker, Tony DeFranco, Cindy Domaika, Ann Fiddler, Andrea Gillaspy Steinhilper, Rajiv Jhangiani, Brian Lindshield, Andrew McKinney, Nathan Smith, and Heather White.

Material Type: Case Study

Authors: Abbey Elder, Jennifer Raye, Jessica Dai, John Schoppert, Joy Perrin, Kris Helge, Liz Thompson, Michelle Reed, Nicole Allen, Sarah Hare