New Open Educational Resources Video Series, Live Q and A

The University Libraries and Global Campus are launching a new video series, OER in the Disciplines. The series is designed to provide faculty with information about the Open Educational Resources available in a variety of disciplines and the U of A programs that support them. The goal is to increase the quality and agility of course materials while simultaneously decreasing student textbook costs.

"The OER Team understands that during the ongoing pandemic, managing competing professional and personal responsibilities can be difficult," said Stephanie Pierce, head of the Physics Library. "We wanted to offer OER education to faculty in a way that would allow them to engage within their own schedules. This new series provides faculty with an on-demand opportunity to learn about OER and be introduced to a variety of OER examples which were selected through collaboration with the OER Team and subject liaison librarians."

The first general discipline area featured is the sciences. In Part One, viewers receive a brief overview of OER and Creative Commons licenses. Part Two highlights different OER available across the various science fields along with a faculty testimonial from Julia Kennefick, an associate professor in the U of A's Physics Department. 

After watching the short videos, faculty are encouraged to join the OER Team for a Live Q & A session Thursday, Oct. 22, from noon to 1 p.m. where team members will be available to further discuss OER that may be available and answer any questions faculty may have.  

The Libraries and Global Campus teamed up in 2017 to create a program that would support the adoption, creation and re-mixing of OER at the U of A. The Course Materials Conversion program has been offered to faculty every fall and spring semester since, providing up to $7,500 in compensation for successful applicants. OER can also allow faculty to control the materials they want to assign their students and help them think creatively about pedagogy. Learn more about how OER contribute to student success in this video and visit our resources on OER and how to find them. View OER created by U of A faculty on our Pressbooks platform and in the ScholarWorks@UARK institutional repository. 

Email oer@uark.edu with questions or for more information.