Advancing OER in Texas: Discover, Contribute, Collaborate
Brief Abstract
The Division of Digital Learning at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is advancing the OER ecosystem in Texas and beyond. Through research, advocacy, partnerships, and trainings this work eliminates geographical, financial, and procedural barriers and fosters the adoption of quality OER practices and materials.
Presenters
Extended Abstract
The widespread adoption of OER practices and an influx of state and federal funding during the pandemic made it possible to conduct targeted research projects and grow existing OER programs at the state level. A continued commitment to facilitate the use and adoption of quality open resources and practices involves promoting, sustaining, and advancing the use of OER and open practices through statewide leadership and advocacy. To inform program development and implement high-impact use and adoption of OER various methods and opportunities were utilized for research and discovery including an OER landscape survey, a regional analysis, and an OER content gap analysis. These research initiatives have resulted in the growth of professional development opportunities, capacity building grants, expanding communities of practice, robust OER creation in high demand fields like Nursing, and the strengthening of an existing OER repository. These current OER efforts are building a sustainable foundation for scaling and extending OER initiatives at the state level to save students money, increase access to higher education, and support educators.
This session will provide a detailed overview of research at the state level used to advance open education policies and practices. The presentation will also examine the successes that have been obtained by building and scaling OER initiatives in partnership with public and independent institutions and OER leaders across the state and nation. Several initiatives including the expansion of an OER repository, the development of professional learning academies, creation of an OER Playbook for institutions, and ongoing research projects will be discussed.
Levels of Participation:
This session is designed to provide attendees with the opportunity to engage with the presenters through a question-and-answer session. This discussion will primarily focus on successful initiatives, lessons learned, valuable partnerships, and future project plans. In addition, engagement strategies and outreach programs will be shared and discussed.
Session Goals:
Attendees will learn about using successful research strategies on OER and open practices to:
- discover and inform program needs and faculty support
- contribute to the creation and management of OER content
- collaborate on building successful partnerships in OER
Participants will be encouraged to consider how initiatives could be adapted for their own OER advocacy.