August 2023 Newsletter

Greetings! I hope all is well and welcome to the start of the 2023-2024 academic year!

As we look forward to serving our students and reconnecting with colleagues this year, know that as the campus' OER Coordinator, I am here to support faculty and staff in their OER journeys.

I am happy to meet with you via phone, Zoom, or in-person to discuss OER. Feel free to call/text me at 619-780-5674 or email me at josue.franco@gcccd.edu to schedule a consultation.

Sincerely,

Josh

Implementing the Statewide ZTC Program @ Cuyamaca College

The California State Government allocated $115 million dollars for a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) program to be administered by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO).

Each campus, including our College, was awarded a $20,000 planning grant and a $180,000 implementation grant.

In May 2023, the Cuyamaca College Academic Senate approved the process and criteria for individual faculty and faculty teams to request implementation grant funds.

To learn more, feel free to call/text Dr. Josh Franco, Associate Professor and OER Coordinator, at 619-780-5674 or email me at josue.franco@gcccd.edu to schedule a consultation. He is happy to meet with individual faculty, teams of faculty, and departments to discuss the implementation grant funds.

Interested faculty are encouraged to check out the following:

New OER

All the OERI products from its 4^th funding cycle are in their final stages of review and revision. Please find all available OERI-funded resources on the OERI’s website. Below are the most recently completed resources. Please be sure to share them with the appropriate faculty.
Arabic: Introduction to Arabic (Kassas, Bahar Al-Aloom, Murtada, Toma, and Aoneh) (CC BY)
World Regional Geography (C-ID GEOG 125):
- World Geographies: A Critical Introduction (Aline Gregorio, Nazanin Naraghi, Jason Scott, Waverly Ray) (CC BY-NC-SA)

Creative Commons Training

The licenses that are used to identify resources as “open” are provided by Creative Commons, a nonprofit that also provides training on their use. Thanks to all who responded to the brief survey that was sent out early in the summer to assess interest in receiving training from Creative Commons. We’re pleased to announced an in-person week-long Creative Commons boot camp will be held in Southern California. Additional details are forthcoming. Also, given the interest in online training opportunities, we are also exploring making such options available.

ZTC Degree Program Information

Looking for Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) information?

Consider attending the ZTC Office Monthly Office Hours hosted by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) and subscribing to the ZTC listserv by sending a request to the CCCCO’s ZTC email (ztc@cccco.edu). The ZTC Monthly Office Hours are held on the last Friday of the month from 9:00 am - 10:00 am.

Although colleges will need to submit reports in October for the $180,000 ZTC Implementation Grants (“Using the NOVA platform, colleges will need to submit a workplan by October 2023 and complete implementation and reporting by December 2024.

”), the template to do so has not yet been made available. However, other information has been shared regarding another phase of funding.

At Consultation Council on Thursday, July 20^th and at the Board of Governors (BoG) meeting on Monday, July 24^th, a BoG resolution related to the cost of course materials, the ZTC Program, and the Instructional Materials Task Force were discussed. Most notably, the presentation slide deck shown at the meeting shares that the Acceleration Grant (formerly known as Phase 2) will be published on August 15, 2023, and submissions from colleges will be due on September 15, 2023.

The OERI has been archiving the messages sent out on the ZTC listserv, as well as other ZTC-relevant messages and information. Access the OER and ZTC page to find all the latest information about ZTC degrees and related textbook affordability requirements.

Also, feel free to call/text Dr. Josh Franco, Associate Professor and OER Coordinator, at 619-780-5674 at 619-780-5674 or email me at josue.franco@gcccd.edu to schedule a consultation.

IDEA and H5P Webinars

The OERI is pleased to share that its IDEA Framework Lead, Tiffany Lanoix, and its H5P Lead (and Spanish Discipline Lead), Cristina Moon, are providing the following professional development opportunities in August.

Anti-Racism in Action: Applying the IDEA Framework to OER: Thursday, August 17, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Using Open Educational Resources (OER) is an important element of student equity efforts. Join us for a hands-on training to learn how you can use the ASCCC’s Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Framework to ensure your course materials reflect anti-racist and culturally relevant pedagogy. In this training you will learn what the IDEA Framework is and how to use it as an assessment tool for your OER. Remember, equity is a journey and not a destination. Let’s keep going!

H5P Part I – Introduction to H5P and LibreTexts Studio: Friday, August 11, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

H5P is a free and easy-to-use tool for creating interactive exercises. Following a showcase of existing H5P resources that are free, openly-licensed, and available for your use and customization, you’ll create your own H5P fill-in the blanks, multiple choice, true or false questions and sort the paragraphs activities. In addition, you will learn how to embed H5P resources in LibreTexts and Canvas as formative assessments.

Note: To participate, attendees will need to create a LibreStudio account.

How do you access LibreStudio?

Go to LibreStudio [https://studio.libretexts.org/ ]
Then click on the register link [https://studio.libretexts.org/user/register] to set up an account and use the code ASCCC.

H5P Office Hours: Friday, August 11, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Join us in office hours to address specific H5P issues and share tips and tricks.

H5P Part II – Introduction to ADAPT: Friday, August 18, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Following a brief recap of the skills developed in H5P Part I, we will build auto-graded activities in ADAPT as summative assessments that can be integrated into Canvas and create fill-in the blank, multiple choice, true or false, select choice, and matching ADAPT native questions. You will also learn how to add newly developed questions to an ADAPT assignment and how to use ADAPT in LibreTexts and, if locally available, within Canvas. Additional details regarding ADAPT integration into Canvas will be provided prior to the workshop.

Note: To participate, attendees will need to create an ADAPT account.

How do you access ADAPT?

To create account, go to Contact us, Request Instructor access code

H5P Office Hours: Friday, August 18, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Join us in office hours to address specific H5P issues and share tips and tricks.