Guides: OER: Resources for JBCL Reference and Instruction Librarians: Texas OER and Prairie View A&amp;M University

Texas OER and Prairie View A&M University

Open Educational Resources (OER) Initiative Spring 2020
Textbook Affordability and Open Educational Resources (OER) Initiative
In 2015, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) launched the state’s ambitious higher education strategic plan dubbed 60x30TX whose goal is to ensure that by 2030, 60% of Texans between ages 24-26 years should be holders of certificates or degrees. This means that the State wants to have an educated population, one where there is an increase in college completion rates while at the same time ensuring the graduates have employable skills. Above all, the strategic plan wants universities to look for ways to ensure that when the students graduate, they have manageable debt.

One of the goals of the Texas A&M University System’s strategic plan for 2016 to 2021 is to ensure that all the system schools remain affordable and accessible. This goal is amplified in the 2016-2021 Prairie View A&M University strategic plan. One way to support PVAMU students to timely complete programs they are enrolled in and to reduce the student debt burden is for the university to implement initiatives to eliminate or reduce the cost of textbooks.

The PVAMU OER Initiative Committee consisting of diverse university stakeholders has been assembled to achieve the following objectives:

Conduct an environmental scan of textbook affordability and use of OER at PVAMU.
Coordinate OER and textbook affordability efforts at PVAMU.
Advise PVAMU leadership on matters regarding OER and textbook affordability.
Coordinate the training of faculty, staff, and students of PVAMU on matters relating to OER.
Advocate for the implementation of OER at PVAMU, the Texas A&M University system, and at the State level.
Provide regular updates on the state of OER and Textbook affordability efforts at PVAMU.
Stay abreast of trends in Textbook affordability and OER initiatives.
Inform faculty members of OER grant opportunities.
Recommend best practices to implement OER or other Textbook affordability efforts.

What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?

Open educational resources (OER) eliminate cost barriers for students and allow unrestricted, immediate access to learning materials, increasing the likelihood for students to complete their courses successfully. One of the most common forms of OER are open-access textbooks that are free and accessible to students via multiple platforms such as an online link or PDF document. Unlike traditional textbooks, that come with restrictive copyright laws, OER use open copyright licenses like Creative Commons. For more information on this type of license, please visit Creative Commons. According to the 2017 Babson Survey, open resources are growing in popularity – almost 50% of faculty reported that they are aware of OER, and open-access textbooks are being adopted in introductory courses at rates that rival traditional books.

OpenStax Institutional Partnership Program

Prairie View A&M University was chosen to participate in this strategic partnership with OpenStax after a rigorous application process that included demonstrating a willingness to drive adoption of open educational resources (OER). Institutional partners will receive individualized consulting from OpenStax and join a cohort of schools advocating widespread use of OER at their schools. On average, the institutions who join as institutional partners increase the number of students impacted by OER by 158% after completing the first year of the program. To date, the program has resulted in $19.6 million dollars of additional student savings from OER.

Open Educational Resources (OER) coming to PVAMU- JBCL

The PVAMU Library hosted Houston Area OER Consortium Meeting for its first anniversary at John B. Coleman Library on Tuesday, July 30, 2019
What is OER (Open Educational Resources)?

OER are 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.

Why OER?

Free and Legal to Use, Improve and Share
Lower Educational Cost and Improve Access to Information
Network and Collaborate with Peers
Learn more about OER at https://pvamu.libguides.com/oer

PVAMU Open Education Resources eCourses Integration & Ancillary Development

Adopting OER provides relief to your students wallets! However, it does add some a bit of complexity to the instructor’s life to integrate resources from multiple sources into a coherent attractive assembly.

Many of the ancillaries you have come to depend on are no longer available when you move away from commercially published textbooks. The Center for Instructional Innovation & Technology Services (CIITS) is here to help the transition move more easily.

CIITS Instructional Designers & Multimedia Specialists can assist with:

Embedding Open Education Resources into eCourses
Mixing OERs from multiple sources coherently
Adding interactive media complete with gradable questions that route directly to the gradebook
Using technical tools like H5P, Softchalk, Articulate and Camtasia to develop interactive lessons
Vetting freemium services and assist in their integration in your courses
Assist with finding ready made media associated with your lesson needs

Our new multimedia studios located in the Panther Collaboration and Innovation Center on the 3rd floor of the Coleman Library are ready for your use in recording high quality videos and audio.

To learn more contact ciits@pvamu.edu or call (936) 261-3283.

Find out more information about the Open Educational Resources Initiative