Open Educational Resources and Affordability (Off-RoadShow Virtual Workshop)

Schedule this virtual workshop today!

ACRL’s virtual Open Educational Resources (OER) and Affordability RoadShow will help you understand the basics of OER and how libraries can be involved in affordability initiatives at your institution. This introductory virtual workshop is intended for academic librarians and library staff interested in learning about OER and/or developing OER initiatives. The online workshop begins with foundational knowledge about OER: What are OER? How do they impact faculty and students? We also discuss examples of and opportunities for library involvement in affordability initiatives, analyze stakeholders and institutional context, and determine appropriate strategies and goals for real-world application.

Who Should Participate?

This is an introductory online workshop designed for attendees new to the topic of OER. It is appropriate for librarians with leadership and administrative responsibilities, liaisons, or any library staff member interested in building a foundational knowledge of affordable and open educational resources. Workshops are also open to campus partners who may be interested in learning about, leading, and/or supporting affordability initiatives, such as instructional designers, campus store managers, student government representatives, administrators, advisors, and others. Campuses considering hosting a workshop exclusive to their institution are encouraged to think broadly and inclusively about attendee invitations.

Learning Outcomes

After attending this online workshop, participants will be able to:

Summarize key principles of open educational resources, affordability, and inclusion in order to explain common motivators and opportunities for the adoption, modification, and creation of open and alternative course materials.
Analyze how existing library skills and tools can be leveraged in order to advance the use of open and affordable resources in a variety of institutional contexts.
Identify possible roles for librarians and campus partners in supporting open and affordable resource use in order to articulate achievable actions that build community, further knowledge, and/or advance open and affordable resource solutions.

Sample Schedule

This workshop takes place across two half-days, and the schedule is flexible as to mornings or afternoons. It is preferred to schedule the two sessions with a full day in between to allow time for reflection. Below is a sample agenda of a workshop scheduled over a Monday and Wednesday morning:

Day 1 (Mon)

9:00-9:15am: Welcome and overview
9:15-10:00am: Foundations of OER
10:00-10:30am: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in OER
10:30-10:45am: Break
10:45-11:00am: My Skills Activity
11:00am-12:00pm: Library Roles in OER Initiatives
12:00-12:30pm: Wrap-up and Q&A

Day 2 (Weds)

9:00-9:30am: Welcome and Review Day 1
9:30-10:30am: Campus Partners
10:30-10:45am: Break
10:45-11:15am: Student Voices
11:15-11:45am: 15% Solutions Activity
11:45am-12:15pm: Wrap-up and Q&A

Presenters

Click a photo to read more.

Photo of Heather Blicher
Heather Blicher

Heather Blicher is the Program Director for the Community College Consortium for OER (CCCOER) at Open Education Global. Her focus is to advance the field of open education at community and technical colleges across North America, providing support in developing the next phase of open education innovation. She has 20+ years experience working in public and academic libraries, most recently working with Open Oregon Educational Resources as an equity consultant and instructional designer with a focus in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Heather earned a Master of Science in Information and Library Science from Florida State University, is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), completed the Creative Commons Certificate program, and is a recipient of ACRL’s Distance Learning Librarianship Award.

Photo of Kathy Essmiller
Kathy Essmiller

Dr. Kathy Essmiller is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and OER Librarian at Oklahoma State University. Kathy holds Masters degrees in trumpet performance and educational technology, a PhD in Learning, Design and Technology, and was a 2019 -2020 Open Education Group OER Research Fellow. Kathy’s background is in music education, where she enjoyed over fifteen fantastic years making music with MS/HS band students (including her own two kids).

Photo of Ariana Santiago
Ariana Santiago

Ariana Santiago is the Open Educational Resources Coordinator at the University of Houston Libraries. In this role, she leads the UH OER program, including managing the Alternative Textbook Incentive Program. Ariana earned an M.A. in Applied Learning and Instruction from the University of Central Florida and an M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida. She previously worked as the instruction librarian at UH and as an undergraduate instruction and outreach librarian at the University of Iowa. Ariana is a 2018-19 graduate of the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program.

Pricing

Cost: $6,000 (as low as $100/person!)
Participants: 15 - 60
Presenters: 2-4

Organizational members of ACRL receive a 10% discount off the hosting cost. Not sure about your organization's membership status? Contact Margot Conahan at mconahan@ala.org to find out.

Host Responsibilities

Technology Requirements

Virtual Meeting Platform License and DJ

Host should have a virtual meeting platform license and provide someone to coordinate technical issues for the live sessions. Note: Presenters have a strong preference for Zoom. Please let ACRL know if your institution uses a different virtual meeting platform.

Host's virtual meeting software must have the following features:

Screen sharing capabilities
Breakout rooms
Chat
Polling

Ability to mute participants
Virtual hand-raise feature
Closed captioning

Other Host Responsibilities

Management of registration process
Communicating with presenters and attendees
Marketing and publicity of the virtual workshop
Limit attendance to participant level set by ACRL
Provide attendee roster to presenters and ACRL
Ensuring a safe and harassment-free learning environment. We invite and encourage you to use ACRL's Statement of Appropriate Conduct as a model.

Ready to take your library off-road? Get in touch!

To schedule a virtual workshop, please contact Ari Zickau at azickau@ala.org