What are OER and how can I use them? Nathan Smith, PhD OER Coordinator

Goals for this workshop Participants will gain some familiarity with OER. In particular, they will distinguish OER from free resources, fair use, and traditional copyright. Participants will articulate some of the benefits of using OER in their classes. Participants will identify a course they teach and discover some OER texts and websites that they can use to begin incorporating OER into their course syllabus.

What are OER? Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation)

Terminology The public domain: Public domain material refers to published documents whose copyright term have expired or which have been intentionally released from all copyright claims. Open licensing: Some copyrights include permissions granted by the author to users. These licenses enable readers to use the works in various ways.

The 5 R’s of OER Importantly OER materials attempt to preserve these 5 permissions for users (Wiley 2014): Retain: the right to make, own , and control copies of the content. Reuse: the right to use the content in a wide range of ways. Revise: the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself. Remix: the right to combine the original or revised content with other open content to create something new. Redistribute: the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others.

What about “fair use”? Fair use is an established exception within copyright law that allows for limited reuse of copyrighted materials. It provides a defense against claims of copyright infringement. Fair use has limited application. HCC receives take-down requests every semester for content that is posted on publicly platforms (typically, the Learning Web).

Can’t I just “link” to the material? Yes, you can. But this is not a permanent solution – links get broken, content can be taken down or hidden behind a paywall. Links are less user-friendly than embedded content. Links do not allow you to retain or modify content.

More permanent solutions OER! Materials retained in the library and accessed with student ID These materials can only be embedded in the course (e.g. PDF) for a short time Use “permalink” feature when searching for materials Materials where YOU own the copyright

Let’s Play a Game Called “Is it Open?” The following websites host online materials that may be used in teaching and learning. You tell me, open or not open: The New York Times Wikipedia Encyclopedia.com Saylor Academy The American Yawp The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Purdue OWL

How Can OER benefit your classroom

Course design that promotes student success Clear overview and instructions for students Learning objectives – connected to readings and assessments Clear assessment criteria Constructive, consistent, and timely feedback Assignments and tasks that build on prior learning (formative and summative assessments) Varieties of activities with opportunities for interacting with other students and the instructor

Course Design and Instructional Materials Appropriate to the level of instruction in the course Accessible for different learners; varied types of materials Aligned to objectives and assessments Oriented around assessments and activities

OER Enables Better Design Traditional textbooks are frequently imperfectly aligned with a particular instructor’s teaching preferences. Publishers make small revisions to their textbooks with new editions that force faculty to redesign courses with little pedagogical benefit. Conversely, textbooks can often be out of date. OER can be updated as needed by the faculty OER can be tailored to align with objectives, assessments, and level of instruction in the course

Eliminate the Cost Barrier HCC internal surveys (2015-16) indicate that 77% of students spend over $150 per semester on textbooks, with 47% spending over $300 per semester Many students are unable to purchase textbooks because of a delay in receiving financial aid (29% according to 2016 survey) According to B&N College survey, over 50% of students do not have their textbook on the first day of class HCC surveys (2014-16) also show that faculty are quite concerned with textbook costs (26% moderately concerned, 52% extremely concerned) OER courses promise free or greatly reduced textbook costs.

Eliminating the Cost Barrier Improves Outcomes OER appear to improve student success, retention, and progress to degree. Fischer et al (2015), in a multi-institutional study found that a marginally larger share of students achieved a C or better and completed courses with OER as compared to traditional textbooks. Fischer et al (2015) and Hilton (2016) also found significant improvement in enrollment intensity (the number of courses taken in the subsequent semester) among students who take OER courses.

Open Learning / Open Pedagogy OER open up a range of possible new pedagogical methods. Open Learning and Open Pedagogy refer to an approach to teaching and learning that aims to remove unnecessary barriers to learning: Encourage students to participate in the learning process. Provide opportunities for extension of learning beyond the classroom. Increase flexibility and access for learning according to the needs and desires of students. Education that emphasizes competencies and demonstrated abilities rather than test scores or seat time.

Now it’s your turn

What are some benefits you see of using OER in your classes? Write three benefits How might using OER change your teaching? Please share

Let’s Look for Some OER HCC LibGuide: library.hccs.edu/oer Identify three sites that you might later check out. Identify three titles that might interest you. How will you use these texts in your courses?

References Butcher, Neil. (2015). A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER). Vancouver, BC: UNESCO. Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: a review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64(4). pp 573–590. 10.1007/s11423-016-9434-9 Hilton, J., Robinson T. J., Wiley, D. A., & Ackerman, J. (2014). Cost-Savings Achieved in Two Semesters Through the Adoption of Open Educational Resources. International Review of Research on Distance and Open Learning.

Hilton, J. , Fischer, L. , Wiley, D. , & Williams, L. (2016) Hilton, J., Fischer, L., Wiley, D., & Williams, L. (2016). Maintaining Momentum Toward Graduation: OER and the Course Throughput Rate. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 17(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i6.2686 The Noun Project. Creative Commons: About the Licenses. Retrieved from: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Wiley, David. (2014). The Access Compromise and the 5th R. Retrieved from: https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3221 Wiley, D., Hilton, J., Williams, L., & DeMarte, D. (2016). The Tidewater Z-Degree and the INTRO Model for Sustaining OER Adoption. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 23(41). http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v23.1828