Category: Open Education

Camosun Open Sustainability Project: Project Story #2

The second Open Sustainability Project story I have for you is Michelle Clement’s.  Michelle teaches in Marketing, in the School of Business at Camosun, and has been using Open Education Resources (OER) for a number of years already.  So it was a natural lead into this project – deciding to revise an existing open textbook for one of her courses.

Initially, Michelle had a different textbook in mind, but when she took a closer look she realized that someone else had just updated it the year before.  So, she decided instead that she would revise an open text called The Power of Selling.  There were many reasons for her choice:  first, it was over 600 pages long, and she really felt it needed to be streamlined; second, it was out of date – about 10 years old, and you can imagine how many things have changed in marketing over 10 years; and third, “two other people teach this course that this book is targeted for…I was just trying to think of the value for open education.”

Michelle went through the existing textbook chapter by chapter, checking content and references, making sure everything was current and correct.  “I read through, I [checked for validity] of the subject matter, and [realized I] needed to add information on privacy and social media: everything that ten years ago [didn’t’ really exist].”  She also reorganized the chapters, making sure the format was more what students were used to, writing two new chapters, adding learning outcomes where they were missing, changing all the language to be gender neutral, adding study questions, and taking out instructor suggestions which she didn’t feel were relevant for students (instructor resources are one of the things she is hoping to add back in in the future.)  When she was finished, 600 pages had become just over 200!

Michelle encountered some challenges along the way.  Finding images and visuals that are Creative Commons licenced, and specific to your content, can sometimes be difficult.  And creating your own visuals can be time consuming.  As a result, she didn’t add as many images this time around, but has plans to find/create more in the future. “If I can just create even one more [visual] per chapter, then it will make it a little more engaging than just the written word.”  Another challenge she sees beyond the revision process, is encouraging other faculty to adopt an open textbook.  This is where the instructor resources, which she is planning to add this spring, come into play – having PowerPoints, quiz questions, etc. along with the textbook is hugely helpful especially for Term faculty, or new faculty who have not taught a course before.

Michelle piloted the revised textbook last fall, adding it as a PDF file into her D2L course site.  Eventually she will move it into Pressbooks to share it back, but she wanted to see how it worked for her students, and was able to get some feedback from them during the term.  She reflects now, as a takeaway from all the work she did, that “when you write the textbook, you know it really well” which she sees also as a positive from a student’s perspective.

If Michelle could give someone advice about revising an open textbook, she says to “prepare for it to be bigger than you think!”  Of course, while it’s important to allocate the right amount of time for a project like this, be prepared for it to take more time.  She also advises to “have a really good sense of what you’re trying to do first.”  Have a plan, make sure you are consistent with your design, and keep it simple.  She says it also helps if you enjoy research – “you do need to enjoy having that meander through the library.”  Finally, Michelle also advises to enlist someone to proof your revisions, to “just have another set of eyes on it.”

Michelle says she has been, and still is, “full on open.”  She uses OER, library resources, or her own materials for most of her courses, reminding us that “you can actually teach around a topic and don’t necessarily have to teach around a textbook.”  She will be continuing her work on The Power of Selling this spring (adding images and working on an instructor resource guide), but also is considering revising another open textbook, one for Marketing 110, in the future.

Camosun Open Sustainability Project: Project Story #1

My first interview for the Open Sustainability Project was with grant recipient Brian Coey. Brian teaches in Trades, in Sheet Metal/Metal Fabrication and Welding. Brian’s project was to create new and updated course materials, including student and instructor resources, as while he has used many “in-house” created worksheets and resources, they needed to be updated. There are also no textbooks which meet the needs of the program, nor is there ITA or BC provincial resources, even though 4 BC institutions in BC have Sheet Metal programs. In addition to receiving funding from Camosun, Brian was also received support from BCcampus to work on program materials with Okanagan College.

There are four Levels for Sheet Metal apprentice training, and Brian decided to take on a small chunk: starting with Level 1, and concentrating on the module for Layout, otherwise known as pattern development – “it’s our modelling of a 3D object, but shows what it looks like two-dimensionally, to start with. And that’s where sheet metal workers start, with two-dimensional shape, before working with three-dimensional objects.”

Since starting work on his project last October, Brian has completed work on the three different main processes: parallel line, radial line, and triangulation. “I’ve gone through the main common fittings in each of those three processes and completed three steps for all of them: I videotaped myself drawing on our whiteboard, and then added a written description of it to graphical animations.” Brian had initially started out working in WORD, but eventually moved all his work into Pressbooks, one of the main tools used to create open textbooks. Brian says “At the beginning of the project, I found [Pressbooks] fairly confusing, so I just stepped away from it completely and just focused on the outline. And once I was ready … within a couple hours of playing around with [Pressbooks] seriously, I got quite comfortable with it, and it was a piece of cake after that.”

In addition, Brian worked with a Graphic Designer at Camosun to create drawing animations, and also created videos of himself performing some of the various tasks he was writing about to support students who sometimes struggle with following textbook instructions. “There’s nothing like watching someone physically do something … If I try and read about [how to do something], it’s pretty difficult to follow the steps. But if I if I can watch a video … no problem… I think a lot of tradespeople are like that – we’re more visual, we’re hands-on.”

Creating materials in general was one of Brian’s goals for this project, but he was also looking to make them open for a few reasons. First, “to keep it open was really a savings of money for the students,” but also recalling “I was the type of journeyman when I was out working …[my old textbooks] were never too far away from me. So if I was at work and … got stumped on something, I had a resource to look at. Now we use YouTube videos … but you don’t know if they contain accurate information. But when you go to something that’s been vetted …, even journeymen can look it up and find the resource that can get them through a hurdle. Because it’s everybody runs across hurdles, not just our students – anyone in our trade will potentially need some help, or need a reference.”

Brian has already seen some of the rewards from his hard work. The videos he has put up on YouTube have been viewed by people from all over the world. But back in his shop, he has seen first-hand the benefits for his students. Aside from getting closer to the end goal of students not having to purchase a textbook, students now have the opportunity to watch his videos and animations in advance of coming to class, and can then go home and practice it more on their own until they feel comfortable. So much better than just trying to follow a textbook. “That’s why we teach…that’s why I do it. I want to see that light bulb in their eyes go … click!”

When I asked Brian if he had any advice for people looking to develop open course materials, he told me “I think it was really beneficial for me to have a good outline, a good plan of what I wanted to accomplish, and then I tackled that in small pieces…I would worry about just that one chapter, so I wasn’t worried about Chapter 12 yet, I focused on Chapter 1. And I got 1 exactly to where I wanted it and then I worked on 2. So, break it down and look at those little chunks. To me in at the beginning,…it just looked too big and daunting… I knew I needed the outline for the whole, but I left that as the skeleton, and then focused on the chapters individually.”

As Brian looks forward to launching his completed work so far, he is already looking ahead to doing more. Whether it’s utilizing materials already in the open, like the open Math text he integrated recently, or finding or creating more YouTube videos to support shop demonstrations, he definitely wants to keep working on, implementing, and sharing open materials.

Camosun College Open Sustainability Project Introduction

Just over one year ago, eight projects were funded to develop/redevelop their courses using open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP). This funding came from a grant awarded to Camosun College from BCcampus, and has brought together 11 faculty members, librarians, copyright experts, instructional designers, curriculum developers, indigenization specialists, and others to work on the projects. In this panel session, some of the faculty developers will talk about their projects and the benefits they are bringing to their students, and to Camosun.

I don’t know if you remember a year ago, well…maybe I’ll leave it at that. Suffice it to say that while at that time, one year ago, the projects were to have been concluded by the end of this term, unexpected events have pushed the deadlines for completion until the end of this year. That being said, all 8 projects are underway in spite of the challenges faculty have faced moving their regular teaching online.

In this post, I am going to tell you a little bit about the eight funded projects, and in subsequent posts, I will be telling you the stories of the project journeys in the words of the faculty members creating the resources, open textbooks, etc.

Sarah Erdelyi, Jana Suraci, and Alex Purdy – Development of a Resource Package for Patient Management for Allied Health

The development of a resource package for this course, incorporating OER, would eliminate the need to require commercial textbooks and provide a learning resource for students that is highly relevant and focused to meet their needs. This course is shared among three programs in the Allied Health & Technologies Department, including Certified Medical Laboratory Assistant, Medical Radiography, and Sonography, and this package of resources will support these varied allied health contexts. Because the current textbook required for Medical Radiography is not suitable for the other allied health programs, the student experience differs greatly by program, so the development of a resource package would also ensure consistency of the student experience. In addition to the cost savings to students, we believe the students would benefit greatly from a common resource that considers the Canadian context and emphasizes the specific competencies related to their professional certification in a way that is learner-centric and applied.

Michelle Clement – Revising an Existing Marketing Open Textbook

This Digital Marketing Open textbook is severely outdated, having been published in 2013. The cases, links, and social media chapters in particular need updating, as well as individual topics in current chapters around internet security, ethical marketing online, marketing social and environmental injustices digitally, and cultural inclusion in online marketing. It would also be beneficial to create instructor resources. So this was a proposal for adapting an existing OER to produce a no cost to students required textbook. Michelle’s hope was also that sections would provide good background for other marketing classes, and that there would be there is potential to grow its use outside of her current course. While the textbook Michelle ultimately revised was a different one than she originally planned, she did take an existing 600-page textbook and reduce it to approximately 200 pages, updating and reorganizing content as proposed. She has future plans to add instructor resources and visuals to her revision before moving it into Pressbooks to share back with the world.

Pooja Gupta – Adapt an Existing Math OER

Pooja’s objective was to adapt the OER Key Concepts of Intermediate Level Math by Meizhong Wong for her online intermediate math section for adult learners. The scope of this project was to include adaptations to the original open textbook as well as create ancillary resources such as lesson videos, question video solutions, PowerPoints, quizzes/quiz bank, interactive videos, etc. Due to copyright restrictions on the content she has currently been using, it has not been possible to adapt to the changing needs of her students. The adapted version and ancillary resources would have the following benefits: significant financial savings for students; the ability to embed these resources into a learning management system (LMS); and ease of access for students through having the materials open online, and within the LMS students are already accessing.

Peggy Hunter – Human Anatomy WordPress Site Revisions

Laboratory study of human anatomy typically utilize an assortment of models and slides, and student access to these resources is often very limited. Institutions that have these models and slides in their labs cannot typically provide access to these materials outside of laboratory classroom time. Other institutions do not offer labs or laboratory resources, and students have no access to human anatomy models and slides. To facilitate the study and review of anatomy laboratory content at Camosun, Peggy has developed a study website (in WordPress) that provides access to all of the models and slides commonly used in first year human anatomy labs. The website, designed so students can test their knowledge of human anatomy lab content outside of the laboratory setting, is currently used extensively by first year anatomy students in the Health Science and Exercise Science programs, provides valuable access to anatomy models and slides outside of classroom time, and facilitates self-review of laboratory content. The goal of this project was to update the website content to enhance user interface with the end goal of making this laboratory study website available as an open resource for students of human anatomy everywhere. The latter would facilitate expanded use by students of anatomy at Camosun (in nursing, sport education, athletic therapy, dental hygiene, massage therapy, etc.). Moreover, this Camosun resource would be a valuable contribution to the global open learning community.

Stephanie Ingraham – Create Open Textbook for the Physics of Medical Imaging

For the past three years, Stephanie has been teaching a Physics course for students in the Medical Radiography program at Camosun College, The Physics of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy. This course is very unique, and there is a limited selection of textbooks and materials that suit the course curriculum meaning that previously, textbooks or course packs purchased by students have been used. Her goal was instead, to create an open textbook on BCcampus which would provide a simple, free method of allowing students access to resources for the course. The textbook would also include sections on general Physics topics, which will be available for use in introductory Physics courses. The development of this textbook would also involve carefully creating accessible content for all types of learners such as voice to text capabilities, transcription of images, and ideal visual contrast. As of now, there are no other OER that cover this selection of topics specific to the Physics of medical imaging and radiation therapy. Hopefully this will become a useful, free resource for Camosun college students as well as an open resource for students interested in the field of Medical Physics.

Brian Coey – Developing/Revising Materials for Sheet Metal Programs

Currently in the Sheet Metal program, students are required to purchase textbooks for foundation training and level one apprentice training. The program loans textbooks, no longer in print, for apprentice levels two through four. Unfortunately, this is a problem for the students as they have very little reference material once they finish their training at Camosun, and they must rely on notes and outside resources to prepare for further training and Interprovincial (Red Seal) exams. This also creates a difficult situation because once the program runs out of textbooks, they have no other resources at hand to lend out. Brian’s project was to allow him to create new and update current Level 1 material, including student and instructor resources, in an open textbook format through Pressbooks. A combination of open textbooks, course modules, multimedia resources, web resources and videos would all be added to the already existing resources, to create an open learning resource, available to students whenever needed.

Sandra Carr – Developing/Revising Materials for Joinery (Woodworking) Program

The BC Joinery modules have not been revised since 1988, and some sections are outdated. Visually, they lack imagery that portrays modern tools, and some sections refer to a textbook that is very dated, possibly out of print. While existing open Trades textbooks contain relevant material, they contain topics not applicable to woodworking, and there are topic-specific areas which either require expansion, or completely new materials to fill gaps. There is no textbook for woodworking machinery, which makes up a significant portion of term 1 learning outcomes, and currently Sandra is using a mix of photocopied handouts to support her students. Her proposal was to write an open textbook Describe Woodworking Machines and Their Use, as well as edit the existing Common Core materials for use in her program. She would use this textbook in her course, but it could also find an audience with other trades, foundation programs, Women in Trades, Continuing Education, and high schools. Video tutorials would also be created to cover selected topics based on the specific projects students complete in the program.

Liz Morch – Developing Modules to Support Nutrition Content for Various Programs

Liz had begun to design online modules for her nutrition course in Dental Hygiene , but recognized the need to provide flexibility in how and when students access course content.  After searching BCcampus and Creative Commons, she was unable to find existing open content relating to nutrition which would be applicable to her course.  Her project, therefore was to develop modules for use, not only in her course, but as resources for faculty who teach any nutrition courses.  The modules will also have evaluation tools in the form of online assessments.  While some individual components are available through Health Canada, students require more information, in the form of text-based content, images, and interactive components to support their learning.

Finding Online Images to Supplement your Course Materials

Last week, I was excited to see on the Open Education Challenge site, a challenge called “How do I find a Creative Commons licensed image to use in my course materials or presentations”.

I wanted to share with you here the resources presented on this site, and to give you a few more.

  • Creative Commons image search – to search for licensed and public domain works
  • Unsplash– photos that are free to use, no permission required but attribution appreciated
  • Pexels– stock photos that are free to use, attribution is not required, adaptation is permitted
  • The Noun Project – Creative Commons-licensed icons

In addition to these resources, our Camosun Library also has some great resources and tips for finding and using images online.

  • Start with the Open Culture tab on the Open Libguide. Here you will find links to sources of copyright-friendly images and music.
  • And explore the Art History Libguide, but make sure to know what the copyright licencing is for any images you find – ask one of our friendly librarians if you’re not sure!
  • Find some guidance on how to use images under Fair Dealing at the Copyright Libguide.
  • And also on the Copyright Libguide, you will find some tips for posting images (etc.) on D2L.

Have other sources? Add to the comments!

Open Education Challenge Series

New to open education? Want to learn more and find out how you could use open educational resources (OER) in your teaching? Follow along with the Open Education Challenge.

While it’s too late to register for official participation (meaning you won’t get regular email reminders), the challenge is, as the title would suggest, open, so follow along and give the bi-weekly challenges a try!

Want to know more about open education at Camosun College, or just want to talk more about OER and how they might work in your teaching? Email Emily Schudel (schudele@camosun.ca).

 

Integrating Creative Commons Material into your Course(s).

Open Education Week 2020 iconSome of you may know that last term, I completed the Creative Commons certificate.  It was an amazing course, and I highly recommend it to everyone.  A great example of how to open assignments up so that you are meeting outcomes through a variety of assessment choices (leaving it up to the learners to decide which assessment type is good for them), as well as a great example of using various online technologies to support learners in how they interacted with the course material.

For the certificate, I completed a number of assignments, all of which are available on one of my personal blog sites, but I thought for this final Open Education Week post, I would share my final assignment with you, an online workshop entitled Integrating Creative Commons Material into your Course(s).

I will be working on revising this workshop for delivery at Camosun this spring (as an asynchronous, self-paced workshop), and would invite anyone out there to provide feedback to me.  If you have any words of wisdom or suggestions for me, please either comment on this post, or email me at Schudele@camosun.ca.

Thanks for joining me this Open Education Week 2020!  I will continue to share posts on Open with you regularly, so please keep visiting!

Open Education Week – The Student Voice

Open Education Week 2020 iconIn this world of sky-rocketing costs for students (textbooks being only one of the many budgetary items facing students), integrating Open Educational Resources (OERs) (and other no-cost resources) into your courses can go a long way towards helping students continue, and succeed in, their studies.

On the Douglas College Library Open Libguide site, you can read about and listen to some of the ways OERs are supporting students.

BCcampus has produced the OER Student Toolkit which outlines ways students can advocate for the adoption of OERs at their institutions.

Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) programs across the world have really begun to make an impact on reducing costs for students.  The Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources relates some of these Impact Stories told by students in their own words.

Speaking of ZTC, you can learn more about what institutions in BC are doing by visiting the BCcampus ZTC page, or searching for individual institutions’ work, for example, the ZTC impact at Kwantlen Polytechnic.

Finally, for a discussion around the pedagogical impact on students through the use of OER, check out Christina Hendrick’s post Engaging Students with OER.

Want to know more about how creating, adapting, or adopting OER can support your students?  Email eLearning Support  to arrange to talk to an instructional designer.

Open Education Week – Open Images Galore!

Open Education Week 2020 iconSome exciting news from the creative commons (CC) licensed images front.  The Smithsonian has announced the launch of Smithsonian Open Access, which has moved 2.8 million digital images into the open.

Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images and Data into the Public Domain Using CC0 

Wondering where else you can find CC licensed images to include in your course materials?  Start by checking out the Camosun Library Libguide, specifically the section on Open Culture.   Here, you will find links to a number of repositories containing images that are either CC licensed or in the Public Domain (PD).

Wiki Commons is one of the places listed, and is a great source for PD and CC images.  Just go to Wiki Commons and search for whatever you are looking for.  Once you click on am image you are interest in, you can find the licensing information by scrolling down.  Look for either the CC licence

CC licence

Or a PD notice

Public Domain notice

And here is how you can use Google to filter your searches for CC licensed images:  go to Google Advanced Image Search and scroll down to use the “Usage Rights” option to search for copyright-free materials.

Google Advanced Search

Need more ideas and help?  Contact one of your friendly Camosun librarians, or contact eLearning Support (desupport@camosun.ca) to arrange for a consult with an instructional designer.

Open Education Week – Stories from the Ground

Open Education Week 2020 iconSo, today I thought I would share some resources and stories around how people in different disciplines have been using OERs (Open Educational Resources) to support their students.

First up, a PowerPoint presentation on  Creating Content-Based Instructional Materials for English Language Learners, Using Open Educational Resources. from the University of Arizona.  You will find some tips on what you need to think about when creating OER, how to search for existing material, as well as links to the resources created by this group.

Next, a story from a Parker Glynn-Adey, an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga.  In Math professor engages students with an open educational resource,  Glynn-Adey explains the many benefits (not just financial) to students from adopting an open textbook.

In A growing appreciation for open textbooks, Physics professor Michael Chen describes how “what started for him as a way to reduce expenses for students has since turned into an opportunity to create a resource specifically tailored to his teaching situation.”

And finally, here are some brief success stories from faculty and student co-authors at Queen’s University who have developed their own open textbooks.

Want to know more about how you could create and integrate OER into your teaching, or need help finding OER relating to your discipline?  Email desupport@camosun.ca to book an appointment with an eLearning instructional designer.

Welcome to Open Education Week!

TOpen Education Week 2020 iconhis week, which is Open Education Week as you will remember from my post last week, I will be posting something from the OEWeek2020 universe every day.

Today, I wanted to share a link to  the online webinar Beyond Free: Supporting Social Justice through Open Educational Practices  being broadcast from the University of Colorado, Boulder, featuring Rajiv Jhangiani from Kwantlen Polytechnic University here in BC.  The livestream begins at 1:00pm PST and it’s free to register!

There are also many other great events going on today around the world, as you can see from the Open Education Week website, and you should make sure to check out #OEWeek2020 on Twitter to find lots of resources to help you in you search for information about Open Educational Resources (OERs), Open Educational Practices (OEP), etc.

I’ll be back tomorrow to share another post or webinar for Open Education Week!