Open Educational Resources

OER

Open Educational Resources

The Hewlett Foundation defines Open Educational Resources (OER) as:

“…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. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.”

Why OER at UCCS?

Faculty who initially participated in the Open CU Initiative share their reasons for why they chose to implement OER in their courses.

Federal Open Textbook Initiative

The U.S. Department of Education is offering grants for multiple institutions to propose collaborative, large-scale OER projects through the Open Textbook Pilot Program. The call for proposals is expected to come out late this spring, with applications due in summer.

Get a head start preparing an application for this program with Angie Dodson, Faculty Development Coordinator, and Susan Vandagriff, Scholarly Communications Librarian and Assistant Professor, in hyflex sessions designed to follow step-by-step grant-application preparation and writing process. Email Susan Vandagriff or Angie Dodson for more information or register for the hyflex sessions.

  • Open Textbook Initiative Introductory Session – Tuesday, January 31, 3:00-4:00 pm – Initiative Overview and Preliminary Information
    Session Recording
  • Open Textbook Initiative Development Session Part 1 – During OER Week, Tuesday, March 7, 3:00-4:00 pm – Articulate subject-area gaps and identify proposal partners
    Session Recording | Searching for OER Handout | OER Gap Analysis Template
  • Open Textbook Initiative Development Session Part 2 – Tuesday, March 28, 3:00-4:00 pm – Partner Meet Up and Vision Casting
    Register
  • Open Textbook Initiative Application Completion Session – Tuesday, June 6, 3:00-4:00 pm
    Register

2023–2024 CDHE OER Grant

UCCS received funding for the second year of a two-year grant from the Colorado Department of Higher Education for a multi-campus proposal, "Open CU: Expanding a Successful Multiyear OER Initiative".

This two-year OER initiative offers four levels applicants can chose from based on OER knowledge and experience that enable participants to begin and then expand OER implementation as follows:

  • Awareness and Review
    Qualifying participants earn the OER Reuser badge and a $250 stipend for completing the first section of the OER SUCCESS Part 1 course, a self-paced tutorial to gain awareness of, search for, and evaluate OER while planning for implementation.
  • Educator Adoption/Redesign
    Qualifying participants earn the OER Remixer badge and a $1,000 stipend for adopting OER in their courses, engaging in course redesign, evaluating the effectiveness of their OER pilots, and sharing their evaluation results.
  • Adaptation and Creation
    Qualifying participants earn the OER Redistributor badge plus a $1,000 to $5000 stipend for adapting/creating OER, licensing the created OER, implementing the OER into a course, and evaluating its effectiveness. The stipend amount is dependent upon the scope of the OER adaptation/creation project.
  • Full OER SUCCESS Program
    Qualifying participants earn the OER Re-user, Remixer, and Redistributor badges and a $2,000 to $4000 stipend for completing the entire OER SUCCESS Program and adopting or adapting/creating OER for a course. The stipend amount is dependent upon the scope of the OER project.

Each OER adopter and creator is also asked to participate in a yearly panel discussion at either the UCCS Teaching & Learning Conference in January or in GIFT (Great Ideas for Teaching) Exchanges throughout the academic year to encourage others through their example.

Eligibility
Anyone who will be teaching a course meeting any one or more of the following targeted course types in the Fall 2023, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024 terms at UCCS. This includes all faculty and staff.

Target Courses

  • High enrollment
  • High DFW rate
  • High textbook cost
  • Concurrent enrollment courses for high school students
  • Courses with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion or Social Justice themes, and courses aimed at the incorporation or creation of OER materials with this focus

To apply, complete the Expanding a Successful Two-Year OER Initiative AY 2023-2024 by May 19, 2023.

2022–2023 CDHE OER Grant

UCCS received funding for a fourth and fifth year from the Colorado Department of Higher Education for a multi-campus proposal, "Open CU: Expanding a Successful Multiyear OER Initiative".

Target Courses

  • High enrollment
  • High DFW rate
  • High textbook cost
  • Concurrent enrollment courses for high school students
  • Courses with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion or Social Justice themes, and courses aimed at the incorporation or creation of OER materials with this focus

Open Educational Resources (OER) SUCCESS Program
The OER initiative is an inclusive part of the OER SUCCESS program. Each section of the OER initiative is incorporated into one or more of the three levels or courses the OER SUCCESS program offers and includes:

  • Awareness and Review
    5 faculty members will earn the OER Reuser badge and a $250 stipend for completing the first section of the OER SUCCESS Part 1 course, a self-paced tutorial to gain awareness of, search for, and evaluate OER while planning for implementation.
  • Educator Adoption/Redesign
    4 faculty members will earn the OER Remixer badge and a $1,000 stipend for adopting OER in their courses, engaging in course redesign, evaluating the effectiveness of their OER pilots, and sharing their evaluation results.
  • Adaptation and Creation
    3 faculty members will earn the OER Redistributor badge plus a $1,000 stipend for adapting/creating OER, licensing the created OER, implementing the OER into a course, and evaluating its effectiveness.
  • Full OER SUCCESS Program
    2 faculty members will earn the OER Re-user, Remixer, and Redistributor badges and a $2,000 stipend for completing the entire OER SUCCESS Program and adopting or adapting/creating OER for a course.

Each OER adopter and creator is also asked to participate in a yearly panel discussion at either the UCCS Teaching & Learning Conference in January or in GIFT (Great Ideas for Teaching) Exchanges throughout the academic year to encourage others through their example.

 

2021-2022 CDHE OER Grant

UCCS received funding for a third year from the Colorado Department of Higher Education for a multi-campus proposal, "Open CU: Expanding a Successful and Sustainable OER Initiative", to continue promoting the awareness, review, evaluation, adoption, adaptation, and creation of OER.

  • Target Courses
    • High enrollment
    • High DFW rate
    • High textbook cost
    • Concurrent enrollment courses for high school students
    • Courses with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion or Social Justice themes, and courses interested in incorporating or creating OER materials with this focus
  • Open Educational Resources (OER) SUCCESS Program
    The OER initiative is an inclusive part of the OER SUCCESS program. Each section of the OER initiative is incorporated into one or more of the three levels or courses the OER SUCCESS program offers and includes:
    • Awareness and Review
      5 faculty members earned the OER Reuser badge and a $250 stipend for completing the first section of the OER SUCCESS Part 1 course, a self-paced tutorial to gain awareness of, search for, and evaluate OER
    • Educator Adoption/Redesign
      6 faculty members earned the OER Remixer badge and a $1,000 stipend for adopting OER in their courses, engaging in course redesign, evaluating the effectiveness of their OER pilots, and sharing their evaluation results
    • Adaptation and Creation
      3 faculty members earned the OER Redistributor badge plus a $2,000 stipend for adapting/creating OER, licensing the created OER, implementing the OER into a course, and evaluating its effectiveness
  • Outcomes
    • OER were adopted in 15 courses over the 2021-2022 academic year
    • Nearly 1,100 students were enrolled in these courses
    • Those students realized over $82,000 in savings as a result of using OER
2020-2021 CDHE OER Grant

UCCS received funding for a second year from the Colorado Department of Higher Education for a multi-campus proposal, "Open CU: Expanding a Successful OER Initiative", to continue promoting the awareness, review, evaluation, and adoption of OER, and further to promote the adaptation and creation of OER.

  • Target Courses
    • High enrollment
    • High DFW rate
    • High textbook cost
    • Concurrent enrollment courses for high school students
  • Open Educational Resources (OER) SUCCESS Program
    The OER initiative is an inclusive part of the OER SUCCESS program. Each section of the OER initiative is incorporated into one or more of the three levels or courses the OER SUCCESS program offers and includes:
    • Awareness and Review
      3 faculty members earned the OER Reuser badge and a $250 stipend for completing the first section of the OER SUCCESS Part 1 course, a self-paced tutorial to gain awareness of, search for, and evaluate OER
    • Educator Adoption/Redesign
      8 faculty members earned the OER Remixer badge and a $1,000 stipend for adopting OER in their courses, engaging in course redesign, evaluating the effectiveness of their OER pilots, and sharing their evaluation results
    • Adaptation and Creation
      4 faculty members earned the OER Redistributor badge plus a $2,000 stipend for adapting/creating OER, licensing the created OER, implementing the OER into a course, and evaluating its effectiveness
  • Outcomes
    • OER were adopted in 15 courses over the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters
    • Over 1,000 students were enrolled in these courses
    • Those students realized nearly $120,000 in savings as a result of using OER
2019-2020 CDHE OER Grant

UCCS received funding from the Colorado Department of Higher Education for a multi-campus proposal, "Open CU: Building a Sustainable OER Initiative Across the University of Colorado", to promote the awareness, review, evaluation, and adoption or adaptation of OER.

  • 30 faculty members each received $250 stipends for completing the OER Jumpstart self-paced tutorial to gain awareness of, search for, and evaluate OER
  • 9 faculty members each received $1,000 stipends for adopting OER in their courses, engaging in course redesign, evaluating the effectiveness of their OER pilots, and sharing their evaluations
    • OER were adopted in 13 sections over the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters
    • Over 430 students were enrolled in these courses
    • Those students realized over $44,000 in savings as a result of using OER

OER Resources

UCCS OER Council

  • Chair: Susan Vandagriff [interim]
  • Faculty Representative: Raphael Sassower
  • Librarian: Empty at Present
  • Instructional Designer: Angie Dodson
  • OIT: Harper Johnson
  • Accessibility: Leyna Bencomo
  • Bookstore: Paul Deniston
  • Faculty Resource Center: Dave Anderson
  • Extended Studies: Empty at Present
  • Compass Curriculum: Phillip Haisley
  • Legal: Tia Luber
  • Writing Across the Curriculum: Kacey Ross
  • Academic Affairs/Undergraduate Education: Susan Taylor
  • Undergraduate Student: Empty at Present
  • Graduate Student: Empty at Present

Last updated April 8, 2023
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