Howdy/Hola!

I am Elizabeth Stackhouse, an Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education at the University of Houston - Downtown. 

My interaction with copyright is limited to following the guidelines of copyright materials at my institution. 

I am beyond excited to learn more about this topic because I was that non-traditional student who could not afford textbooks. I know this will be beneficial to my students. 

Thank you for this opportunity! 

Elizabeth 

1. Hi, my name is Jorge Mendoza and I'm an Instructional Designer at San Jacinto College.

2. I have researched copyright licenses because I used to create instructional videos and I needed to use music that I was able to use due to licensing.

3. While OER is already implemented in our institution, we would like to bring more awareness to OER.

Nice to meet you Jorge. I was an Instructional Designer, and enjoyed the work. MY background is in production, so I can understand the need to find royalty-free/ copyright free music. Thankfully that has becaome a little easier, but it is still a challenge.

Hi Mark! Nice to meet you as well. Yes, that is exactly why I needed to look at copyright licenses. You're right, it's become a little easier, but it can still be challening.

Hi Jorge. As a way to bring more awareness to our program, I made a video (3 min). Sent it to all of our deans and asked them to forward it to every faculty member in their departments. Crickets. 

Hi James, I read your introduction. You definitely have the experience I look forward to attain. Is the video you created on YouTube? If so, would you mind sharing the link? Thank you.

Hello Jorge,

Excited to see you and happy to work with you again.

Stephanie

Hi Stephanie! Glad to "see" you in here as well. 

My name is Mark Farris, I am an Adjunct Faculty member in the Mass Communications Department at Northwest Vista College in the Alamo Colleges District. I am also a Faculty Development Specialist for ACD.

I have only interacted with copyright and licensing by way of understanding copyright law and assuring that I am following all of the laws when engaging in activity such as screening a film in my Cinema Appreciation class.

I see myself using OER as the primary material for all of my courses. Something that is newer to me though is publishing OER. I would like to explore this as well. I have seen faculty co-publish OER with students, and that is something I am interested in doing.

Hi Mark, 

It is refreshing to read that you are looking at using OERs for your primary material in your classes. The conversation about the cost of higher education in America seems to naturally lead to ways we can make earning a degree more affordable for our students. What sort of OERs are you using in your courses now (if any)? I am curious what sort of OERs are available for a film appreciation class. I'm also wondering if this is the kind of class that might benefit from renewable assignments, which allow students to either contribute to the body of OERs in what they create for an assignment grade, or to use make something for a grade in class that can be used after the assignment is handed in. Looking forward to hearing more about your class and your OER interests through this course, Mark! 

-Molly

Hello Everyone.

My name is Scholastica Turner-Moore, and I am a representative for Houston Community College. 

I have taught several courses based on copyright-protected and licensed materials. However, my knowledge in this domain is limited. 

As a faculty member in the College of Excellence Department (Education and Child Development) that is progressively incorporating more copyright and licensed resources, it is prudent for me to acquire a thorough understanding of the subject.

Scholastica

Hello everyone,

This is Qingwen Hu from UTPB.

I did not really interact with copyright and licensing issues before because most of time we were using commercial textbooks and online homework systems paid by students themselves and instructors have no issue on this regard.

It came to my attention when I noticed that most students did not buy textbooks and many have various reasons to delay to buy the access code for commercial homework systems, causing a lot of managerial and teaching/learning issues.

In recent years, I have been recommending OER textbooks to students,  at the same time  endeavoring to create electronic lecture notes for all of my courses and trying to create online homework systems free for students. But it is very challenging to achieve because there are so many constraints from time, support and energy.

Hello,

I am Nathan Narragon, the Accounting/General Business Professor at the Generation Park Campus for San Jacinto College.

I had experienced a little with copyright and licensing when we had our t-shirt business, but for OER, I have not. 

I am currently shifting all of my academic Accounting and Business Classes to OER for the Fall, as requested by a local ISD to help dual credit students. We are currently shifting 5 different classes in total. 

Moving 5 classes for an ISD takes a lot of planning, organization timing, and muscle. However, that's a win-win situation, I say. Is the idea (plan?) to test out OER among those five classes and then if it works, expand it to other disciplines?

So at our campus, we are moving all the disciplines over to ORE as we can; we currently only have Academic Courses here and are working on ways to improve the courses to become a better fit for our students. It does take a lot of thinking outside of the box to make the courses effective but it is a challenge that I see as a benefit later on with logistics and financially for staff and students. 

Hi Nathan. How is the workforce side coming along? We have a really tough time with our workforce side because so many have end-of-course exams for state licenses or some other certification. So, there is some trepidation about migrating to OER. Certain disciplines seem to be lower-hanging fruit (like mine), while others are still in the flowering stage at the very top of the tree. 

Hi Nathan,

Excited that you are here!! I am interested to hear about the shift.

Stephanie

Thank you, it will defently be a fun rollercoaster of a time to get it done, but I look forward for the ride. 

Greetings. My name is Patricia Sotelo, Librarian at South Texas College.

I have limited interaction with copyright and licensing.

OER is being used more at the college and I want to be able to provide the correct information to faculty and staff.

My name is Cynthia Sanchez, and I am an associate professor from South Texas College.  I taught OER about 5 years ago and it's time to teach it again.  Yes, I have interacted with copyright resources before.  I will use this OER series to refresh myself and begin building an online OER course offered to workforce learners.

I am excited about this series and I'll see everyone real soon.

Cynthia G Sanchez

Hello!

I am Shannon Stoker, an Instructional Designer at Tarleton State University

I have become familiar with copyright/licensing more recently as I have assisted faculty with OER; however, there are still some gray areas for me. 

I will continue to assist faculty with finding and using OER as integration is part of our strategic plan. 

Ready to learn more!

Shannon

So Shannon, what do you see as the biggest issue faculty have with copyright/licensing in OER?

Hi James,

I would say the biggest challenge for faculty with regard to copyrights and licensing is knowing what they can have in their courses and understanding that a lot of the material is copyrighted. 

Thanks Shannon. I try (I think) to use only CC or By-CC narrative stuff. But when it comes to images I am sure I am in need of revision. Using images from Google, even seemingly open sources websites like Wikipedia is too easy to do. 

Hello, 

My name is Yue Ma (pronounced YU- AY, MAH), and I am currently employed as a Learning Experience Designer at Baylor University. I work closely with the Doctoral Occupational Therapy department to design online programs. 

Before joining Baylor, I collaborated with a librarian at my previous institution, where I gained some knowledge of copyright laws and licensing requirements, especially when embedding videos and images while working with faculty members.

I also facilitate an online teaching program for faculty members who are interested in designing high-quality online courses. I am interested in knowing more about Open Educational Resources (OER) and potentially creating resources that will benefit the program.

Yue

Hello everyone,

My name is Nathaly (pronounced "Natalie") Gal and I am a Learning Experience Designer at Baylor University. I have worked in higher education in the field of Instructional Design for little over five years and have seen an increase in the awareness and demand for OERs. At my last institution I helped to create OER resources pages for our university faculty. They include the OER Tech Tools and OER by Discipline pages. In terms of copyright and licensing, I've done some research to better understand what it means, but my comprehension is surface-level, at best. 

I work with faculty to design and redesign courses, which is the perfect opportunity to engage with faculty on incorporating OERs in their courses. I plan to use the knowledge gained from these sessions to better guide the conversation since I currently find myself punting questions to our librarians.

-Nathaly

Hi, I'm Molly, 

(1) I am a Learning Experience Designer (LXD) with the Learning Design team at Baylor University's Library and Academic Technology Services. You will find two of my colleagues in this course as well: Nathaly and Yue. (2) I have some knowledge of copyright, licensing, fair use, and Creative Commons licenses. Still, I don't feel that I am as resourceful as I would like to be with my use of OER and my promotion of OER to my faculty. (3) I think it is important to consider not just how we can use existing OERs but also how we and our students could be content creators that contribute to the Creative Commons. I am eager to learn more about the world of OER, how it can improve my work as an instructional designer, and how I can be forward-thinking/innovative in my advocacy of OERs at Baylor. 

- Molly 

Hi, Molly,

It is great to see LXD professionals in this group! I am delving deeper into LXD with our masters and doctoral emphasis students. There is great opportunity for LXD OER content creation! I look forward to this learning journey with you and other fellow LXDrs!

Sue

Hello,

My name is Samuel Solis from South Texas College. I have attended some training of copyright and licensing at the college. I would like to add or substitute some current resources with OER if possible. 

Thank you for the invitation. 

Samuel Solis

Hello everyone,

1. My name is Mrs. Chris Trevino (sorry, many people think I am male), and I am a professor of Humanities at Lone Star College-Houston North.

2. I have only interacted with copyright and licensing when searching for images or videos for my online courses. I am limited in my understanding but trying to stay out of trouble by not breaking any copyright rules.

3. Our campus is looking to use OER materials in the coming two years to replace costly textbooks, and this is a good start for me to begin researching for my courses. 

I applaud San Jac for being so progressive. 

Hello everyone,

I'm Bob McCord

I teach 11th Grade US History, AP and Dual-Credit through Lone Star College in Houston.  I'm actually transitioning from Spring ISD to Cy-Fair ISD over the summer, but will remain with Lone Star College.  I've never used copyright to any serious extent.  I will be using OER for the classes that don't often have textbooks, such as AP and on-level courses.  Looking forward to working with everyone.  

Hi Robert,

I enjoyed my time at Lone Star and excited to hear how you will use OER for your classes. 

Hi, everyone!

1. I am Ken Carriveau, one of three STEM librarians at Baylor University. Hopefully, you will also meet three of my colleagues (Yue, Nathaly, and Molly) in this course.

2. I've worn many hats during my 25 years in the Baylor libraries, so copyright and licensing are old friends. LOL. Before returning to the research librarian cohort in 2019, I oversaw our materials acquisitions group, which included interlibrary loans, reserves, document delivery, and library acquisitions. I trained staff in conducting Fair Use assessments in ILL and reserves handling since ensuring compliance with copyright law is essential in those functional areas. I also monitored subscription contracts and licenses for usage permissions and restrictions, and tried to negotiate for better terms when necessary. 

3. One of my current responsibilities is to lead the library's affordable course materials initiative, in which OER plays an essential role. I am responsible for determining which faculty applicants are selected for our annual summer fellowships and guiding them through the program, which could include OER implementation. I do not teach any courses, so my focus on OER is as a facilitator from a support services perspective.

Hi Ken, 

I did not realize you were in this course, too. It's good to see so much Baylor representation in the course. The introduction video assigned tells us we should consult with our librarians if we have more questions about OER. I'm glad the video was right, and our Baylor librarians are already well-informed about copyright and licensing. I am eager to read more from you as this course continues. 

-Molly

Hilton LaSalle - Lone Star College Houston North.

Interaction with copyright and licensing has been as a professor/ department chair.

I plan to use OER as my text for my PSYC2301 class.

Thank you,

Hilton

Hello Dr. LaSalle,

    I served at Lone Star on your campus and would love to hear about your incorporation of OER in your classes.

Stephanie

Hello,

My name is Hope LeJeune, and this is my 20th year as a librarian at Lone Star College.  For many years, I have fielded copyright questions from faculty about using books and videos in their courses.    It seems like the questions are getting more difficult to answer, so now the library refers them to the Office of General Counsel.  I am generally familiar with copyright, licensing, and fair use. In my role as a librarian, I promote OER and help faculty to gain access to library materials as well as freely available open educational content.  I am excited to be here!

Hello, I am Kim Jeffrey, instructor for Government and Program Director for Criminal Justice at Clarendon, Texas. 

I have been using OERs for a couple of semesters so I have some knowledge about copyright and licensing.  . 

I currently use an OERs for Texas and Federal government classes but would would to expand that material. I would also like to see more use of OERs in the field of Criminal Justice. 

Hello Kim,

   I am very pleased to see Clarendon. Are you on Clarendon College campus? My son graduated in 2019 as the top graduate so I would love to tell him.

Stephanie

Hello, Everyone!

I'm Sue Elwood, an Associate Professor of Instructional Design and Educational Technology (IDET) within our Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning Sciences department at Texas A&M University (TAMUCC) in Corpus Christi, TX. 

I've previously used and taught Creative Commons regarding the design of copyrightable materials, as well as striving to  keep up with compliance guidelines. 

Learning new OER resources, shared knowledge, and delving deeper into OER development will greatly assist me in further developing some of our fairly new IDET doctoral emphasis courses. I look forward to sharing efficient OER resources and structuring related OER training for our IDET majors.  Finally, I'm interested in creating or co-creating any of the following OER sources: Learning Experience Design (LXD), Hero Journeys and Journey Mapping, UX / UI with Visual Literacy, AR in education, AI in education, and Project Management tools and structures for transdisciplinary collaboratives.

I'm looking forward to see what unfolds in this collaborative learning journey! 

Sue

Hello! My name is Anderson (they/them), and I am a Research and Learning Librarian at Texas A&M University - Commerce.

I interact with copyright and licensing somewhat frequently in my job, mostly in the context of advising patrons on how to responsibly use materials, though earlier this semester I did create a written/visual work for an on-campus event that I applied a Creative Commons license to so it could be shared/remixed.

A lot of the professors at our campus are interested in incorporating OER or expanding how they already use it, so I am wanting to learn as much as I can & help them through that process.

Well hello folks!

I'm Jim Ross-Nazzal from Houston Community College. I have dabbled with copyright and licensing before but neither are my strong suits. I need to become more knowledgeable in both.

I create and use OER in the classroom. I have been writing an OER US History textbook for about five years now. The book is housed on PressBooks. It is broken into 38 chapters with 6 more to complete. Currently, I am at 320,742 words or about 1,283 manuscript pages. I see myself co-authoring OER with my colleagues, a series of short books on the history of Houston's ethnic neighborhoods.

Hello James,

Let me first say that I am impressed - wow, 38 chapters written with only 6 more to go, you're at the homestretch now! It seems that you may have more than basic knowledge in OER, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your experiences as we complete this course together.

-Nathaly

Hi Nathaly. It's a "labor of love." Well, it's fun, maybe not love. I enjoy finding new stuff to cover for my students. Which is also problematic. The more I stumble across, the more lightbulbs go off in my head, which leads to the "need" to write a whole chapter on the subject. For example, instead of just a page or two on pop culture in the 1970s, I finished 1 chapter and I'm working on another. Do we really need two chapters on 1970s pop culture? Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and Selena's concerts at the Astrodome could fill one chapter. 

This sounds impressive James. Congratulations on your continued OER work for your students.

Hi There,

My name is Susan Puccio, a librarian at Palo Alto College, (PAC) in San Antonio, Texas.

I have some interaction with copyright and licensing. Last year I was able to take Creative Commons Certification for Academic Librarians.

My goals are to learn more about OER and support PAC’s faculty members in using OER.

Hello.

My name is Chad Clark, and I work as a reference librarian at San Jacinto College in Houston.  My interaction with copyright and licensing is limited to webinars that I have attended and from my institution's guidelines.  As a librarian, I hope that training such as this will allow me to see how open resources can be created or revised and to know what options are available for the faculty I serve.

HI everyone,

I'm Debbie Davis and both a faculty member (Assistant Professor of Practice in Public Relations and Strategic Communication Management) and administrator (Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairrs, College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University).

I used to teach copyright in an advertising/public relations course.

I currently teach a service-learning course and don't have a solid source for a textbook. In an ideal world, I would create one for this course and one that could be used by similar courses.

Hello,

My name is Greg Ramzinski and I am the geography instructor at South Plains College.  

I have done a bit of work with copyright and licensing regarding the use of it when building my courses but I do my best to use open source materials as much as possible.

I am currently using an OER resource for my world regional geography course and am looking for a good resource for my physical geography course.  I recently became aware of ways to modify OER sources to better fit the content of my courses and one of my goals for this summer is to begin this process so my students will have a better base of knowledge when they complete my course.  I also with to modify the material so it will make it more engaging on multiple devices.  I know many of the students spend vast amounts of time looking at their phones and I wish to ensure the materials are accessable on multiple devices.  I am looking forward to this process to better advacne the quality of my courses.

Hi, Greg.  I found a link to an open book entitled Physical Geography and Natural Disasters, by Salt Lake Community College:  https://slcc.pressbooks.pub/physicalgeography/ .  The Creative Commons license for it is BY-NC-SA.

I hope this helps.

Chad Clark, San Jacinto College

Hello, 

1. I am Pamela Reed the Library Director at Clarendon College.
2. I help students follow the guidelines of copyright laws for their assignments. I know a little bit about licensing from working with our databases.
3. I am new to OER, but I would like to be the person our faculty can go to for help in this area. 

Hello my name is Johnny Treichel and I work at Clarendon College in the Texas Panhandle. I serve as the Director of Agriculture and serve as the Livestock and Meats Judging Teams Supervisor/ Coach. I am not sure if i will use OER.

Thanks,

Johnny Treichel

Afternoon Johnny. That's an awesome and unique field that you are in with agriculture and also being a livestock and meats supervisor. I think that you could definitely lend your expertise in those areas with a video on what all meat judging entails. I'm sure there are some faculty and students who could benefit from that content. 

My name is Jason Yang, currently a visiting assistant professor in management at the University of Houston - Downtown (UHD). I have yet to use OERs before and expect to learn how to leverage OER to supplement my existing teaching materials, customize lesson plans, and provide extra resources to students in the design of different instructional modalities. 

My name is Jodie Sandel and I am with UTSA and Baylor University (Adjunct).  I am wanting to learn more about OERs and incorporating more access for my online courses.  

Afternoon Jodie. I currently use an OER in my instructional design course I teach online and the students enjoy not only the content of it but of course not having to pay for it. What course do you teach at Baylor?

Privet everyone!  My name is Alejandro Rodriguez, but everyone calls me Sasha.  I am a senior librarian in Research Services at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, Texas.  

In my past lives (or jobs), I used to work with copyright and apply for copyright for images for a private education company for online courses for USMLE exams and other professional medical testing.  As a librarian, I encounter a lot of copyright questions from students and some faculty when inquiring if they can copy whole books (which is a no-no) or just a portion (yay, fair use grey area).  I have not dabbled in the actual licensing of materials such as for database subscription, but always willing to learn!

My goal has always been to advocate and create an OER foundation that allows me to use my various skills to help with creating a positive environment here at UTD to assist faculty in creating OER, using OER, and to help students succeed through its use (and through having full bellies and bills paid instead of sacrificing for textbooks as I did once back in the late 1900s when I went to school).  I love to educate, so I would also want to be an example and use OER in any way I can.

I hope everyone is doing well and "see" everyone soon!

Sasha

Hello,

I am Stephanie Plain Potter, INRW and English professor at the Central campus at San Jacinto College. I have had experienced with copyright and licensing as I have published several books, videos, and programs as instructional specialist and curriculum design consultant. I am excited to learn more about OER.

Hi everyone! I'm Oscar Rivera Borroto, a Math faculty with Lone Star College. I've been teaching (and doing research) for 20+ years, in countries like Cuba, Spain, Ecuador, Canada, and the US (for about 4 years now). My teaching interest is Math and its applications to other fields Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Health Sciences. I know that open scientific and educational resources are essential to advance research and teaching in developing countries. Here in the US, the colleges I have worked in count on more resources to deliver instruction of higher quality. Also, there is empirical evidence to suggest that Houstonian families are, in general, more empowered economically than in those countries. I've read that accessing HEd can be hard for some individuals due to high tuition and learning resources costs. However, in my classes at Lone Star College (and previously, Houston Community College), I've seen that the learning resources cost (LRC) is not a major cause of student withdrawal, but other factors of economic or social nature (like jobs, families, etc ...) that affect their time availability,  mood, and even interest. Perhaps, LRC is not a dominant factor in my classes because Houston has a buoyant economy and the unemployment rate may be relatively lower than in other parts of the state. Normally, I have a few students who are struggling financially, and the way I try to help them access the paid Math platform is by requesting emergency funds, so I understand that OER could be an accessible alternative for these or all Math students in a similar situation. With this course, I hope to know the state of the art about this important subject to confirm (or disregard) my guesses, based on economic and educational data. Also, I would like to enhance my knowledge about OER in Texas by learning from my instructors and peers, discovering accessible and better resources, etc ... to create more equitable classes that also improve the learning experience of all my students.

Cost is a major reason at HCC and at colleges all over the country. Students have told us that for as long as I've been involved with OER at HCC, which is evidenced in our studies. They cannot afford the overpriced books anymore, especially the $200+ STEM textbooks. If they are lucky they are able to share older editions. They fall behind in their readings or the text does not gel with the lectures and labs. Maybe there is one copy on reserve in the library. They do not pass the assessments. They fail the classes They quit attending school by either officially withdrawing or by disappearing into the abyss. 

There is a direct correlation between the ability to afford books and student success. OER means not just equity, but accessibility as well. I present papers on such things as the correlation between economics, OER, and student success. 

Hi Professor James,

It's good to find a colleague from HCC in this course. I appreciate your thoughts based on your experience with OER. It would be great if you could share your research on this subject with me, to study your methodology and stat analysis resulting in that general tendency (my email is oscar.riveraborroto@lonestar.edu). However, I should insist that the learning resources cost (not tuition cost) was not the major cause of student withdrawal in my Math classes at LSC and before (2019 - 2022) at HCC, and just a minority of students could not afford the vendor (McGraw-Hill or Pearson) prices to access the Math platforms with the eBook of about $80; it doesn't mean that this service is cheap, has the optimum quality, or that my students feel happy to spend money on this. Probably, this is an unusual case according to your general model but I can support it with data. What you express at the end makes total sense in what OER should be associated with a higher success rate, but I'm also interested to know whether learning resource accessibility is a major cause of student withdrawal among various other economic, social, and academic factors, including under-preparation.

Hello Everyone: 

My name is Deborah Sibila, and I am a Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi (TAMUCC).

I have very limited experience with either copyright or licensing.

Several of my colleagues at TAMUCC have started using OER and that has made me curious to learn more about it. I’ve also become frustrated with textbooks in several of my classes recently and want to see how I can facilitate my teaching and enhance my students’ learning with OER.

Hello. My name is Mary Sides, and I am an Associate Professor of Biology at McLennan Community College in Waco. 

I have taken some professional development classes at MCC on copyright. I am hoping to work on the Creative Commons Certificate for Educators this summer.

I have been using OER in my non-majors biology classes since Fall 2019.

Hi group, I am Cici Clanton, and I work for the Texas Institute for Competency-Based Education. I have little to no interaction with copyright and licensing. 

I have a dual vision for how I intend to use OER. In my current position, I advocate heavily for the use of OER at any institution implementing CBE. But I want a deeper understanding of OER, instead of simply sharing the benefits. My other use is for my intended transition into instructional design. 

I'm with you on wanting to understand more about OER and not just sharing the benefits. Thanks Cici for putting this in the discusion. 

Hi!  I am Morgan House, a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Assistant Professor.  I have limited interaction with copyright and licensing.  I use traditional texts in my courses, yet my courses are 100% online.   I am excited to learn more through this series.

Hello. My name is Kimberly Gragg and I am a librarian at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Previously, I have interacted with copyright and licensing with course reserves and ILL. As an instructional librarian, I see myself using OER in collaborating with faculty and by possible creating them for use in LibGuides. 

Good afternoon everyone, 

I am Ilse Granizo (she/her). I am an Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at Lone Star College - Houston North. 

I have limited interactions with copyright and licensing. I am currently looking for textbooks for Fall 2023 for my Intro courses. 

Our college would like to incorporate OER within the next two years to help our students and I am on a journey to find the right OER's for my introduction courses. 

My name is Quentin Bellard and I am at San Jacinto College. 

I have been an instructional designer since 2011 and have worked with faculty on copyright issues. I have also taught instructional design for 2 years and have stressed the importance of copyright to my students. I do not have much experience with licensing. 

Being a senior instructional designer in my current role I see helping faculty find, adopt, and eventually create OER's for their courses both online and face to face. In the future I will look to creating my own OER as well. 

1. Dr. Chris Trevino from Lone Star College - Houston North

2. I have not interacted with licensing and OER efore because this is my first time interacting with OER. 

3. I am a Humanities professor, and I can utilize OER in so many different ways. I am excited to find some new and fresh ideas for my courses. 

Hello!

My name is Jasmin and I am a part of the University of Texas at Dallas!

I first encountered copyright while in grade school but more in high school when a teacher gave us a senior paper that  required us to write collegiate style with APA format. It was during my studies in for my Masters in Educational Technology that I learned more in depth about copyright.

While working for the Houston Independent School District as an assistive technology specialist I recieved onboarding about the importance of copyright and licensing. Stressing the importance of copyright and licensing when reproducing or copying work. HISD had previously had a copy right infringiment lawsuit  and they were attempting to educate district staff & educators on the importance of copyright and licensing.

After learning and seeing the impact of violating copyright and licensing laws, I have tried to advocate to protect peoples works by ensuring they receive credit where due. But also ensure to protect people & or organizations from potentially being in a similar situation as HISD. Now working for the University of Texas at Dallas, I am now learning about OER, it is very new to me & I look forward to learning about it and utilizing it.

As an instructional designer I am able to encourage instructors to access OER for open educational resources to expand access to learning, scalability, augmentation of class materials, enhance regular course content, quick circulation, showcasing of innovation and talent, as well as contunue improve resources.

Yes, a colleague from UTD!  Always glad to see one! (insert smiley face emoji here)

Sasha

Good day,

My name is Dr. Teresa Bussell, I am an Instructional Designer with Texas A&M University-Commerce

I have not created material for licensing, but I have worked with licensing material. 

I will use OER  in course design, I would also like to understand more about licensing my own material to share.

Hello, my name is Kristen Cook and I work as a librarian at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. My business cards indicate that I am the Coordinator for Library Research & Instruction. I oversee our electronic resources, help with information literacy instruction, help staff our online and in-person reference services, work with the team on web content management, and participate as a faculty liaison to health careers, business and technology, and math/science.

I have interacted with copyright and licensing as a librarian since I handle our database licenses. I also investigated fair use and copyright when we purchased an overhead book scanner for faculty, staff, and student use. I also have supervised the circulation staff of the library, which was responsible for library reserves and interlibrary loans.

I see myself equipping faculty to locate and evaluate OER. I also hope to train the rest of our full-time librarians, so that we can assist faculty with OER via our subject liaison areas. Finally, I think it is likely that as our librarians develop information literacy instructional materials, that we would publish the content as OER in the near future.

Hi! My name is Jamie Quinn and I work as the Nursing Librarian at Baylor University, Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas!

I have 15 years' experience as a health science librarian and I have interacted with copyright and licensing before in the realm of Open Access journal publication resources and in encouraging use of databases such as Pubmed Central, PLOS One, Biomed Central and others.

I'm new to supporting OER initiatives in my current position and I'm wanting to learn more about how faculty are utilizing these resources and ways I can incorporate/motivate innovative adoption at my institution. 

Good afternoon -

My name is Kaarin Perkins from Lone Star College - Houston North. I have seldom found a textbook that truly matched my courses and philosophy and have always supplemented heavily with resources I have curated. I see OER being an option that allows me to eliminate the need for the traditional textbook and ease the financial burden for my students.

Hello all.  I’m Kimberly Jones-Milton, I teach History at Houston Community College.  I know a small amount about copyrighting and licensing, but am eager to learn more.

My interest in OER is to obtain as much information as possible to utilize in my courses. 

Hi, My name is Mustafa Alam, and I am an Instructor at Texas Tech University.

My interaction with copyright is to use copyrighted material in class but nothing more.

I am very interested in OER because that will help students for their coursework not only in the USA but also may be in my native country Bangladesh.

I'm Janice Hartgrove-Freile at Lone Star College-North Harris. I use an OER textbook as a secondary text in my Honrs General Psychology course. It is Creative Commons so I post the permission info in my course.