Opening Doors through Customization: NRCC’s Open Text Initiative System Dr. Jack Lewis Ms. Sarah Tolbert-Hurysz Mr. Jonathon Surratt New River Community College 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

OTIS: Open Text Initiative System a collection of digital resources (texts) that is being openly added to, edited by, and accessed by our English department’s faculty. 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

Faculty Web Links Original documents OTIS Instructors search OTIS to identify resources that support course learning objectives. Once identified, these resources are compiled into a “list,” which is a URL. List(s) Black- Board All students Single student Select group of students Lists can be cloned and/or customized by other faculty

Guiding Principle OTIS enables: 1.Customization. Faculty identify, share, and compile a variety of resources 2.Accessibility. Students and faculty easily access this customized course content. 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

Emergence English faculty desired an option for delivering English 112 course content that: 1)was flexible 2)allowed for a multiplicity of resources 3)took advantage of digital delivery of information 4)was financially viable. 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

Emergence of OTIS August 2011 Seed was planted October 2011 IT formulated a plan for electronic “library” January 2012 English faculty began gathering resources 21st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

Implementation of OTIS April 2012 OTIS was ready for faculty IT trained English faculty Summer 2012 Faculty uploaded content Fall 2012 Faculty used OTIS to compile and deliver course content for English 112 Spring 2013 Faculty used OTIS to compile and deliver course content for English 112 and English st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

Advantages 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

Advantages: Textbook Cost Savings Fall 2012Spring 2013Total Savings to Students English 112English 111 $15,459$7,210 English 112 $22,446 $45,115 to date 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

How it Works 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC

On the Horizon Embedded tutorials Aligning materials to course objectives Use by other interested disciplines (Business and Student Development) 21 st Annual Conference Community Colleges of Appalachia June 10, 2013 Asheville, NC