The headlines are frightening: “Student Debt Nears One Trillion Dollars,” “College Costs Out of Control,” and “Betrayed by the Dream Factory.” These are not Hollywood blockbusters, but articles written in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Slate.com about the skyrocketing cost of a college education. A steep increase in textbook prices is a major factor…
Category: Open Educational Resources
Find Us at Camp Teach & Learn
Instructional technology is co-sponsoring two sessions at this year’s Camp Teach & Learn. We hope to see you there! Integrating Global-Local Experiences: Using ePortfolio Wednesday 23 May 2:15 PM to 3:30 PM Connections asks students to not only develop purposeful plans for off-campus learning (through internships, community involvement, study away and so on), but also to integrate…
In Search of Video Content?
Are you looking for that perfect film that will inspire discussion? One that will serve as introduction or closure to a topic, or perfectly demonstrate a concept? Searching Google and YouTube may not be the most effective way to find great educational films. Here are some free, online video resources that you may not know…
The perfect textbook is possible! Tools for creating or customizing textbooks
We’ve written a lot about open educational resources (OER) on this blog, in addition to presenting at regional, consortial, and national meetings. One area we could explore further is the ability to customize true OER. Don’t like a chapter? Edit it, or simply remove it. Don’t like the order material is presented? Reorganize it so…
OER Roundtable Recap at #aha17
Over the break I participated in a roundtable, “Free for All: A Discussion of Open Educational Resources (OER) in U.S. and World History Survey Courses,” at the the American Historical Association conference in Denver, Colorado. Members of our roundtable included Sarah Randow from LeTourneau University (Chair), Christy Jo Snider from Berry College, Ann Marie Davis…
Swivl toward Lecture Recording
This semester Joe Schroeder is using a Swivl, a robotic mount that holds an iPad or smartphone, to record lectures in Behavioral Neuroscience. With the use of a remote that the presenter wears, the Swivl tracks a moving person and uses the camera on the iPad or smartphone to record. Lectures or presentation are stored…
Friday Fun with the Smithsonian Learning Lab
Earlier this week I visited the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington DC. I often forget about the amazing treasures that the 19 Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo, and 9 research centers hold. Fortunately, now we can explore these diverse collections virtually through the Smithsonian Learning Lab. The Learning Lab includes images, video, audio,…
MIT OpenCourseware for Course Inspiration
During a recent consultation with a faculty member where we explored affordable online resources for a new Conn Course, I shared related course materials available through the MIT OpenCourseware website. If you are developing a new course, looking for inspiration to update an old one, or trying to incorporate different disciplinary approaches and content, MIT Open…
Important Workshop on Friday: Open Educational Resources
Access to course materials for all students is critical to their success in our courses. Are your course materials cost prohibitive? Join us on Friday for a workshop to learn about Open Educational Resources (OER). We will present strategies for finding and implementing OER and hear from members of our own faculty who have replaced…
Workshop Recap: Free Textbooks?!
Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday’s workshop, “Free Textbooks?! Using Open Educational Resources (OER).” A special thank you to Karen Gonzalez Rice and Joe Schroeder who shared their experiences replacing textbooks with OER. We learned a lot hearing about your experiences – positive and negative! I wrote about their presentations in a previous post…