Description: Join us for a discussion about how to design or adapt open educational resources so they are more accessible for all learners. We’ll share tools and best practices from a training that we participated in this summer by ISKME & CAST. We’ll provide time at the end to work on and develop an accessible item.

Finding OER for Your Course Workshop (Oct. 25th, 12-1 pm)

Description: Finding the right OER for your courses can be daunting, and this workshop will review the best places to begin your search for OER textbooks, assignments, lectures and other materials. We will also cover how to evaluate OER to make sure it’s a good fit for your students. Participants will be encouraged to practice searching and evaluating during the workshop to make the best use of their time. 

Register at:  

Hi! I am Angela Hooser, and I am a faculty member in the Department of Elementary and Special Education in the College of Education at MTSU. I graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) with my PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on teacher education and social foundations. I am passionate about supporting educators as they learn from school contexts. In addition to teaching qualitative and action research with graduate level educators, I teach an Introduction to Education course for potential Early Childhood, Elementary, Special Education and Middle Level teachers.

2. Tell us about your choice to use OER in your discipline and/or courses.

I have been working over the last few years to redesign an Introduction to Education course. This course is part social foundations and examines schools as historical and sociopolitical institutions, and part teaching foundations and explores effective teaching and management practices. I came to use OER a bit accidentally. I located resources through google searches and had begun to replace expensive texts with pieces of different OERs. I then connected with support at MTSU and realized that I could create my own OER that aligned with course objectives. The use of OER resources has allowed for diverse perspectives and intersectional identities to be embedded seamlessly within the course. I believe that OER can, and should, be wielded as a tool to allow future educators to envision themselves as teaching professionals while also inviting critical reflection on political, economic, and racial tensions in schools historically and currently. This permits our future teachers to see how they can impact students and the larger society from their position as informed advocated for education.

3. Tell us about your students’ experiences with OER.

Students benefit from free access to course materials available to them from the first day of class to the day they graduate and beyond. The and resources in the Introduction to Education Course include the ability to download as a PDF, E-Reader, or print copy. I modeled how to access the different versions of the text, navigate the online resources, and connect with embedded materials. Intentionally supporting student use of OER is needed as it is different than a traditional textbook. I share with my students what OER means to me, and my goals for developing accessible resources that reflect the diversity in the class. My students also know that the OER text including videos and podcasts as well as the interactive resources (e.g., flashcards, crossword puzzles, open responses) are adaptable. I check-in and ask for feedback on what resonates with them and what fails to connect. And I make changes as needed. This empowers students to have a voice in the curriculum of the course. Overall, the use of OER has allowed me to develop a strong classroom community and lead a course that is coherent from the texts they read, to the assignments they engage in both within and outside of class.

4. OER Recommendations

I am still learning about all things OER! MTSU has great resources to help. We are fortunate in this area, as despite the focus in �ֲ���ý��� on OER, other institutions do not always have the human support resources that are available for Blue Raider employees. Beyond MTSU, my first steps when exploring materials include , , and . I have also found the an interesting place to peruse as it includes entire Community College pathways dedicated to the use of OER. Finally, is a unique site that allows you to search textbooks but also podcasts and visual materials, simulations, learning objectives and more.

5. Future of OER at MTSU

I see the use and support of OER increasing at MTSU. I also believe that this increase will be mirrored by the state of �ֲ���ý���, which can only position MTSU as a leader in the use of OER.

If you have any questions about the OER program, please reach out to me at Ginelle.Baskin@mtsu.edu.

First, knowing your CCs. There are six (6) CC licenses and two additional Public Domain or CC0 that waives all rights by the creator to the content. Public Domain, items like the newly added original Winnie the Pooh original images, not the Disney ones the A.A. Milne ones, or Happy Birthday are in the public domain and can be used freely. The remaining six, found on the , allow for varying levels of sharing. Aim for content such as images, articles, graphics, etc. that are the least restricted if you can, or CC BY (stick figure). This simply means you give credit to the content developer(s), I mean no one wants to plagiarize right?! Try to avoid anything with no derivatives����(equal sign) as these cannot be altered in anyway, including translations or adaptions.��

Second, and this one is not as much about CCs as what they can do for you and your students. As more of the world has gone virtual in recent years, we must be more aware of the impacts of our images and resources and what these represent. Making the conscious decision on what we are sharing can impact our students through diversity, equity, and inclusion. Are the images in your course representing our diverse student population including race, gender, abilities, etc. Are the authors of your articles and text representative of students? What about videos or podcasts? Using CCs promotes awareness of our students. 

Great, Dr. Godwin, now what? The easiest way to find images and graphics is through the . Images and content are also freely available through Wikipedia, Pexels, Pixababy, Freepix, iStock, OER Resources & Repositories, and so many more. Search away and see what you can find to enhance your courses. Have questions or need assistance? Please feel free to contact us anytime. 

The OER Steering Committee is pleased to announce the funding of 15 grants across over 12 disciplines. We’re so thrilled to support faculty’s work toward adopting, adapting, and creating OER materials to increase access and equity at MTSU. Below, you’ll find a list of the grant teams and their foci. Over the next few months, we’ll post periodic blog updates and feature stories about their work! 

MTSU OER Grant Teams

Grant Focus: Adapting an OER textbook for HLTH 1530: Introduction to Health

• Team Lead: Bethany Wrye
• Team Members: Casie Higginbotham, Angela Todd, Claire Robinson, Kristina McClanahan

Grant Focus: Creating OER materials for ENGL 1020: Research & Argumentative Writing

• Team Lead: Kate Pantelides
• Team Members: Erica Stone, Lisa Williams, Elizabeth McGhee, Harlow Crandall

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials for HIST 2020: Survey of United States History II

• Team Lead: LaShonda Sims
• Team Members: Jennifer Pettit, Lisa Swart, Becky McIntyre, Jae Turner

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials for COMM 2200: Fundamentals of Communication

• Team Lead: Natalie Hoskins
• Team Members: Katie Gruber, Natonya Listach, L’Oreal Stephens

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials for MATH 1910 and MATH 1810

• Team Lead: Mary Martin
• Team Members: Dovie Kimmins, Tricia Rushton, Tammy Jones, Zach Thomas

��Grant Focus: Adopting/Adapting OER materials for FREN 1010, 1020, 2010, 2020

• Team Lead: Joan McRae
• Team Members: Ann McCullough, Roger Pieroni��

��Grant Focus: Adopting an OER text for PRST 4510: Using Teams for Organizational Development��

• Team Lead: Meredith Higgs
• Team Members: Mike Boyle, Kim Godwin

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials to support HLTH 3320, 4430, 4870

• Team Lead: Bethany Wrye
• Team Members: Chandra Story, Kahler Stone

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials to support NFS 1240: Principles of Nutrition

• Team Lead: Janet Colson
• Team Members: Sandra Poirier, Yvonne Dadson

��Grant Focus: Adopting an OER textbook for MATH 1530: Applied Statistics

• Team Lead: Matthew Duncan��
• Team Member: Scott McDaniel

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials to support CDFS 3390, 4340, 4710, 4740 and HSC 4101

• Team Lead: Rebecca Oldham
• Team Members: Claire Cook, Samantha Weir, Jamie Bruce

��Grant Focus: Creating an OER textbook for PRST 3995: Interdisciplinary Research

• Team Lead: Diana Rust
• Team Members: Renee Jones, Jonell Hinsey, Pamela McCluney, Layne Bryant��

��Grant Focus: Adopting OER materials for MUAP 2431, 2432, 4431, 4432, 4433 and MUED 3310

• Team Lead: David Cyzack

��Grant Focus: Creating OER materials for PHYS 1110: Discovering Physics

• Team Lead: Jana Ruth Ford

��Grant Focus: Adopting OER materials for TXMD 2180: Textiles I

• Team Lead: Rick Cottle��

As the OER Grant Steering Committee continues to raise awareness about Open Educational Resources (OER) at MTSU, we’re excited to share a second brief interview with an OER Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) member, Dr. Richard Tarpey, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at the Jones College of Business.

Dr. Richard Tarpey, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at the Jones College of Business

Introduce yourself to our blog readers

My name is Dr. Richard Tarpey.  I teach in the Department of Management at the Jones College of Business and teach supply chain management and health care management courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. My research focuses on analyzing complex adaptive systems in healthcare and supply chain environments concerning labor management and continuous improvement. I work a great deal with the analysis of patient experience in hospital and clinical settings.

Tell us about your choice to use OER in your discipline and/or courses

 I utilize OER resources to accomplish two specific goals. The first goal is to provide time-relevant content to students. Health care classes need to use recent material since the industry and environment evolve quickly. The standard publisher-based textbook approach is not robust enough to provide content that is up to date. The publishing cycle takes too long to incorporate continual regulatory and technological improvements. Supply chain content is also an excellent example of quickly evolving needs. There are no textbooks available yet dealing with COVID-19 impacts and responses. I use OER to capitalize on the critical learning opportunities provided in the last 12-18 months of supply chain reactions to the pandemic environment.

The second goal is to provide content to students while avoiding the costs of traditional textbooks. I find it challenging to cover all of the material in these textbooks and have not found that all of the material is relevant. I didn’t particularly appreciate having students purchase expensive books only to use 50% of the material

My first experience with OER was using an eBook textbook in my MGMT 6250 Health Care Resource Management class. Using the eBook provided the flexibility to include only the chapters relevant to the content I was teaching and offer the course materials at no cost to my students.

Tell us about your students’ experiences with OER

my students generally react positively to the use of OER in classes. The most common feedback I receive is that students like using select chapters in different OER eBooks to best support the concepts currently in discussion. The students have indicated that each chapter used maps well to the relevant activities. I also receive positive feedback on the discussion case studies I use in classes. I typically can find case studies in the Sage Case Study library, which may not necessarily be OER since I assume MTSU pays a subscription fee, but there is no cost to the student. One example of OER materials supporting student learning in my classes is using an eBook “Business Process Modeling, Simulation, and Design.” Students need to model a business process in the MBAM 6875 class and find the two chapters we use to guide their Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) efforts. The class only scratches the surface of BPMN so that an entire textbook would be overkill. 

OER Repository Recommendations

I have used the OER Commons (https://www.oercommons.org/), DeGruyter Open Access Library (). Both of these repositories are extensive and cover the business topics that I need for my classes. Each repository includes the more specific topics needed for my supply chain management and healthcare management classes.

Future of OER at MTSU

I expect that the use of OER will continue to increase at MTSU. I believe it is an excellent strategy in the Jones College of Business, where many of our electives are specialized and need to cover time-relevant and current topics. The business environment evolves too quickly to wait several years for new textbooks to be published (examples provided above). I see the grant providing the necessary resources to help move more of our faculty down the OER path by providing knowledge and support. I think many faculty members would consider OER resources if the proper support mechanisms were in place.

As the OER Grant Steering Committee continues to raise awareness about Open Educational Resources (OER) at MTSU, we’re excited to share a second brief interview of OER Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) member, Dr. Sam Zaza, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems and Analytics.

Dr. Sam Zaza, Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems and Analytics

Introduce yourself to our blog readers

What department do you teach in? Which classes do you most commonly teach? What does your research focus on?

I’m an Assistant Professor in Information Systems and Analytics and most frequently teach Business Data Communications (undergraduate), Applied Business Analytics (Graduate), and  IT applications for Decision Making (Graduate). My research focuses on Perceptions of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity, IT workforce (turnover and turnaway), and STEM Education and Careers.

Tell us about your choice to use OER in your discipline and/or courses

What motivates you to use OER? What was your first experience with OER? Was there a moment when you decided OER was right for your classes?

Being named to the Faculty Advisory Board for MTSU’s OER grant was really important to me because using OER aligns with my beliefs and research about equity. When I began teaching two classes that had been developed by other faculty members, I wondered how I might improve the courses by selecting a different textbook. Using OER, which requires no purchase of materials, helps me to make a statement about my belief in equity.  

Tell us about your students’ experiences with OER

How do your students typically react to your use of OER? Can you tell us a story about how OER has supported student learning in one of your courses?

Some of my graduate students have lost their jobs as a result of covid downsizing and other pandemic adjustments. When I tell them about OER, they get excited. They’ll be able to be at their best because they will be able to access free learning materials. They also reimagine themselves as creators of knowledge since they understand that we’re developing the course in-house together. They can contribute to the refinement of the course and be relieved of the expense burden. Had I known about OER earlier, I’d have been able to help one particular student who was not doing well in my class. He shared with me that he could not afford the cost of the book with the HomeWorks link. Using an OER would have helped that student and others who weren’t comfortable enough telling me about their financial situations.  

OER Repository Recommendations

What OER repositories and/or research do you recommend for faculty? Please list 1-2 repositories and/or 3-5 research articles/books and a rationale for why you’re recommending them.

I use LinkedIn Learning for my business data communication class. I especially like how it lets me incorporate videos. This way, students can hear the same information and compare how it is presented from different perspectives. These videos also prepare my undergraduate students to apply what they learned.

I did not develop the graduate classes, but now I understand that they were already using OER.  One of them uses publicly available datasets, and both use videos and faculty-developed assignments that don’t require students to purchase a book. 

Future of OER at MTSU

What is your hope or vision for OER at MTSU? Where do you see this OER grant taking us as a student-centered, comprehensive university? 

I believe some students are worried about the cost of the books needed in certain majors, and this cost is a factor in their decision to apply to their major. I see OER is a tool to address these students’ concerns. As a result of OER, I think we will see increased enrollment in some majors. OER has the potential to promote MTSU as an inclusive, equitable university. That institutional profile will attract more students locally and internationally. Most importantly, our students will feel that their socioeconomic background does not have to dictate what majors are available to them. Thanks in part to OER, students will be more satisfied, which may promote their achievements at MTSU.

In an effort to increase awareness of Open Educational Resources (OER) at MTSU, the OER Grant Steering Committee decided to conduct brief interviews of each OER Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) member about their experiences with OER. Members of the FAC will help the Steering Committee evaluate grants after they are submitted on Friday, April 23, 2021. This interview features Dr. Bethany Wrye, Associate Professor of Public Health.

Dr. Bethany Wrye, Associate Professor of Public Health��

Introduce yourself to our blog readers

What department do you teach in? Which classes do you most commonly teach? What does your research focus on?

I’m an Associate Professor in the Public Health program, which is housed in the Department of Health and Human Performance. At the undergraduate level, I’ve most recently taught the Honors section of Health and Wellness, Assessment in Community and Public Health, Teaching Sexuality, and Methods of Communication and Marketing in Community and Public Health. At the graduate level, I teach Health Promotion and Theory of Health Behavior. I have a two-pronged research agenda, with one prong focused on moral disengagement and health behaviors, and the other looking at ePortfolio as effective pedagogy.

Tell us about your choice to use OER in your discipline and/or courses

What motivates you to use OER? What was your first experience with OER? Was there a moment when you decided OER was right for your classes?

I currently use OER in lots, but not all, of my classes. The first time I remember implementing OER was several years ago. It was my first semester to teach Methods of Communication and Marketing in Community and Public Health, so my initial plan was to go with the textbook used by the previous instructor. However, 30 minutes into the first class, it became very apparent that the students were just not engaging with the material. I quickly decided to switch gears and use current materials from organizations like the CDC and the National Cancer Institute, as well as current health campaigns instead of the textbook. While the textbook did a good job of giving definitions and organizing material, the students needed current, real world examples in order to grasp the concepts. Since the same definitions were available for free and I was capable of organizing the information via D2L, it didn’t seem fair to force students to also purchase a textbook that I knew they probably weren’t going to read anyway. I didn’t start using the term “OER” for what I was doing until very recently.

Tell us about your students’ experiences with OER

How do your students typically react to your use of OER? Can you tell us a story about how OER has supported student learning in one of your courses?

The only students who have been a little skeptical about not using a traditional textbook have been students who prefer a more formal structure in their classes. As long as that structure is provided in the D2L shell, they seem to be fine. I’ve never once had a student complain about not needing to purchase a textbook.

OER Repository Recommendations

What OER repositories and/or research do you recommend for faculty? Please list 1-2 repositories and/or 3-5 research articles/books and a rationale for why you’re recommending them.

Honestly, I would recommend that they contact Suzanne Mangrum in the library. MTSU’s library already has a wealth of resources pulled together – they are really making it easy for faculty to find what they need. Apart from that, obvious resources to incorporate would be current materials specific to your field or discipline. For me, that tends to be CDC, WHO, health departments (local, regional, national, and international), resources I find at professional conferences, and prominent schools of public health.

Future of OER at MTSU

What is your hope or vision for OER at MTSU? Where do you see this OER grant taking us as a student-centered, comprehensive university?

I hope it frees faculty to create curricula centered on learning objectives rather than trying to make a textbook work.

I hope it eases student stress levels and the financial burden associated with college.

I hope it encourages faculty to be creative in designing their courses and to use their expertise to make learning experiences/opportunities about which they are passionate (as that translates into courses that are more interesting and engaging for students).