BEST PRACTICES WITH OERS: FINDING AND USING THEM

WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT COPYRIGHT

KRIS HELGE, J.D., PH.D., M.L.S.

DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES

TARRANT COUNTY COLLEGE NW CAMPUS

OVERVIEW FOR TODAY

• DEFINE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER)

• HOW DO OERS RELATE TO COPYRIGHT?

• WHERE DO WE LOCATE OER?

• HOW WE USE OER

• BENEFITS, CHALLENGES, BEST PRACTICES

• QUESTIONS

WHAT IS AN OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE (OER)

• OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) ARE DEFINED AS “FREE AND OPENLY LICENSED EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS THAT CAN BE USED FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, RESEARCH, AND OTHER PURPOSES.”

• OPEN EDUCATION "...IS THE SIMPLE AND POWERFUL IDEA THAT THE WORLD’S KNOWLEDGE IS A PUBLIC GOOD AND THAT TECHNOLOGY IN GENERAL AND THE WEB IN PARTICULAR PROVIDE AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE TO SHARE, USE, AND REUSE KNOWLEDGE."

• —THE WILLIAM AND FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION

OER

• FREE

• DIGITAL ACCESS (PRINT ACCESS)

• OFFER SOME USE GUIDANCE VIA A LICENSE

CC BY HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:GLOBAL_OPEN_EDUCATIONAL_RESOURCES_LOGO.SVG

HOW DO OERS RELATE TO COPYRIGHT?

• IMPLEMENT CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES

• PAY ATTENTION TO THE LICENSE

• CC BY, SA, NC, ND

• OER CREATED WITH INTENT OF OTHERS USING

• OER MUST ALLOW FREE USE

CC BY HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/

SPECIFIC OER LOCATIONS

• OPENSTAX

• MERLOT II

• COLLEGE OPEN TEXTBOOKS

CC BY HTTPS://OPENSTAX.ORG/

MERLOT II EXAMPLE SEARCH

MERLOT II EXAMPLE SEARCH

COLLEGE OPEN TEXTBOOKS EXAMPLE SEARCH

COLLEGE OPEN TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE SEARCH

SPECIFIC OER LOCATIONS

• OER COMMONS

• THE ORANGE GROVE

CC BY-SA HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:OER_LOGO.SVG

SPECIFIC OER LOCATIONS

• GETTY OPEN CONTENT PROGRAM

HOW DO OERS RELATE TO COPYRIGHT?

• OPENSTAX – CC-BY

• MERLOT II – SOME RETAIN SOME RIGHTS, SOME UTILIZE CREATIVE COMMONS

• OER COMMONS – CC BY-NC-SA• HOWEVER USERS OF THE SITE MAY LICENSE WITH OTHER LICENSES (E.G., PUBLIC DOMAIN)

• COMMUNITY COLLEGE CONSORTIUM FOR OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES - MOST OF THE TEXTBOOKS ON THIS LIST HAVE CREATIVE COMMONS (CC) OPEN LICENSES OR GNU-FREE DOCUMENT LICENSE. OTHERS ARE U.S. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN (PD). YET, SOME ARE NOT OPEN FOR REUSE AND CUSTOMIZATION

WHAT HAVE WE DONE WITH OER ON OUR CAMPUS?

• SURVEY – 3 FACULTY MEMBERS EXPERIMENTING WITH OER

• BOUGHT OPENSTAX STAND WITH TEXTBOOKS, AND COPIES OF THE ACTUAL BOOKS

• SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

CC BY HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:ONLINE_SURVEY_ICON_OR_LOGO.SVG

WHAT HAVE WE DONE WITH OER ON OUR CAMPUS

• DEPARTMENTAL MEETINGS

• OFFERED WORKSHOPS TO STAFF, FACULTY AND STUDENTS

• PURCHASED BOOKS

• WORKSHOPS

• DISTRICT LEVEL

CC BY HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/USNAVALWARCOLLEGERI/7773863576

BENEFITS WE DISCOVERED

• LAST SURVEY DISTRIBUTED – 33 FACULTY NOW USING OR EXPERIMENTING WITH OER

• STUDENTS SAVING MONEY

• DISTRICT WIDE OER TASK FORCE

• OER DEGREE PATH

• INVITED TO PRESENT AT DISTRICT LEVEL, STATE LEVEL,

• INTERNATIONAL…

CC BY HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:SMITH_COLLEGE_HOOD.JPG

CHALLENGES WE FACED

• IS THIS SOURCE VALID? IS IT PEER REVIEWED? WHO IS PEER REVIEWING?

• COMMON LEARNING MATERIAL

• LICENSING ISSUES

• RESTRICTION ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM

• TAKING THE FIRST STEP

• GETTING PEOPLE TO SHOW UP

• SOME SUBSTANTIVE AREAS REALLY NOT WELL REPRESENTED

• LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT OER IS

BEST PRACTICES FOR OER

• TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT AN OER REALLY IS

• THINK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF OER TO YOUR STUDENTS

• OPENSTAX (IF YOUR SUBSTANTIVE AREA IS REPRESENTED)

• PEER REVIEW IMPORTANT?

• MAY I USE THIS PER DEPARTMENT POLICY?

• SPEAK TO SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS AND IS ABLE TO CLEARLY COMMUNICATE LICENSING ISSUES

• GIVE IT A TRY EVEN IF IT IS JUST A SUPPLEMENTCC BY HTTPS://PIXABAY.COM/EN/BEST-PRACTICE-PROCESS-BUSINESS-BEST-1078383/

YOUR QUESTIONS ??

• KRIS HELGE

• KRISTYN.HELGE@TCCD.EDU