The Smithsonian Institute added 4.5 million new assets to public domain in April. OER creators may be interested in the images and designs, particularly, but assets are in a variety of formats.
https://mymodernmet.com/smithsonian-open-access-public-domain/
This post from David Wiley’s blog describes the current understanding of the copyright status of products of AI like ChatGPT. He predicts how AI may affect OER and commercial publishing.
My journey to adopting an OER began with a common challenge presented to instructors, providing affordable course resources to students. Over the years I have switched texts numerous times, weighing the cost and quality of materials. Over the past 10 years I became dissatisfied with the text I had used for my Social Problems courses. A text that I was initially happy with was coming out with new editions, despite minimal change in content. With new editions came increased costs to students, as older editions became unavailable for students to purchase used. A couple of years ago the publisher required all users of the text to purchase an Ebook. The Ebook would be offered at a lower cost to the student than a hard cover book, with the option of purchasing a printed version for an additional fee. The Ebook also came with a number of study aids for use by the students. I initially balked at this arrangement, but with encouragement from people at our bookstore I decided to give it a shot. Most students seemed to be satisfied by the text, but there were several that had issues with accessing the materials. Some students voiced preference for a hard cover text, but would not pay the extra money after accessing the Ebook. Again, some content was dated, and in need of being replaced by more current research and topics. Then I found out that the price had increased after the semester it was adopted, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
It was time for a change. I had attended professional development sessions in the past in which OERs were discussed. I did some initial searches on the internet for such materials for my course, but didn’t find anything to fit the class I was teaching. At that point I contacted one of the presenters from a collaborative learning day session on OERs. She directed me to promising websites, and very quickly I found a text that seemed a good fit for my class. After reading through the materials I decided that this was the best option for my students. The text covered the standard chapters found in Social Problems offerings, was current, engaging, and free! With assistance from our Digital Services Librarian the chapters were loaded into my Talon shell and I was off and running. While there was the normal work associated with adopting a new text (addressing some new material, altering assignments, writing new exams, creating new discussion boards, etc.), the process was effortless for students. There were no accessibility issues, the content was conveniently found in chapter modules online, and students had the option to print the content if they chose. The solution of providing a quality text at an affordable price was realized, and I now hope OER options expand to cover a greater range of college courses.
Pressbooks is simple book production software. You can use Pressbooks to publish and share original or adapted open textbooks (OER) in multiple formats at once, including:
Pressbooks is used by educational institutions around the world to provide high quality + zero-cost or low-cost educational resources to students.
Kirkwood Community College’s instance of PressbooksEDU provides our faculty with a platform for creating your own open textbook, or cloning and adapting an existing open textbook, for use with your classes.
Any Kirkwood faculty may create their own Pressbooks account to get started!
OER is something I committed to exploring a couple years ago for two ELA classes I regularly teach. I had realized (a) I had compiled dozens of free resources for my F2F students on Talon already – I’m a flipped classroom teacher, (b) textbook costs were particularly consequential for our ELA students – they incur large amounts of debt in ELA before even entering into their major coursework, and (c) as an instructor within higher education, I had a duty to consider reducing unnecessary costs, and the ability to perhaps do something about it, at least on a small scale.
But textbooks, particularly language learning textbooks, exist and are used for good reason, right? Most are theoretically sound and save teachers huge amounts of time; for me, they largely support the SLOs for my courses and contain ready-made resources (namely listening activities and videos, resources I myself cannot easily create). Should I proceed? Would the integrity of the course be compromised? Would OER be able to align with the SLOs, support language learning in a theoretically sound way, and offer ample ancillary materials that would save me time? I had an eye on these questions as I began searching for, evaluating, and adopting OER into my courses.
An early step in the process of OER adoption was realizing I didn’t have to “switch” my main textbook for another OER or free textbook. OER can be a collection of textbooks, and I could select pages within each as I pleased. Also, OER doesn’t have to be text-for-text replacement; it can include a variety of free resources. So, for me, this meant I needed to evaluate what I already had living on Talon in terms of ancillary materials that supported classroom instruction. For my two classes, which were speaking and listening proficiency-focused, these largely included a quite-unorganized collection of YouTube videos, VOD documentaries, articles, and more that I had found over the years and had up for my students to access in a supplementary way. Time here, then, was spent examining the purpose of these resources and working to organize them better. They were free, but are the creators going to be around next year? Do the links still work? Are they “evergreen” (can they be used semester-after-semester)? Can I download them and upload them to Talon, with credit to the source, to avoid broken links in the future? If students did not have their paid textbook, would they still be appropriate for students? Do they actually replace the role of the textbook; that is, do they present new information or provide practice with information already presented? Are there other materials I would need to locate? Is the role of literacy and reading within my courses met with these existing resources if I removed the textbook?
Generally, it’s hard to say goodbye to things that have served a purpose, and the same was true here. As I attempted to address those questions, some things stayed, and others went. Practically, it helped me to have a blank Talon DEV shell and to build the weeks/themes first, then decide if the existing materials “made the cut” as opposed to trying to rework an existing complete Talon shell.
Meanwhile, the other moving part of OER adoption was actually finding textbooks or print materials to replace the physical textbook. I had several OER banks or databases from colleagues and workshops, but a simple Google search was useful, too. A major challenge was finding resources for the field of ESL. There aren’t many! However, because we teach the English language by way of teaching content (i.e. one of my courses, Level 4 Presentations, involves building English proficiency through students learning how to give simple speeches in public – the other, L5 Culture & Conversations builds advanced-level speaking skills through talking about U.S. history and culture), I was able to procure some great resources aimed a early college students or even high school students. In other words, broadening the fields into public speaking or U.S. history targeting younger students resulted in some visual-rich, linguistically-simplified resources I could use with my English language learners.
Resources also didn’t have to be textbooks, nor did I have to commit to only one textbook, as I mentioned before. In my L5 Culture class, I technically now have five OER textbooks, parts of each embedded within the weeks/units as they are appropriate. OER resources were also news articles I found, Kirkwood links (i.e. Career Coach and links to schedule appointments with career counselors), PDFs, Word docs, PowerPoints, YouTube videos, and images.
I also spend a good deal of time recording and developing instructional materials myself either full-on or in small ways. These largely helped “fill the gaps” between my OER materials, the SLOs for the course, and my own expectations for students and their specific needs. For example, I did several audio and video lectures to target listening comprehension, help explain or clarify important concepts, and teach new skills. I wrote by hand several Talon “pages” (technically called “Create a File”) containing explanations, supplemental vocabulary, and instructions, and more. I made PowerPoints, Word docs, checklists, and more.
During the aforementioned steps, my filter was always on: how did this source support the SLOs for the course? Where would I put it? How would it scaffold toward subsequent outcomes or content? This challenge was reduced by already having a strong scope and sequence that utilized backwards planning (or backways design) and that outlined the themes/units of the course sequentially over time. With that piece logically, and logistically, in place, it was just a matter of “plugging” OER resources into the week/unit modules on Talon.
It was time intensive, but in the end, my two ELA courses now fully utilize OER and my students will incur zero cost for materials! This is a huge win for ELA students. Because I was able to really control through selection and customization of my course materials, and made time to do so, I feel the integrity of the course materials was not only maintained, but actually improved.
Open Ed Week is coming up next week, from March 1 through 5. Check out these free daily webinars from Kirkwood member organization, CCCOER (Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources).
A new document posted by the Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) is a very important addition to the world of OER, from instructors to OER creators to OER supporters. Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources carefully lays out fair use considerations and how they may be put into practice in the creation of OER. I am so pleased to see the very usable, very clear, and very important document!
Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources
Because of my experience with Competency Based Education, I found it helpful to begin the conversion of the Human Relations in Management course to OER by aligning the current course competencies/outcomes with the OER that most closely matched. My selection was Intro. to Organizational Behavior, OpenStax. Through the alignment process, I noticed that:
1. The course had two competencies/outcomes not found in the OpenStax text. In this case, I created two units that used other free online resources.
2. The OpenStax text had three chapters that did not match a course competency/outcome, so I did not include these chapters in the revised course.
3. Because of the order of the course competencies/outcomes and the match of each of the competencies to an assessment, it was necessary to use the OpenStax text chapters out of order. The units were ordered logically and the OER text was used as an important resource–but not the only course resource.
Summary: Competencies/outcomes drive the course, not the textbook. With this in mind, I am confident that the Human Relations instructors will be impressed when I reveal the “MGT-145 Human Relations in Management w/OpenStax” Talon course shell.
Marilee Feldman, CGBP
I have been thinking about making the change to OER for years. Literally. I have attended workshops and meetings, I have explored the internet, and I have spent many hours simply thinking about what this change would look like in my classes. Finally, I just decided to do it. I decided to dip my toe in OER by adopting for my two Developmental Psychology classes. I sat down to begin the presumably exhaustive process of finding the right textbook. On my first search I found the perfect resource. Could it really be that easy?
It really was that easy. OER is becoming more common and the resources more plentiful. A simple google search enabled me to find A Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective, by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French. This textbook was published in 2019 funded by a grant from the College of Lake County Foundation and supported by the Business and Social Sciences Division. Lally and Valentine-French are both psychology professors at the College of Lake County in Illinois. This simple google search enabled me to find a textbook that was the perfect fit for the structure of my course.
Historically, Developmental Psychology textbooks are extremely long. They must cover the physical, cognitive, emotional and social aspects of life from conception to death. That’s a lot of information! Most textbooks range from 16 to 19 chapters which is quite a challenge to squeeze into 16 weeks. Lally and Valentine-French’s textbook is 10 chapters, which fits perfectly into a 16 week semester allowing for exam days and projects. I feel like their textbook covers the important theories and topics in a thorough manner. I plan on using this textbook next year as well.
The best part of adopting OER has been the student response. I have had several students make a point of thanking me for offering a free resource for my class. Saving students money while offering a relevant, engaging, up-to date resource. That’s what it’s all about.
I began using Open Educational Resources for reasons not originally connected to the high cost of textbooks. I had used traditional textbooks in the past. I teach both American History courses and our Western Civilization courses, and used the Vango edition of American People (Seventh edition) by Gary B. Nash, et al, and the Western Heritage (Eleventh edition) by Donald Kagan. I wasn’t overly worried about high prices for those materials, as they were the cheapest, high quality textbooks I could find at the time. My Vango edition was a stripped down versions of the original and the European textbooks were customized and cut down to the barebones. I had videos and primary source documents and all sorts of other free resources for the students to learn from online. The administration had done a survey years ago about textbook costs and I was one of only two professors in the entire college whose textbooks were under the lowest threshold for affordability. So, while textbook affordability was high on my list, I actually felt like I had done about as well with that as I could.
Time for a Change
The impetus for change that led me into Open Educational Resources came from a different place. I was struggling with ways to improve the first week of class for my students. That first week of class can be completely overwhelming. Students have to navigate through a minefield of new terminology, schedules, learning how to read their teachers, finding out how to get to class, how to log on to the course website, and a million other things. Unfortunately, they also have to struggle with financial aid, and one of the most difficult things is using their financial aid to purchase textbooks. While Kirkwood has done a great job of streamlining and easing this process, there are still a sizable amount of students who get stuck in limbo waiting for their financial aid so they can get their textbooks. So, I went looking for a way to help my students remove this obstacle.
US History: Decision Making
I remembered going to a few meetings where Kate Hess had discussed Open Educational Resources and how there were numerous free textbooks available, and so I decided my first stop along this journey was to find Kate and see how she could help. She offered to meet over lunch, and in our first meeting she mentioned OpenStax. She showed me a brief demonstration of the US History textbook and I was hooked. I spent a few evenings looking over the content to make sure it was rigorous enough for my US History courses, both US History to 1877 and US History Since 1877, and very quickly made the decision to switch to this new textbook. There were a few weaker areas, but I could supplement those with other documents and videos I found online. And, it was free! The decision made, I went about adding the textbook into my course shell on Talon for the following semester.
The process was surprisingly seamless, but then I wasn’t asking too much of the book. I just needed the content to line up with assignments I had already created, and it had all I needed and more. I didn’t use the test bank, and had no use for many of the resources, as I had already created most of those in other places in the class. I had numerous primary source documents and videos, including Crash Course videos, but needed something to tie all of those resources together. This was perfect. I put the link for each chapter with the unit I needed it in so the students could just click on the link and go straight to what I needed them to know. I moved a few sections around to line up closer with the textbook (for example, I usually put the section on Manifest Destiny later in the semester, but this textbook moved it up and so I did as well) and was all ready to go.
US History: Implementation
The first semester I used the textbook proved I had made the right decision. My US History courses all started off without a hitch. Students in both my US History to 1877 and US History Since 1877 courses found the book engaging and useful. Everyone was able to get right in and get to work, allowing me to get to more material faster and go more in depth on important topics. I got many positive comments about the affordability of the book as well! And, as if to prove this was the direction I needed to head, I had student after student encounter difficulty in my Western Civilization courses getting their textbooks. It took one student three weeks to get her book due to financial aid issues. It slowed the class down and caused unnecessary stress on students and took up a lot of my time. Using an OER had been a hit in my US History courses, so I turned my attention to my Western Civilization courses.
Western Civilization: Decision Making
Unfortunately, Open Stax didn’t have an OER for the Western Civilization courses, and despite the efforts of myself, Kate Hess and Emily McWorthy, we were unable to find an OER that lived up to that standard. In fact, there was almost nothing out there at all. Eventually we found a book put out by the University System of Georgia called World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500. It didn’t have a test bank or any instructor tools, but as with my US History classes, I was just looking for a textbook with the content needed to connect the things I was hoping to accomplish within the course. For my Ancient Mediterranean World class, it was perfect. It covered all the needed history, and even included chapters on India and China that didn’t fit into my course but allowed curious students to venture off on their own into extra learning. For my Europe in the Age of Monarchy course, the textbook was excellent for the first half of the course, but ended shortly after the midway point in the semester. Most colleges cut their Western Civilization courses in half or thirds, but since Kirkwood cuts our courses in fourths, it has always been close to impossible to find a textbook for this class in particular that doesn’t include extra information or not enough. As such, I was more than prepared for this and had an extensive supply of primary sources and videos lined up to fill in the gaps. With the inclusion of some longer documentaries and perhaps an excessive supply of short clips of Shakespeare plays, I managed to get every topic covered in more than enough detail.
Western Civilization: Implementation
And so, the next semester I rolled out the OERs in my two Western Civilization classes, meaning that all six of my courses that semester were using OERs. I couldn’t have been happier with the results. My students were all able to jump right into the class and get started. I didn’t have to spend hours during the first week of the semester navigating through textbook purchasing issues, and my students didn’t have to include that worry amongst the thousands of others that a new semester brings. Interestingly enough, many of my students began asking for a print edition. With the OpenStax textbooks, there is always the option to buy a print version for $50. That still seemed a bit much for me, and so I worked with the Book Store to create a loose-leaf copy of the book for $20. I haven’t received nearly the same amount of interest in a hard copy of the World History text, but I plan on spending time over the summer working on putting together a copy of that the Book Store can sell students who ask for it. With the help of Kate Hess, we just cut the World History text into more manageable sections, as it was one giant pdf and she made it into numerous smaller ones to ease in opening up the text. The next time I teach the course I will use the sliced up version. I’m sure the students will enjoy that much better.
The Future
As others working with OpenStax can tell you, the only real problem with the text is that they are constantly updating them. While this is a wonderful problem to have, it means constantly looking over the website to ensure that everything is up to date. It isn’t as large a problem for me, as I don’t have multiple choice exams built around the book, but it’s still important to keep an eye on. My only other real concern is to keep searching for something for the second half of my Europe Age of Monarchy course. I’m sure eventually there will be more sources for Western Civilization courses, and I want to make sure I can look them over and perhaps choose a different option when it becomes available. Until then, though, I couldn’t be happier with the textbooks I’ve chosen. They are free, easily accessible, rigorous yet easy to read, and the students can access them on day one. Thanks to Kate Hess, Emily McWorthy, and for the teachers, administrators and those at the Book Store who helped me get to this point. I’m so glad I took this journey toward using OERs in my classes. It’s been a win for my students and for me!
OER at Kirkwood: Faculty Adoption Program 