Open Educational Resources Webinar Series – The who, what, when, where, why and how of OER

Join us for our new webinar series where experts will demystify the world of open educational resources (OER). These informative online sessions will explain the different facets of OER including WHAT OER is, WHY it’s important, HOW to find the resources and WHERE you can start!

The series is sponsored by College Open Textbooks, Connexions, IMS Global, MERLOT and SoftChalk. Follow the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #OERseries.

OER Session 1—Defining OER: The WHAT and the WHY

What is an Open Educational Resource? Why is the OER movement growing in popularity so quickly? Why would you want to use or create OER materials? How do you license OER materials?

In the first of this OER webinar series, Cathy Casserly, CEO of Creative Commons, will answer these questions and more in an interview by Mitchell Levy, CEO of Happy About. Cathy is formerly the Director of OER Initiatives at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Senior Partner and Vice President for Innovation at the Carnegie Foundation. Several OER collections will be reviewed including College Open Textbooks, Connexions, MERLOT and SoftChalk CONNECT.

OER Session 2—Finding and Using OER: The WHERE and the WHEN

Where can you find quality OERs? Where are they distributed, and where and when should you use them? Are they easy to find? What kind of standards (quality, accessibility, licensing) are relevant and why are they important?

Cathy Swift from MERLOT will provide an overview of these and other questions to consider as you discover, use, repurpose and share OERs. Rob Abel from IMS Global will address the licensing and standards questions. The session will include demonstrations of how different OER collections (OER Commons, College Open Textbooks, ConneXions, MERLOT and SoftChalk CONNECT) can be used to find appropriate, quality content. You’ll also see OERs in action as Malissa Attebery, Online Instructional Designer at Lone Star College-Online in Texas, demonstrates how she transformed a comprehensive WWII history eText by Henry (Jud) Sage, Professor at Northern Virginia Community College, into an engaging, interactive learning experience.

OER Session 3—Creating OER: The WHO and the HOW

Who is developing OERs? Who should be? How are they doing it? How can standards allow OER content interoperability? How can standards assure quality? How can you get started? How can you find the tools for creating OER content?

These questions, and more, will be answered by Rob Abel from IMS Global and others. In addition we will discuss different models for developing OER materials and demonstrate various authoring tools for creating OER content.  Models for OER development will include work by the math department at the College of the Redwoods. You will also see how Jacqui Cain from Tacoma Community College, as part of a Bill and Melinda Gates foundation grant, re-purposed Sherlock Holmes stories to create a full online course in Remedial English.

OER Session 4—Funding OER: Sustainability

How do OER projects and programs get started? How are they maintained? Where are funding resources? Can OER projects work without external funding?

These questions and more will be answered by our panel consisting of Cable Green (Director of Global Learning, Creative Commons), Paul Stacey (Director Communication, Stakeholder & Academic Relations; BC campus), and James Glapa-Grossklag (Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources, and Distance Learning College of the Canyons). Each will take their unique stance on issues of sustainability and open standards, various funding approaches, and success stories involving everything from individual efforts to consortia based programs.