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NARRATOR: Adopting an open course is easy and has many benefits,
not just for students but also for faculty. Now what are some of those
concerns that faculty might have about OER
and how would you address those concerns?
SOPHIA: One of the most important questions is whether it is indeed zero cost. What happened with
my specific course that I implemented was we went from 120 dollars
to zero dollars and we offered the same content and same abilities to faculty.
AMBER: Yeah, it's definitely been a learning experience and maybe that's been part of
the success as well.
When I started off, I collaborated with a faculty member,
who taught at College of the Redwoods in northern California, where we collaborated
on putting a class together using an open textbook.
Our classes weren't exactly the same, but we did have a lot of common elements
for the project of putting things together.
JOHN: OER benefits us in a number of ways. One thing
that we did find in the past is that decreasing numbers of students were able
to afford their textbooks.
And when that was the case, obviously that had a very negative effect
upon their own learning but also upon the way that the faculty were able to
carry out their own responsibilities.
The second thing that I think is very important is that when we look
at the learners of today particularly the traditionally aged students,
those students are much more comfortable
in an electronic digital environment
and are looking for something that goes beyond the written page.
SOPHIA: My main concern was how easy it would be and how long it would take.
When I started it was a little while back, so material was getting
developed as we were proceeding into the project.
I had to gather material from
a lot of different places in order to get where I want to be right now,
but at this stage...the adoption and even the development of the
course is extremely easy.
It made my job easier. I didn't have to develop the course,
the whole course, myself. Collaboration meant
that somebody was doing part of the course and somebody else was doing
another part of the course
and that expedited the process. With open educational resources you become the
owner of your content.
AMBER: I think one of the top concerns is what is the quality of this?
People assume that, you know, "oh it's a low-cost or free, it
must not be as good." And that's not necessarily the case.
When we actually surveyed students and asked them after the first phase of the project,
"what did you think of these materials you did you like them? Were they worse,
just as good, or better than materials you've used in the past?,"
most students have said they were just as good if not better
than course materials that they've used.
NARRATOR: How does an instructor transition to OER?
AMBER: They definitely want to contact their department or program chair.
There might be certain requirements for a book that they
or everyone in the department has to use. I guess a way around that could be if
you're required to you use
a book, you certainly have that book available for your students, but you can
always supplement
your materials with this. I found at least
where I work, if the administration is supportive or on board with what
you're doing,
chances are things are gonna run more smoothly.
JOHN: And we found here that fewer students were investing
in their own education by buying books. They found it prohibitively expensive
and so they were not getting the good out of their courses as they should.
That's an important trend that I think is going to continue.
Another is to take a look at the student body
that's in front of us right now and recognize that they learn
in a way that is different from the way that we learn.
NARRATOR: What do other faculty think of OER courses?
The faculty in my department realized first of all that the sections
that offer open educational resources are the ones that fill up first,
so they have become very popular. Second concern
that faculty have is that when they offer a section with a commercial product they
always have a couple of students
who cannot afford their textbook. They will either fall behind or they will ask
for a section that offers open educational resources.
AMBER: There definitely is a buzz about it. I think people realize that
this could be certainly a trend. Education is changing how we view
access to materials and access to knowledge.
I've definitely seen an interest in a variety of disciplines
around using Open Educational Resources.
NARRATOR: Where do you turn for support?
SOPHIA: One is faculty developers like me
and all the other faculty that have worked in the Kaleidoscope
grant and have developed courses. The staff that works for Lumen Learning are
actually previous faculty who have developed
courses themselves. And, obviously, the Kaleidoscope administration
and all the staff are very knowledgable. They are networked.
They have resources available and they are very prompt in responding.
NARRATOR: As you can see adopting an open course is very easy and has many benefits.
What are you waiting for? Let's get started.