Celebrate Open Education Week With University Libraries

via openeducationweek.org

This year, Open Education Week is set for March 2-6. The Libraries and our partners across campus are celebrating with several events for graduate students and faculty on March 3 and 5 in Mullins Library Room 104.

The Graduate-Professional Student Congress Academic and Teaching Committee and the Global Campus are co-sponsoring an event Tuesday, March 3, from 1-2:30 p.m. in Mullins Library Room 104. Refreshments will be served, and registration is required. All graduate students are invited to come learn about Open Educational Resources (OER) and meet members of the University of Arkansas' OER Team. Marie Totten, a graduate assistant in the department of History, will share her experiences as an instructor who has taught using an OER. Shameer Abdeen, a Physics teaching assistant, will share from a TA perspective. Undergraduate students will speak on the benefits of OER, and a Q&A session will follow. There will be an OER Petting Zoo, where attendees can explore print copies of open textbooks. 

"The Graduate and Professional Student Congress is committed to helping equip graduate instructors with as many educational and pedagogical tools as possible," said Anthony Holdier, chair of the Academic and Teaching Committee. "The OER team in Mullins offers a wealth of helpful resources for promoting accessible and affordable course materials. We look forward to future collaborations that can further support the needs of Razorback graduate and professional students!"

The Global Campus and the Teaching Innovation & Pedagogical Support Center (TIPS) will co-sponsor the second annual Faculty OER Mingle Thursday, March 5. TIPS is a partnership between the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center, IT Services and the Global Campus. Morning and afternoon sessions are available, and attendance may be counted toward the Teaching and Faculty Support Center's (TFSC) New or Not-So-New Faculty Commendation. 

Session I is set for 9:30-11 a.m. in Mullins Library Room 104. Mary Thompson Price of the Global Campus will present on Adapting an OER - Medical Terminology, and Whitney Payne of the School of Social Work will present on Adapting an OER and Implementing it in the Classroom - Social Work. 

Session II is set for 2:30-4 p.m. in Mullins Library Room 104. Jim Gigantino of History will present on Adopting an OER and Implementing it in the Classroom - History, and Mary Thompson Price will again present on Adapting an OER - Medical Terminology. 

A student panel discussion will be held during each session on why faculty should consider adopting OER, and the events will conclude with an OER Petting Zoo and Mingle. Refreshments will be served, and registration is recommended but only required of those seeking TFSC commendation points. 

"These events provide excellent opportunities for graduate students and faculty to hear first-hand the experiences of their campus colleagues who have taught using open educational resources (OER)," said Elaine Thornton, open education and distance learning librarian. "We encourage everyone interested in learning more about how these resources have been used at the U of A to join us."

To learn more about these events or the Course Materials Conversion Program, email oer@uark.edu. The OER Course Materials Conversion Program began providing funding to faculty in 2017. Since then, over 2,500 students have benefited from the reduced cost of course materials.