OER: Best Practices

GHC English faculty approached me (a librarian) wanting to see if it was possible to create a repository of essays and other resources to replace the Norton textbook and the grammar textbook. 

I asked faculty to send me citations for essays they would like to use, which they did in droves. I went on a quest for these articles, trolling Galileo and the open web (many were from web magazines that have public archives). Additionally, we sought permission to link out to several grammar websites and relied heavily on Films on Demand for additional material.

Working with the faculty to determine the layout, we created a website (using Springshare's LibGuides) that provides faculty with all the resources. Instead of sending students to the libguide, this website serves as the "resources" page for faculty. They use it to grab links and items they need to insert into their D2L courses.

Several faculty use this resource exclusively, and many use it as a supplement to the other materials they provide. 

I'm always updating and adding new material, based on faculty requests. 

I also serve as the copyright gateway, to make sure we don't include anything that might get us in trouble. Mostly we rely on linking out to essays, and also confirming that the site we're linking to is legitimate.

For 2017, it was used 4665 times.

I have done a number of things over the past few years to promote the adoption of OERs at Valdosta State University. Sending emails to congratulate the ALG Textbook Transformation Grant winners seems to be the best way to create interest on campus.

Having a list of the ALG Textbook Transformation Grant winners for VSU comes in handy when deans or departments heads call to determine who in their college or department has been awarded a grant. The Provost or Vice President of Academic Affairs will need this information when filling out the budget for the USG.

OER Conversation @ Georgia Southern University

Georgia Southern has been a little slow to fully embrace the Open Education Movement. Though, we have had a small handful of faculty be awarded the ALG Open Initiative Grants, most of these faculty have worked on their own without any guidance from the library or other campus entity. 

The inception of this statewide Faculty Learning Community has provided the guidance and motivation to take a more focused approach to Open Education within the campus. Our ALG Library Champion has been moved from the Dean of Libraries to one of the Research Services Librarians. This semester, I was able to give a brief presentation to one of the targeted faculty open houses offered through the library. I've also started a collaboration with our Center for Teaching and Learning. We will give a joint workshop/information session on April 10 this semester. The long-term goal is to begin an OER Faculty Learning Community on the campus starting Fall 2018. Part of the goal of this campus FLC will be to guide interested faculty in the process of submitting for the ALG grant. By working with the instructional designers of the Center for Teaching and Learning, we're hoping to provide the support the faculty needs to not only locate alternative material for their courses, but also guide them in the pedagogy of adapting their learning objectives to fit this new material.