OER by Discipline Guide: Reducing Barriers and Building Sustainability for OER Adoption
Date
2023-10-18
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Abstract
Open Education Global Conference 2023 (Edmonton, Alberta) session description.
Are you looking for a new approach to supporting educators in finding OER to adopt into their courses? In this lightning talk (15 minutes), learn about the development of an OER by Discipline Guide introduced by a Canadian research institution as a service to help reduce hurdles faculty and instructors face when adopting Open Educational Resources (OER) into their courses. We will first highlight some of the barriers educators experience when starting their journey in finding OER to adopt, followed by outlining how the OER by Discipline Guide developed by staff at the University of Calgary’s Libraries and Cultural Resources (LCR) reduces these barriers for educators. The OER by Discipline Guide is an ongoing curated resource guide of OER organized by discipline for educators who prefer to independently review previously evaluated OER within their subject area. Similar guides are commonly used across Canadian higher education institutions to curate potential OER organized according to their institution with access provided through Pressbooks. Pressbooks is a publishing platform based on WordPress used by many higher education institutions globally for developing, adapting, and hosting dynamic, interactive Open Education Resources. During this talk, we will discuss what the OER by Discipline Guide is, how it was created, and the process for updating the guide over time. Library staff supporting this service utilize OER recommendations, adoptions, and newly developed OER from the university and open education community, including subject librarians, educators, and other relevant discipline experts for inclusion into the guide. We will also highlight the benefits of having our support staff assist with the sustainability of the OER by Discipline Guide, managed by the Open Education Librarian, along with our current service workflow. At the University of Calgary, this staffing model is a crucial piece in supporting the sustainability and growth of our OER services as interest in OER adoption continues to increase at our institution.
Description
By the end of this session, attendees should be able to…
1. Describe key barriers around faculty OER adoption in higher education.
2. Reflect on the potential of the OER by Discipline Guide and other similar guides for supporting the reduction of OER adoption barriers at their own institution.
3. Consider Pressbooks as a potential platform for hosting institutional guides of curated Open Educational Resources for adoption by educators.
4. Consider staffing models for sustainable OER finding services within institutions.
During this lightning talk, attendees will be engaged through the discussion and visualization about the OER by Discipline Guide and it’s sustainability by Libraries and Cultural Resources, along with open dialogue and questions during the question-and-answer section of the talk. Attendees will also have access to the guide, which they may utilize and adapt for their own services at their institutions.
Keywords
Open Educational Resources, OER, Library services, OER curation, Course materials, Staffing model
Citation
Adams, S., & Sillito, S. (2023, October 16-18). OER by Discipline Guide: Reducing Barriers and Building Sustainability for OER Adoption [Conference presentation]. Open Education Global Conference, Edmonton, AB, Canada. https://oeglobal2023.sched.com/event/1SNlT/oer-by-discipline-guide-reducing-barriers-and-building-sustainability-for-oer-adoption