March 2023 Newsletter
Greetings!
As the Open Education Resources Coordinator/ASCCC OERI Liaison for our college, it is my responsibility to share communications from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI) with you.
Please read on to learn about upcoming events that are open to all.
If I can assist you in your considering OER or answer any OER related questions, please let me know. Also, free freel to schedule an Open Education Resources Consultation (ipolisci.com).
Open Education Week – March 6 – 10, 2023
Connect with the community of OER practitioners to discuss the most current trends, issues, and initiatives in Open Education. Be sure to check out the entire Open Education Week schedule to see what events meet your needs and fit your schedule. Selected LibreTexts events are highlighted here.
Monday, March 6, 2023, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Customizing an Online OER Textbook on the LibreTexts Platform for Math Courses like Calculus or Differential Equations
LibreTexts makes it easy to customize an existing OER textbook to make it your own.
This can include adjusting its content to be more consistent with your presentation,
adding new content of your own, and mixing in content from other OER sources. The
presenter will demonstrate how he customized an OER differential equations textbook
by William Trench for use with his students, adjusting some content and adding a section
of his own material on bifurcation. He will also share how he has customized the OpenStax
Calculus textbook for use in his Calculus 1-3 courses.
Join Customizing an Online OER Textbook… March 6, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Monday, March 6, 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Welcome to the LibreVerse
Join LibreTexts Executive Director, Delmar Larsen, as he introduces you to the components
of the greater LibreVerse suite of OER creation and management technologies. The key
approach to the LibreVerse is to build and use technology to advance specific goals
and avoid its limitations. Hence a multi-goals effort like LibreTexts requires a multi-technology
platform: the LibreVerse. The overview will include a discussion of the LibreTexts
Libraries, ADAPT homework system, jupyter, Commons and Conductor, SOLO, bots and more.
Join Welcome to the LibreVerse March 6, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Engaging Three Student Populations with a LibreTexts OER
Dr. Armeda Reitzel, Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt, has used a new 2022 open educational resource (OER) that she co-authored with three different student groups: incarcerated inmates in a community college program, first-year students at a community college, and communication majors at a public state university. This presentation highlights three different student-oriented assignments to engage students with the content brought together in a reader-friendly LibreTexts OER for these diverse student populations.
Join Engaging Three Student Populations with a LibreTexts OER March 7, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
LibreTexts 101: Building the Textbook of the Future (Construction and Remixing with LibreTexts)
Dr. Delmar Larsen, LibreTexts Executive Director and Founder, will provide a topical overview of LibreTexts‘ suite of tools and technologies that can be used to advance the building and usage of OER textbooks, assessments, and other activities. Registering for a free LibreTexts account is recommended before attending this session. Register for a free LibreTexts account.
Join LibreTexts 101: Building the Textbook of the Future March 7, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Fundamentals of Biochemistry – A Comprehensive and Interactive text
This book’s philosophy and novel features will be highlighted, with a particular focus on its interactive features (molecular models, graphs, and kinetic/signal transduction analyses). Also, Dr. Jakubowski will discuss recent and ongoing additions and ask for your contributions!
Tuesday, March 7, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Advanced H5P: Getting More Out of Your OER
This hands-on workshop will guide participants in some more advanced techniques around building better learning modules using H5P. We’ll discuss 1) collaboration, 2) collections, 3) special interest groups, 4) AI-generated H5P, 5) graphic design for H5P, and 6) templates.
Join Advanced H5P: Getting More Out of Your OER March 7, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Creating a College-wide OER Implementation
In this presentation, Deborah Bowles, Interim Director, Teaching and Learning Center at Prince George’s Community College will discuss the process of creating a successful college-wide OER implementation. Participants will learn about the LibreTexts platform and how it can support sustainability. By the end of the webinar, participants will have some tools to create a successful college-wide OER implementation.
Join Creating a College-wide OER Implementation March 8, 2023, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Next Gen RN
Join Kimberley Ernstmeyer, Open RN and Next Gen RN Project Director, Delmar Larsen, LibreTexts Founder and Executive Director, and Eric Kean, LibreTexts lead developer, as they discuss the partnership between LibreTexts and the Next Gen RN project (a spinoff of the Open RN project) to collaboratively improve the preparedness of prelicensure nurses entering the workforce by customizing the ADAPT software platform to enable nursing students to practice taking Next Generation NCLEX-style formative assessments within their own courses and learning management systems.
Join Next Gen RN March 8, 2023, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Getting to Know LibreTexts Open Homework and Assessment System: ADAPT
Join Dr. Larsen as he introduces LibreTexts open homework and assessment system ADAPT. ADAPT is being developed as a widely distributed OER adaptive learning homework platform that is available to students without charge (or with significantly reduced charge compared to commercial alternatives) to complement the textbooks hosted in the LibreTexts libraries. ADAPT is built as an overlay technology upon four separate open-source assessment technologies: (1) WebWork, (2) ImathAS – used in MyOpenMath, (3) H5P, and (4) native assessments using Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) protocols like those in Learning Management Systems (LMS) and non-QTI protocols. ADAPT is unique in that it is designed as a single platform with the integrated capabilities of multiple technologies. Hence, ADAPT exceeds the limitations of any single technology and provides a powerful infrastructure to handle the assessment needs for a wide range of fields – from STEM to Humanities.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
LibreTexts Accessibility Updates
LibreTexts is committed to ensuring its content and functionality are both accessible and usable by students and content authors. During this presentation, members of the LibreTexts team will provide the status of the comprehensive accessibility audit LibreTexts is undergoing. They will also share updates on exciting accessibility tools to support all users, including the Accessibility Compliance Review Matrix, Accessibility Checker, and support for accessible alternative questions for types of questions that may pose accessibility barriers for some students (such as drag and drop, hotspots, and mark the words).
Join LibreTexts Accessibility Updates March 8, 2023, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Friday, March 10, 2023, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Adapting to ADAPT
Using the ADAPT system to engage my students in learning material outside of lecture. The presentation will focus on my experience using LibreTexts ADAPT open homework and assessment platform over the past two years in my chemistry courses and how it helped create dynamic homework assignments.
Join Adapting to ADAPT March 10, 2023, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
March 2023 OERI Friday Forums
This spring, the OERI Friday Forums will be held from 10:30 am – 11:30 am on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of all months.
The ASCCC OERI will provide automated captioning for all webinars. If you would like to request live human closed-captioning for any of our offerings, please contact us by e-mail at least 10 business days in advance.
OERI Friday Forums are intended for a diverse audience. Please share with your colleagues. We hope you will all join us!
Friday, March 3, 10:30 – 11:30 am
Inclusive Access Repackaging - A Cautionary Tale
Inclusive Access, a sales model for college textbooks, is being repackaged with different names including “First Day” and “Equitable Access”. Still requiring students to opt out of automatic textbook purchases rather than opting in, students and faculty are often not informed that this has been implemented at their college. Join us to learn more about this important issue and bring your questions and experiences to share.
Register for Inclusive Access Repackaging - A Cautionary Tale
Friday, March 17, 10:30 – 11:30 am
OER and Academic Freedom – Liberties and Limitations
Is academic freedom an absolute right? How do you balance the societal interest – or moral imperative – in ensuring education is affordable for students with a faculty member’s freedom to select the resources they believe to be best for the curriculum? Join us as we navigate the intersections of societal interests, faculty purview, academic freedom, and OER. All questions, comments, and conundrums are welcome.
Register for OER and Academic Freedom – Liberties and Limitations
Discipline Communications – Don’t Miss Out
The OERI – and ASCCC – use discipline list-servs to share information specific to a given discipline. These one-way discipline list-servs will never overwhelm your inbox and being on your discipline’s list ensures you don’t miss out on any discipline-specific opportunities or events. Sign up for an ASCCC list-serv – or list-servs - today.
March 2023 OERI Discipline Lead Events
The OERI Discipline Leads regularly host conversations and webinars to share resources, identify needs, and build community. These events are intended for discipline faculty and those who have an interest in the discipline as supporters or advocates. A “conversation” is an informal discussion of a specific topic and will not be recorded. Webinars will be recorded and archived. The ASCCC OERI will provide automated captioning for all webinars. If you would like to request live human closed-captioning for any of our offerings, please contact us by e-mail at least 10 business days in advance.
March 2023 OERI Discipline Lead Events
Thursdays in March, 12:00 pm - 12:50 pm
Math OER Office Hours
The OERI is pleased to offer a series of Math open educational resources (OER) office hours throughout the term. These office hours will serve as a QandA session where attendees bring in their math OER needs, requests, and questions. Attendees can also use this space to receive guidance and ask questions pertaining to MyOpenMath.
Register for Math OER Office Hours on Thursday, March 2, 12:00 pm - 12:50 pm
Register for Math OER Office Hours on Thursday, March 16, 12:00 pm – 12:50 pm
Register for Math OER Office Hours on Thursday, March 23, 12:00 pm – 12:50 pm
Monday, March 6, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
OER in Political Science: Next Steps
Please join us for a conversation to discuss next steps for deepening the availability, quality, and relevance of OER in political science. Our meeting will begin with a brief survey of existing political science OER followed by a discussion of current needs to build a robust library of high-quality OER for teaching political science.