Upcoming ANGEL Archive

As outlined in the NSCC ANGEL Course Archive Policy, Academic Technology is in the process of archiving older ANGEL course sites and removing them from the ANGEL server.  We wanted to provide the NSCC community with advanced notice before any course sites are deleted from the ANGEL server. 

Below is an outline of the timeline for deleting courses from the ANGEL server as well as from the archive.

• Course sites from Summer 2013 - Will be removed from the ANGEL server and placed in archive on October 1, 2014. Summer 2013 courses are scheduled to be permanently deleted from archive on February 1, 2018.
• Course sites from Spring 2010 - Will be permanently deleted from the archive on October 1, 2014.

If faculty would like to retain these course sites for a longer period of time, they have the option of generating their own archive and there are several available options for storage, including:

• The P: Drive network folder (only accessible on campus)
• Google Drive, accessible through the NSCC email account
• A personal storage medium, i.e. USB drive, portable hard disk, computer, CD
• External cloud storage solutions, available at little to no cost (such as Dropbox or SkyDrive)

Directions for generating a course archive (content and student data) are available at: http://goo.gl/jpO5R.  Staff members from Instructional Technology and Design will be available to assist faculty in archiving ANGEL course sites.  If assistance is needed, please email the ANGEL Helpdesk at angel@northshore.edu.

If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact us at itd@northshore.edu.

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Profession​al Developmen​t eNewslette​r (9/22/2014​)

Welcome to iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC.  The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice.

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Can I Structure a Flipped Lesson?
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the fall semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets.  The topic for the week of September 22nd is How Can I Structure a Flipped Lesson?

More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available http://www.magnapubs.com/catalog/how-can-i-structure-a-flipped-lesson/.

The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week.  For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop or the Bulletin notice. 

Other Professional Development Opportunities

1. Space is still available for the Multi State Collaborative Professional Development Day on Friday, September 26, 2014 at the Southbridge Hotel and Conference Center.  To register, view session topics, or get more information, visit the website included in the email version of iDevelop or contact the CTLA.
2. Limited spaces are available for NSCC part time faculty who have never participated in the Part Time Faculty Development Program, a series developed and cultivated by Dr. Laurel Messina Duluk.  Full time faculty can also participate on a space-available basis, with permission of their division dean.  Network with colleagues, refresh your teaching, and benefit from the coordinated efforts of the college's academic divisions and academic support teams!  For more information on the program, please contact Rebecca Twalipo in the CTLA at rtwalipo@northshore.edu.  Don't delay - the first session is this Saturday, September 27th.
3. FREE BOOK! Would you like a free copy of Peggy Maki's Assessing for Learning: Building a Sustainable Commitment Across the Institution?  Maki is a higher education superstar, and the CTLA has twenty copies of her seminal work that we are giving to any interested NSCC faculty or staff member. Stop by the CTLA to say hi, and pick up your free copy! The CTLA is located in DB 388.

Share your Teaching Strategies

Are you currently incorporating any strategies from the flipped classroom model into your classes?  What types of activities are you having your students do outside of class to introduce them to the content?  What types of activities are you having your students do in-class to engage with the content?   Please send us your teaching strategies and ideas to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the upcoming issues of iDevelop. 

Resources

• 7 Things You Should Know About…Flipped Classrooms
  https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7081.pdf
• Flipping the Classroom
  http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/ 
• Course Design: Planning a Flipped Class
  https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/planning-courses-and-assignments/course-design/course-design-planning-flipped-class
• Online Activities and Assessment for the Flipped Classroom
  https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/lecturing-and-presenting/delivery/online-activities-and-assessment-flipped-classroom
• In-class Activities and Assessment for the Flipped Classroom
  https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/lecturing-and-presenting/delivery/class-activities-and-assessment-flipped-classroom  

iDevelop is being brought to you by Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Active Learning Classrooms

Active Learning Classrooms are teaching and learning spaces that allow faculty to move their course design beyond lecture.  Faculty are supported through the room design, flexible furniture, multiple writing surfaces, and interactive technologies.  In these rooms, students move from a static learning environments (rows of chairs) to a more dynamic one (group seating often utilizing chairs and tables on wheels).

Here at North Shore Community College, we have designed two spaces as Active Learning Classrooms.  LE 304 in Lynn and DB 101 in Danvers have portable chairs on wheels and white boards have been installed around the wall surfaces of the classrooms.  Faculty have begun to requests these spaces as they allow for students to work together more efficiently and effectively.  The teacher's role then becomes more of a guide to learning.

Some effective teaching models in these kinds of  classrooms include:

1.  Think--Pair--Share
This is a discussion strategy where the teacher gets the students thinking about a posed question.  The students then "pair up" to talk about their thoughts or answers to the question.  The teacher then calls on the pairs to share their thoughts with the rest of the class.

2.  Focused Listening
Here students recall what they know about a subject.  This can be done in pairs or groups  They list what they know on a sheet of paper.   The instructor roams the room requesting the lists to be read out loud by the pairs or groups.

3.  Brainstorming
This is similar to focused listening.  Here, though, students might stretch what they know by forming creative connections between previous knowledge and new possibilities.  In Brainstorming, there are no wrong answers.

4.  Note Check
With Note Check, students partner with someone.  They compare notes.  They notice each other's misconceptions or lack of clarity, and then assist in pointing that out and cleaning it up.

5.  The Two Minute Paper
Here the faculty member asks students to summarize the most important points in the day's lecture.  It helps students to put things in their own words.  It also helps students to identify their gaps in their understanding.

6.  The Final Question
At the end of class, the faculty member asks the students if they had one last question about the material, what would it be?  It encourages students to think deeply about material before leaving the room.

Resources:

• What is an Active Learning Classroom?
  http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/what/index.html
• Reactions of Teachings in an Active Learning Classroom
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szGCwwcDc-g
• Active learning strategies
  http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/learning/index.html

If you would like to know more about Active Learning Classrooms, please contact us at itd@northshore.edu.

Dave Houle
Coordinator, Instructional Technology
dhoule@northshore.edu

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Profession​al Developmen​t eNewslette​r (9/15/2014​)

Welcome to iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC.  The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice.

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Can I Enhance Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills?
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the fall semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets.  The topic for the week of September 15th is How Can I Enhance Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills? 

More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available http://www.magnapubs.com/catalog/how-can-i-enhance-students-self-regulated-learning-skills/.

The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week.  For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop or the Bulletin notice. 

Image Source.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

1. What are you doing this Thursday afternoon (September 18th)?  A few spaces are available for full or part time faculty to attend an information session in the CTLA (DB 388) about Academic Technology and Library Services here at North Shore Community College.  Although this session and others that will follow (stay tuned!) are designed for new full time faculty, whether you are new to North Shore, full time or part time, or if you simply feel that you or your students could use a refresher to kick off a new academic year, you are invited to come.  Learn from our fantastic and friendly professionals--Andrea Milligan and Christine Goodchild.  Please RSVP to Andrea DeFusco-Sullivan (adefusco@northshore.edu) by noontime on Wednesday so that we can have enough coffee ready!  The coffee's on at 2:00 p.m. and things will wrap up around 4:00 p.m., but if you need to come a little late or leave a little earlier due to class/meeting scheduling, do not fret--come anyway.
       
2. The Tri-State Multi-State Collaborative Consortium, consisting of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, will co-host a Professional Development Day for faculty, administrators and professional staff at participating Multi-State Collaborative institutions.  The event will be held at the Southbridge Hotel and Conference Center on September 26, 2014 from 9:00am – 3:30pm, with registration and a continental breakfast beginning at 8:30am.  The event is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the State Higher Education Executive Officers and funded by a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant.  The event is free but space is limited to the first 150 participants to register.  Please contact Andrea DeFusco-Sullivan (adefusco@northshore.edu) for registration information.

Share your Teaching Strategies
Here are some teaching strategies shared with us around early semester community building.  Please continue to send us your great ideas at itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the upcoming issues of iDevelop. 

• “I tried something new this semester.  Introductions in my class include: creating a 6 word memoir (there's a great YouTube video that introduces the concept) and having them tell me and the class what their hopes and dreams beyond NSCC are, what's their favorite sport and day of the year.  One of my edu objectives for all my students is to have them give three stand-up presentations each semester.  The introverts either don't come to class that day, or refuse to do it in class.  My strategy this year was that at the 2nd class I brought a fairly large ball (not quite a beach ball) to class.  I have students line up on either side of the room and toss the ball back and forth.  When you get the ball you do your intro.  100% of students spoke.  But more importantly, I polled the class afterwards for those who HATE public speaking and explained they'd just successfully spoken in front of the class.  The ball gives their mind something to do besides being crazy nervous, standing with a group of students gives them strength/courage, and tossing the ball back and forth provides comic relief.  I'm going to use the ball when we have our next presentation to further give them confidence.”
  -Dianne McDermott Cerasuolo (please feel free to contact her directly if you have questions or want to brainstorm around using her idea)

Resources

• F act Sheet: Self-Regulated Learning
  https://teal.ed.gov/tealguide/selfregulated 
• Encouraging Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom: A Review of the Literature
  http://www.self-regulation.ca/download/pdf_documents/Self%20Regulated%20Learning.pdf

iDevelop is being brought to you by Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

20 Minute Mentor - Online Faculty Professional Development - Fall Schedule

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment and Academic Technology have partnered up again to bring faculty a professional development series from Magna Publications, called the 20 Minute Mentor. The goal of the  20 Minute Mentor series is to offer faculty practical professional development opportunities in twenty minute snippets that can be accessed from anywhere and at any time during the given week. Session topics cover the areas of student engagement, teaching and learning, teaching online, assessment and learning goals, and classroom management.

Information on how to access the  20 Minute Mentor sessions is available each week in the Bulletin and the iDevelop e-newsletter.

New video presentations (with supplementary materials) go live at 10:00am each Monday morning and are only accessible through Sunday.

The following sessions are on the schedule for fall 2014.  

• August 25th - How Do I Include Introverts in Class Discussions?
• September 1st - How Do I Address Teasing and Bullying Behavior in the Classroom?
• September 8th - How Can I Be an Effective Mentor?
• September 15th - How Can I Enhance Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills?
• September 22nd - How Can I Structure a Flipped Lesson?
• September 29th - What Do Students Want in Online Courses?
• October 6th - Linking, Embedding & Streaming: What’s Legal? What’s Not?
• October 13th - What Are 5 FAQ's About Faculty Roles in the Flipped Class?
• October 20th - What Does Copyright Ownership Mean to Me?
• October 27th - What Happens to Learning when Students Multitask?
• November 3rd - How Can I Enhance the Impact of Feedback in Online Classes?
• November 10th - How Can I Make My Course Content More Accessible? 
• November 17th - What Is Storyboarding? And How Can It Help Me Flip My Class? 
• November 24th - What Are Five Tips for Writing Effective Learning Outcomes?
• December 1st - How Can I Design Copyright Compliant Online Courses?
• December 8th - Where Can I Find Flippable Moments in My Classes?
   

We would love to hear your feedback on the usefulness of these sessions. Please send your input to itd@northshore.edu.

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (9/8/2014)

Welcome to iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC.  The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice.

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Can I Be an Effective Mentor?
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the fall semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets.  The topic for the week of September 8th is How Can I Be an Effective Mentor?

For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop or the Bulletin notice.  More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available http://www.magnapubs.com/catalog/how-can-i-be-an-effective-mentor/.

The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week.

Upcoming Instructional Technology Workshops
This week, Instructional Technology and Design is offering several workshops on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. Please reserve your slot at any of these sessions by emailing itd@northshore.edu.

Smart Classrooms
Come and find out all of the little ins and outs of using a Smart Classroom here at North Shore Community College. We will also share with you best practices when using one of these rooms. You will have the opportunity to try out the technology for yourself.

• Monday, September 8th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Danvers HPSS 226
• Friday, September 12th from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Lynn LW 323

Share your Teaching Strategies
Here are some teaching strategies shared with us that faculty use to ensure that students start off the course on the right track and to develop a course community.

• Have students complete a syllabus quiz or scavenger hunt to ensure that they have reviewed the syllabus and are familiar with the course expectations.
• Before launching into the first content class, take some time to do a simple ice breaker.  Ask students a series of questions by calling on different students to ensure that everyone gets a chance.  Sample questions:  Do you have kids?  Do you have pets?  Do you have unusual pets? Have you traveled outside the US?  Do you like to use Instagram?  Have you ever met someone famous?  Have you climbed a mountain?  Are you a vegetarian or vegan?  Can you walk to campus?  Can you bike to campus?  If you drive, do you drive more than 10 miles?  25 miles?  50 miles?  This will help build a classroom community from day one and help you learn student names that much quicker.

What other ways methods do you use to remember students’ names?  Send an email with your teaching strategies to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop.

Other Professional Development Opportunities
Did you know that NSCC employees can find Professional Development ideas, blogs and webinars for free via our college's affiliation with the Life Scope Plan? In addition to offering legal guidance, and tips on managing your out-of-work life (from caregiving to finances), did you know that Life Scope offers many pointers on productivity, career development, and training....all for free, just because you're a NSCC employee. Check out the Life Scope homepage at https://www.advantageengagement.com/1108/login_company_lifescope.php.  Login using the information provided in the iDevelop email.

Resources

•  Learning Students' Names
  http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/teaching/names  

iDevelop is being brought to you by Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (9/1/2014)

Welcome to the inaugural issue of iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC.  The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice.

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Do I Address Teasing and Bullying Behavior in the Classroom? 

The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the fall semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets.  The topic for the week of September 1st is How Do I Address Teasing and Bullying Behavior in the Classroom?

For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop or the Bulletin notice.

More information about this session (including description, topics, learning goals, and intended audience) is available at http://www.magnapubs.com/catalog/how-do-i-include-introverts-in-class-discussions/

The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week.

Upcoming Instructional Technology Workshops 

This week, Instructional Technology and Design is offering several workshops on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. Please reserve your slot at any of these sessions by emailing itd@northshore.edu.
 
New to ANGEL The New to ANGEL workshop is designed to familiarize faculty with ANGEL and introduce basic course building functionality. In this workshop, participants will learn to: navigate around the course site, add different types of content, organize content in folders, and enable the course for student access. While the college migrates to Blackboard, ANGEL will be available for faculty to use during the 2014-2015 academic year.

• Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Lynn LW 305

Smart Classrooms Come and find out all of the little ins and outs of using a Smart Classroom here at North Shore Community College. We will also share with you best practices when using one of these rooms. You will have the opportunity to try out the technology for yourself.

• Tuesday, September 2nd from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Lynn LM 104 (Smart Cart)
• Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Lynn LW 323
• Thursday, September 4th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Danvers HPSS 226

Share your Teaching Strategies

With classes starting this week, we wanted to invite you to share your teaching strategies with each other around getting students started in your courses successfully and building a course community.  What are some strategies that you employ to ensure that students start your course on the right track?  How do you use ice breakers to develop a course community so you and your students can get to know each other?

Send an email with your teaching strategies to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop.

Other Professional Development Opportunities 

Do you have an MTA card? If so, check out the free workshop events at the Museum of Fine Arts, designed to give you ideas for infusing new life into your curriculum. They're not just for K-12 teachers!  http://www.mfa.org/programs/school-programs/teacher-professional-development
 
Resources

• First Day of Class Activities that Create a Climate for Learning
  http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/first-day-of-class-activities-that-create-a-climate-for-learning/ 
• A Classroom Icebreaker with a Lesson that Lasts
  http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/a-classroom-icebreaker-with-a-lesson-that-lasts/
• Don’t Waste the First Day of Class
  http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/dont-waste-the-first-day-of-class/

iDevelop is brought to you by Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Preparing your ANGEL Courses for the Fall Semester

As you start to think about your fall courses, we wanted to share with you the following important information that will help you prepare your course site in ANGEL.

Please review the “Preparing your ANGEL Course for a New Semester” checklist for directions on getting your course site set up for a new semester.

If you have any questions, please contact us at angel@northshore.edu.

August and September Instructional Technology Workshops

In August and September, Instructional Technology and Design will be offering several workshops for faculty on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. Please reserve your slot at any of these sessions by emailing itd@northshore.edu.
  

Video Anywhere

Video Anywhere is a tool in ANGEL (also in Blackboard) that allows faculty to easily record a video from a webcam and embed that video directly into any of the text box editors throughout ANGEL (for example, Announcements, Pages, Discussion Forums, Drop Boxes, etc.).

• Thursday, August 21st from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in Danvers DB 202

Google Documents for Collaboration and Communication

Looking for a way to promote student collaboration on a project? Need a simple way for students to share documents or give presentations? Want to collect information from your students quickly? Then Google Documents is for you. This workshop will present the benefits of using NSCC’s Google Documents application in the classroom to easily create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

• Thursday, August 21st from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Danvers DB 202

New to ANGEL

The New to ANGEL workshop is designed to familiarize faculty with ANGEL and introduce basic course building functionality. In this workshop, participants will learn to: navigate around the course site, add different types of content, organize content in folders, and enable the course for student access. While the college migrates to Blackboard, ANGEL will be available for faculty to use during the 2014-2015 academic year.

• Thursday, August 21st from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Danvers DB 202
• Wednesday, August 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Danvers DB 202
• Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Lynn LW 305

Blackboard Learn Sneak Peek

Over the 2014-2015 academic year, the college will be migrating to a new learning management system, Blackboard Learn. This session will provide participants with an opportunity to get a sneak peek at some of the features and functionality of Blackboard Learn as well as learn more about the implementation timeframe and the course migration process from ANGEL.

• Wednesday, August 27th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Danvers DB202

Open Educational Resources

This session will provide an overview of what open educational resources are, how faculty can find and evaluate them, ideas for using them in classes, and their role in the community college to help make textbooks more affordable to students.

• Wednesday, August 27th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Danvers DB 202

Smart Classrooms

Come and find out all of the little ins and outs of using a Smart Classroom here at North Shore Community College. We will also share with you best practices when using one of these rooms. You will have the opportunity to try out the technology for yourself.

• Friday, August 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Danvers HPSS 226
• Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Lynn LW 323
• Monday, September 8th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in Danvers HPSS 226
• Friday, September 9th from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Lynn LW 323

We hope to see you at the workshops!  If you are unable to attend or are interested in learning more about other instructional technologies, please email us at itd@northshore.edu. We are happy to schedule a one-on-one session.

Let’s Be Open: Answering the Big 5 Questions About Open Content for Your Classroom

The average community college student spends over $1200 annually on classroom textbooks. That means that students who complete their learning in two years will have spent close to a single-semester’s worth of their money on textbooks.  Nearly two-thirds of students at some point have not bought a textbook because of the cost (and that too has taken a toll on most of their performances within those courses). Though many of us are not aware of the specific numbers, we implicitly know and witness the result of expensive textbooks in our classes. 

For many instructors, textbooks (and their often steep prices) are a necessary evil.  Some will find ways of lessening the burden put on students by having copies available in the library for in-library use or allowing students to purchase earlier (and therefore, cheaper) editions.  But in a given course section, we’re still likely generating hundreds if not thousands of dollars profit for publishers at our students’ expense. 

But does it have to be this way?  What if the course resources and materials can be made entirely free or significantly cheap enough so that no student is making a choice between books and life expenses?  This possibility is not the future.  It is now and it’s time we take advantage of it. 

Image of OER logo
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OER_Logo.svg

What are Open Educational Resources?

Open Education Resources (OER) are media-rich online repositories with content that faculty can use for free for their courses.  This includes but is not limited to:  textbooks, short-reads, videos, sound recordings, assignment guidelines, course notes, and even entire course packages.  The purpose of these repositories is to make materials available for all students and faculty on all subjects so that we spend less time on “reinventing the wheel” of course content and more time on engaging with our students around the course content.  Many of them are in the public domain or have what is called a Creative Commons license. Here are few examples.

• Open Education Resources Commons
• Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
• Archive.org - Open Educational Resources

 

What about access?

An immediate question of access arises with OER as they are internet based, and not all students have access to a computer (though in a 2012 NSCC technology study did show that 86% of students have laptops--to say nothing of any other devices). But let’s look at the logistics of this concern.

If a student does not have the $120 for the textbook, there is a good chance that he/she gets zero access.  In that scenario, if the argument is that one can put the book on reserve at the library for the student to use--the same argument holds true for access for OER.  Since our libraries have public-use computers, OER in this comparison is more accessible, because the student can access the online material from both campus libraries or any library that allows computer access (which is many, if not all, on the North Shore).

But if it is important to have the physical copy, many places offering free textbooks online, such as OpenStax, provide the student an opportunity to purchase a cheap print-copy of the book for $30.  For many textbooks in the math and sciences that can mean over $100 savings.

Finally, there is no delay in access with OER.  Students can access all of the content as soon as the course starts.  Instructors no longer need worry about issues of financial aid delays, late shipping by the publishers, or other issues that regularly interfere with the course lift-off. 

What about stability?

The belief that the internet is more unstable than the textbook industry might need some reconsidering.  Firstly, it should be acknowledged that textbook publishing has its own instabilities including the ability to cease publishing the book being used or to publish newer editions that may be inferior, pricier, or change things up enough to have to revise the course layout.

Secondly, even if the textbook arrives in the bookstore, many students may still have to leap through hoops to get their financial aid to cover the books (or even not have enough to cover it).  The instability of those first few weeks leaves many faculty skipping or delaying the use of course content.

Thirdly, OER content is often capable of being downloaded, edited, and inserted directly into a course shell.  This means that their stability is much more assured than the textbook.  If this is a significant concern, then one should make sure to make flexibility to download a criteria for selecting OER materials.  Though in truth, this isn’t really much of a concern any more since content available in one OER repository is often duplicated into another--that is, there are back-ups of back-ups across the Internet.

Finally, again, the content is present and ready to go from the start of the semester.  Many of us have been caught in the situation where we don’t find out until too late that the textbook we want wasn’t ordered or not enough were ordered and are left scrambling to cobble together the rest of the semester.  OER materials are available at the start and throughout the semester.

Image CC:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6554315179/

What about quality?

Some perceive OER as lower quality because they are free.  Of course, psychological studies have shown that price influences perception.  That $200 biology textbook must be awesome whereas that free biology textbook must be a poor comparison.  Saying that there are a lot of poor selections in the OER somehow implies that this isn’t the case with textbooks, but of course, we know that’s not true.  We can look to James Loewen’s famous book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong and other similar research as a reminder of that.

Will there be poor OER material out there?  Absolutely.  However, there will also be really great content.  By using and promoting OER material, instructors will play an important role in helping colleagues sift out the good from the bad--just like they do already with textbooks.

However, OER also has the potential to deliver better content in three capacities.

• Updating content:  Updating content in OER materials is much easier than in a textbook and the beauty is that updated content will not require another new (and costly) edition.
• Customizing content:  Add, edit, or delete the OER resource so that it fits exactly how you want to use the material.
• Shifting content:  Why stick with just one OER object?  Instructors can weave together the perfect course materials from numerous sources, rather than a one-size fits all source.

 

What about time?

Converting to using OER materials will take time.  There’s no question about it.  But it is time well spent, not only for your students, but for the college and academia in general.  Also, it doesn’t mean, however, that one must reinvent all of one’s courses in a single semester, but develop a strategy for how to do so in the long run.  Start with replacing one item in one course and slowly grow from there.  Faculty can also work with Instructional Technology and Design as well as the library who support such projects and will be releasing a LibGuide shortly on OER for faculty.  It will take time, but so do these things:

Finding new texts for a course (because the book went out of print).

• Dealing with new editions of the same textbook you’re using and updating course references to the textbook.
• Delays in teaching and learning because students don’t have access to the textbook.  
• Answering questions about whether different versions of the textbook are acceptable.

Moreover, these things happen time and again, year after year.

Making students pay for any content beyond the course itself is the college’s means of externalizing costs at the expense of our students, and we do so for the profit of book publishers.   The final analysis is that using open educational resources not only empowers you as the instructor, it provides better access and fewer challenges to our students.  OER also fulfills the community college’s vision for civic responsibility by using, sharing, and even developing open educational resources for the public’s benefit.

This article was originally published in The EdTech Edge.  Please check it out to see other great articles about instructional technology at North Shore Community College.