Open Education is an attitude, a practice, and a method of learning and teaching that inspires inquiry, equal access to course materials, and sharing lessons and materials with the broader community (Community College Consortium for OER).
To realize those objectives, OER (Open Educational Resources) refers to “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium — digital or otherwise — that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation, and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions” (UNESCO).
Likewise, OEP (Open Educational Practices) refers to both the use of OER materials in addition to a dedication to “open pedagogy and open sharing of teaching practices — all with the goal of improving access, enhancing learning, and empowering learners” (National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education).
Why should I use OER?
Want to learn more about OER? Visit Auraria Library’s Open Educational Resources Page.
Here are some ways to get involved with Open Education and OER at CU Denver:
Ronica Rooks and Kaiya Schroeder 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.
Connect with Auraria Library to learn how you can start taking advantage of Open Education Resources (OER) for your courses.
Open Pedagogy Consultations with Teaching Innovation and Program Strategy (TIPS)
Interested in learning more about open pedagogical practices and how to incorporate them into your courses? Sign up for a 30-minute consultation with a TIPS instructional designer. No experience with open pedagogy is needed!