Class 3 Discussion: Teaching with OER
by Jessica Zbeida 7 months, 2 weeks agoAfter our third class, you may have some new ideas and approaches to adapt, remix, or create OER content. Using OER materials to teach presents several advantages, as well as some challenges, particularly for people who want to create something entirely new.
In this discussion, respond to the following:
- How might you incorporate (or create) OER relevant for your role at MCC? Does using OER relate to how you support the College's mission and/or values?
- What advantages (if any) do you see from using OER? (Savings for students, ease of access, etc.)
- What challenges (if any) might arise if you incorporate (or create) OER?
- How would you assess the impact of OER?
In addition to your post, be sure to RESPOND to at least one other person's post. Thanks!
Hi, everyone!
For our third class, we have a special guest speaker (Joanna Schimizzi), who was featured on a recent MAC Talks podcast. I've included a link to that podcast here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mccidi
Hope you enjoy it!
Jessica
I think I can incorporate OER into what I have my students work on during class. We do lab activities and/or work on involved physics problems during class, both of which could be OER materials. I think that having these materials freely available links to inclusivity.
Both saving for students and ease of access are definitely advantages of OER materials. I think adaptability and continual improvement of the materials is great as well.
The biggest challenge I see is accessability. Many of the OER materials are not ADA compliant.
If I include the OER materials in my course, I would have to compare to historical data for the course. Maybe before and after self-assessment by the students would be beneficial too.
Bernie, I like your practical approach to the use of the OER materials. I'd like to hear more about your lab activities and working on involved physics problems during class using OER. I enjoyed watching the movie Oppenheimer, but felt sad about the conflicts, animosity, and paranoia between some of the characters. Look at what they were inventing, though! I thought the references to Shiva were apt and wonder how OER could have changed the way the scientists learned, what they did and the way they did it.
Hi, Bernie!
Thanks for your participation. I'm so glad to hear that you've got a few options in mind when it comes to OER. For labs, I think it provides a lot of options. I agree with your point about accessibility, though--in fact, this is something Yolanda, Kristen, and I were all chatting about by email overnight! We'll chat some about it in class, but there are definitely some concerns to address with the sources you select and use in class.
Great job!
Jessica
I can use OER to help teach my students and I feel a surge of creativity as I look at the numerous possibilities and materials. Students can freely use the resources for research during our class discussions and to complete homework assignments. “Our mission is to educate our students – improving their lives and enriching our Community.”
We’ve already discussed the advantages of OER in class. They do include monetary savings and ease of access, but also our students can create original work, license it, and publish it. They have a choice of formats for their work. OER reminds me of collaborative art where artists can build on each other’s ideas and work by adding or taking away from a piece. An example would be Yoko Ono’s “Add Color Painting” series. The public could add colors or words to contribute to the art.
This concept could challenge a creator’s ego. For example, creators (artists, authors, inventors, researchers, and people who put together ideas and things) can become attached to their works. They may not want to license and share. They may want to make a profit. One of the ideas that I admired in the original Star Trek was the socioeconomic organization that allowed people to pursue their careers because they wanted to and not because they had to in order to live. Of course, the episodes would show human nature coming out in humans and non-humans alike.
I would assess by direct observation of the performance of my students and by asking their opinions.
Hi Suzanne,
You make an excellent point about the creator's ego in relation to OER. While OER is wonderful, there is a possibility that some creators in education may feel pressured to share their work.
I've also observes a few creators who initially shared their materials through OER, only to later start charging a fee for access once they achieved a certain level of popularity.
Ultimately, it takes time and money to create OER resources. There should be ethical considerations in place to protect the intellectual property of those who do not wish to share. I do think that educational institutions should provide greater recognition, rewards, and resources available for those who choose to share (and perhaps to encourage additional sharing).
Hi, Suz!
Thanks so much for your post. You raised some really interesting questions related to creativity and authorship that are so in my wheelhouse! I agree wholeheartedly that OER offers so many options for collaboration, and it does feel more like a real 'writer's workshop' in some ways to me than when I've helped edit or adapt other textbooks. I also agree with you about the 'ego' part of it. I'm in the same boat as Jackie (Hoermann-Elliot) when it comes to this. To me, having a lot of money or fanfare for works I create is sort of silly, but it matters a lot for some people. This is also a culturally-specific view related to how we think of ideas and ownership in the United States. Lots of cultures don't have the same attitudes about works that authors create--once they're published, they belong to everyone. This is an interesting concern for folks working in this space.
Thanks for sharing!
Jessica
Anatomy and Physiology is one of the subjects in which there is just a wealth of OER materials. There really isn’t any way in which I’m not able to incorporate OER. The only difficulty will be sorting through all the great options and then adapting them to my own needs which will take quite a bit of time and effort. The main OER resources I plan to use are listed below but there are so many other excellent resources outside of this. I also look forward to making my students aware of opportunities to submit their creations to OER.
Utilizing OER ties into MCC’s core values because it demonstrates that our students matter and it is our goal to made their education affordable. It also demonstrates inclusiveness where all students have equal access to the materials, both during the class and after the class has ended. Using and creating OER materials can also be a very innovative endeavor, and the proper formatting and attributions of the materials also demonstrates integrity.
The advantages include a class that is unique (not canned) and tailored to the needs of the class. Additionally, one isn’t tied to a textbook; the class you create is yours to keep. Of course it also saves the students money, increases ease of access, and is usually much easier to share via links and attachments.
My challenges will be time and money, avoiding errors, ensuring the material is ADA compliant, and maintaining the materials so they are available to the students and current.
I will assess the impact of OER through grades and student feedback.
Georgia Highlands College: Excellent notes, practice quizzes, study guides, presentations, and videos.
Skills Commons: Objectives, guided lecture questions, and learning objects.
UBC Learning Objects: Amazing tutorials and impressive labs.
OER Commons: Lists very good that I plan to modify with my own images.
Anatomy Tool: A great resource for locating OER anatomy images.
R. Michael Anson’s Anatomy and Physiology Questions
Hi Shannon,
I really appreciate they way you tie OER into the core values. You worded it much better than I did. I agree that it will show our committment to students and inclusiveness.
It looks like you have a lot of great anatomy OER to work with, so I wish you the best and you figure out how to sift through and incorporate them. I'm sure your students will appreciate your efforts!
Hi, Shannon!
Wow, what a haul! You've found some really awesome resources here, and I know a lot of other faculty would really appreciate this hard work. I absolutely feel there's OER out there for almost every need, though I agree it takes time to find, evaluate, and adapt/curate it for each class. To me, this would make a great PD project for faculty in different departments. Or, maybe a sabbatical application? If faculty could find ways to adapt materials for a whole course (or degree program), that would definitely support the College's mission and meet the criteria for faculty professional development for a sabbatical. Plus, you could totally publish/present on what you did.
Thanks so much!
Jessica
OER is a great fit for music appreciation, and that will be my primary responsibility for the next year. I feel that it also supports the college's mission to educate and enrich students, particularly through making it more inclusive. The reduced fee for taking the course will most likely enable more students to take the course.
I feel that the savings for students is a huge plus. The adaptability is also great as I create a course because I am no longer tied into what one textbook author chose to include.
I could guess that some OER books may feel outdated sooner than later, so I will need to make sure the material continues to look and feel fresh after a few semsters. There may not be continual new editions like there often are with publisher's books. I also know that links to music examples (often on YouTube) can get outdated, so I will need to check those every semester.
I plan to check enrollment numbers to see if there is a direct impact on the number of students signing up for the course due to the reduced cost. Both my division chair and dean anticipate that dual-credit enrollment may spike as a result of the OER option for the course (currently the course has a $75 inclusive access fee), so I am hopeful that the change will really increase the demand for the course. It would also be interesting to look at completion rates before vs. after the change. I don't know if there would definitely be a change, but there could be.
Concerning assessing the impact of OER, I don't remmeber the specific questions about course materials on the course evaluations. I'm thinking there are questions about the value and usefulness of the course materials, but I don't remember for sure. Are we able to add custom questions to our course evaluations? If yes, I wonder if it would be valuable to ask more specific questions about OER materials, particularly in the first semester or two I start using them. Has anyone done that or considered ways to do that?
I don't know if we can have custom questions added to the faculty evaluation, but I think the Institutional Research group would be willing to help with a separate assessment. Laura Wichman would be a good person to contact for those questions.
I was thinking that I would have a one-minute paper at the end of the assignments to assess student satisfaction. I used to have a little survey at the end of my online assignments asked students describe what they found to be most helpful, what they would like to learn more about/needed more clarity, and then rate the value of the assignment. Of course, having questions included in student evaluations would be ideal.
Hi, Peter!
Thanks for your post. I agree with the points you made about how OER aligns with the College's mission for sure. It checks all the boxes, I think, as much as traditional textbooks. Assessment related to OER also seems like a really good idea to me, especially as the College places more emphasis on making textbooks affordable (or free) for students. So many colleges are already switching to 'free' resources (the 'Z-degree' programs). To remain competitive, it seems like something we as faculty will have to address, for sure.
Thanks so much!
Jessica
After three classes and few discussions, I have learned a bit about OER, the value, the rules and the resources. Sounds very positive and good to both students and instructors. As a math instructor, I have so many opportunites to explore the free and open resourses for my courses, such as college algebra, statistics and calculaus. It is a great support to our students, to have less cost for their education and still learn well, I believe it support our school's mission and values.
There are many advanages for using OER, first the reduce the spending fee for materials and texts, which is a big issue to many students. Second it is easy for our student to access and students also can contribute to the contents, we can reuse the materials for the future students too.
The time to prepare the course is big challenge for the first time to get the course done. I have explored the free and open resources, they are great and they ready to be used, but I need to make it as my course, from collecting the material, making videos based on them, and creating the online homework, I feel like it will take a long time to complete the work.
To assess the impact of OER? I would do the similiar assessment as I have been using Pearson materials, by homework, quizzes and Tests, and I may have some projects, such as, students can create some problems based on their backgroud and our contents. It is not so clear yet for this part.
Hi Yumei,
Thank you for your comments. I really like that you mention students' contributions to the content and their ability to share their work and reuse it in the future. In my classes, I use students' essays as examples, and it is very helpful. When students see how real students, who were taking the same course, completed the same assignment, they feel more confident and encouraged to complete their work. Also, students' examples seem more relatable and trustworthy to their peers. Something they be missing in my explanation may become absolutely clear looking at the examples of their peers' essays.
Each semester, I try to update my selection of student essays, and I do request students' written permission. When I send them a request to post their work, they usually get so excited, so proud and honored, and it also boosts their confidence and future performance.
Hi, Yumei!
Thanks for your post. I agree with your point about the time involved in integrating OER resources into a course. It does take some time. This is the case for any course materials we use, though. Dr. Eggleston has been supportive when our group spoke with him about ideas for supporting faculty's investment in this time with things like a mini-grant or course release. Maybe that's something the math department could do as a team, just to spread the work around?
For assessment, one thing that I find helpful is getting student feedback about the resources I use. That's possible with a student survey in Brightspace, and I often get some interesting results I didn't expect.
Take care! :)
Jessica
Hi, everyone!
I think integrating OER into our courses fits perfectly our College mission and core values. We all know that People is our College central value, and being able to provide students with the best resources tailored to their individual needs and aimed at promoting their succees does make the use of OER relatable to our central value. Also, providing students with free resources that are available for all learners will not deprive anyone of a possibility to learn and will make courses inclusive for all learners.
I think the main advantage is low or no cost and the ability to provide access to resources in a timely manner, especially for those students who register late or may have issues with financial aid that is usually applied for purchasing textbooks. Also, providing an easy and reliable access to resources may help students eliminate initial difficulties or possible blocks they may encounter when they just start completing the course work or start college in general, especially if they are non-traditional or first-generation students.
So far the main challenge seems to be time: it really takes time to explore and select good-quality resources that will meet the criteria we discussed last week. It may also be challenging to modify resources and make them adaptable to students' individual needs.
I hope OER will help keep students engaged, stimulate their active learning, and help them accomplish their educational goals successfully..
Hi Anna,
I do like your point on the value of OER to our students, People is the main and central value to our school, I can see there are activities to help students in the past years, such as, Inclusive Access in all my courses, it has been a great effert and support to students.
Time is the great challenge to get ready for the course with OER, and to me the technology is another one, I have been using Pearson all these years, got so used to it, it is ready to be used. For creating my own course from selecting the texts, until setting up the assignments online, which is the main difficulty to me right now, I do not know how it will move yet, but I am eager to figure out and set up in an assessible manner to students to work.
Anna, I think the library, if given enough time, can create a bibliography of OER material for you class. I remember Kristen Cook saying that she worked on some of that over the summer.
Hi, Anna!
Thanks for your post. I totally agree with your point about how OER align with our college's mission and values. To me, that part is what makes OER so attractive.
I also agree with your point that OER does involve some investment of time. For English 1301/1302, I'd recommend the textbook that Jackie Hoermann-Elliot published with TWU. It has some great videos integrated, and it's all in OER Commons/OERTX. Danny Rodriguez has been using it, and he likes the options for his course design. Anything that's more 'plug and play' like that really helps when it comes to redesigning a course. :)
Jessica
I agree that time is the factor, the short term intensive investment for selection, evaluation, and modification, as well as the long term investment in updating. One solution to the workload investment, in addition to time release, would be to work with similar colleagues at MCC or peer community colleges to share the workload and present a consistent resource for students.
Some of this has already been covered, but I think communication can also fit into OER. Our website says that communication means to "be open, collegial, and courageous," and using the OER Copyright that we discussed last weak is a way to be open about what you are using.
I think the biggest advantage, the one that dwarfs all others is cots. I like the ability to change material, but I haven't quite tested that out with my Openstax book yet.
The Texas Board of Education recently held a meeting over some OER content used for K-12 curriculum, and the open comment section essentially lasted all day. I do worry about politics affecting freely available education content. But then again, politics affects major publishers as well so I don't know if I should worry about it too much.
Assessments would probably be through comparing quality of work between classes that did and did not use OER as textbooks.
Hi, Chris!
Thanks so much for your post. I agree with your points about the obvious advantages related to costs for students. That's such a benefit.
As for the politics of OER, this is an interesting point! Texas is such a weird state when it comes to politics, but the state government has been really, really supportive of OER. I'm not sure why, to be honest. I think it's that they hate "big" publishers, or something? The legislature has been really interested in supporting faculty and institutions that want to switch to OER, so I'm optimistic about this work moving forward.
Take care!
Jessica
I too have been surprised by the support of OER in Texas given the politics surrounding teaching Texas and US History. So far in my exploration, OER created and shared in OERTx has not appeared to serve any particular agenda.