Oregon State researcher and instructor Holly Campbell says the process of authoring an open textbook on marine law “was very straightforward and seamless,” and she advises her faculty colleagues to not hesitate in implementing open educational resources in their classes.
“The ability to edit the open source text allows my colleague and I to provide updated information instantaneously. With rapidly changing environmental policy issues in the West, this is needed to stay up-to-date.” – OSU School of Public Policy assistant professor Erika Wolters
Now that he uses an open textbook in his business course, John Morris says students can see a stronger link between what they read in the textbook and what they do in their assignments.
Rorie Solberg, an associate professor in OSU’s School of Public Policy, worked with colleagues Jennifer Segal Diascro and Eric Waltenburg to develop a freely available resource that introduces students to the political science research process. Solberg recently discussed the development process, how students are using it and more.
In the first part of our OER at Work story series, business instructor John Morris shares his insights about the decision to incorporate open educational resources in his course, the development process and more. He was inspired, in part, by the shock he received when he began paying for his child’s college textbooks.
Sarah Nemanic, an associate professor of diagnostic imaging in the College of Veterinary Medicine, recently led the creation of a self-study computer module for students, veterinarians and faculty to learn, review and be tested on normal veterinary radiographic anatomy. Not only is it a must-have resource for all VetMed students, but it’s also a free one. Nemanic worked with Open Oregon State to develop an open-source module that is freely accessible to learners all over the world.
Linda Bruslind estimated that less than half of the students in her General Microbiology course were buying and using the required publisher’s textbook. To put it another way, the majority of her MB 302 students did not have access to vital learning resource in large part because it was cost prohibitive. (A new copy of the latest publisher’s edition runs nearly $250.) She decided to fix the problem.
K.C. Walsh, a senior instructor of physics at Oregon State University, long ago realized how burdensome the financial situation is for students. In sports terms, the textbook publishing companies are winning, and it’s a blowout. Financially, the students continually come up short. That’s why Walsh decided to change the game by embracing the open educational resource (OER) movement and giving his students access to no-cost and low-cost course materials.
When Oregon State Extended Campus developed a unit focused on online educational resources (OER) in 2013, it turned to Dianna Fisher. Dianna already had more than a decade of experience working with university faculty, mostly as the director of online course development and training for OSU Ecampus. She was appointed director of Open Oregon State in early 2014 and has played a vital role in making college more affordable for students and giving educators broader access to the tools they need.
Oregon State University is increasing its efforts to make college more affordable, particularly through the use of free, open access textbooks and other essential course materials. The latest example came when the university was awarded a $30,000 grant by the State of Oregon to adapt a biology textbook that will be freely accessible to OSU students and learners worldwide. It is one of 16 open textbooks in use or in production at Oregon State. Read more about the grant and the work being done by Open Oregon State.
