Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials (e.g., textbooks, videos, lesson plans) that anyone can use, revise, adapt, and distribute at no cost. OER help instructors create more inclusive and engaging learning experiences for students, breaking down cost and access barriers and providing opportunities for students to be empowered as creators (not just recipients) of knowledge.
CU Denver wants to provide support to all instructors who wish to learn more about OER and incorporate open materials and approaches in their courses.
Ronica Rooks and Rachel Stott will lead a CU Denver Open Educational Resources (OER) Community of Practice (CoP) for fall 2022-spring 2023 with funding and support from the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE), Associate Vice Chancellor for Digital Strategy and Learning, and the Auraria Library. This opportunity will be open to all Instructors and Faculty from the various Colleges and Schools at CU Denver.
Our OER CoP will be offered to new users of OER, including those who are looking to adopt or possibly adapt OER. We plan to have guest speakers, share ideas, and practice searching and using OER databases and websites.
The OER CoP will meet monthly for an hour to an hour and a half from October to December 2022 and February to April 2023. We envision three meetings for each semester, with 10 Instructor or Faculty slots and $1,500 stipends for each participant (covered by the CDHE funding for 2022-2023).
Bonus Topic: Scaling up – additional OER resources in the future; other internal and external funding/support opportunities; hosting/sharing remixes or adaptations; attending or presenting local and other conferences to stay networked.
If you are interested in joining our OER CoP, please complete an application by September 9, 2022. The application consists of demographic information on your School/College, the course you plan to use OER in, and a 300-word essay about your awareness of OER and why you are interested in using OER materials in your course. Applications will be reviewed with a view of creating a cross-disciplinary cohort for this CoP that represents Schools and Colleges across CU Denver. We will make our decisions by late September and begin our OER CoP in October 2022.
Many faculty across CU Denver have engaged in the Open Educational Resources (OER) community. This new committee will bring faculty together from a range of disciplines to strengthen the role of OER across the institution. For more information, contact Ronica Rooks and Jessica Critten.
CU Denver needs a focused group on this topic which is aligned with our strategic goal to be an equity serving institution. OER has been shown to create more equitable and inclusive learning experiences for marginalized students, reducing barriers to education access.
The committee will be charged with recommending and implementing activities, tools, and incentives that will promote the widespread adoption of OER. The OER Committee will meet monthly or bimonthly to discuss the vision for OER, strategies, upcoming events/grants, presentation opportunities, and the progress of developing capacity for OER at CU Denver.
The committee would be co-led by Ronica Rooks (CLAS) and Jessica Critten (TIPS). The committee size would be ~10 individuals with representation from each school and college as well as the Auraria Library.
In the first year, the committee will document the current state of OER on campus and have focus groups to determine what resources/support faculty need to implement OER. In the second year and beyond, the committee will focus on initiatives to support OER on campus.