Tuesday, April 25th, 2-3 PM, RM A432 in the Library
RSVP to: ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu
Learn how cost-free / open educational resources (OERs) are sustainable, accessible, and engaging to students. Find out how to locate and adopt dynamic course materials to supplement or replace textbooks.
We’ll cover all the basics – the meaning of the term OER, the differences between open and free course materials, and we’ll review attribution and Creative Commons licenses.
Talking with students about Open Education
To mark international Open Education Week, we set up a little table in front of the Library entrance and talked with students about their experiences with required course materials. We all acknowledged how expensive textbooks can be. We talked about instructors’ efforts to assign affordable course materials and specifically about the Library’s program to work with faculty on developing cost-free open educational resources (OERs) as replacements to textbooks.
Knowledge sharing is a fundamental principle of education at its core. OERs can be powerful tools for advancing knowledge access and inquiry because they are free to share, modify, and customize.
We have 22 City Tech faculty working on this Library initiative – representing 17 disciplines at the college. Learn more about their excellent work here.
Airing dirty laundry for Open Access Week
I sat down in front of my work PC to post something about Open Access Week, and now all I can think about is the vulgar state of my desktop.
Exhibit A
I’m a librarian so…what do I have to say for myself? In my defense, it’s been a really busy semester! I got a little carried away and started cutting corners. Screen-casting images to the desktop here. Downloading files, and saving to the desktop there. At least 30 percent of these files are duplicate saves, and many are destined for the recycle bin, but I can’t be exactly sure. What I am certain of is this is no way to store and organize digital things! (FYI, my personal desktop is in less of a state.)
Continue reading “Airing dirty laundry for Open Access Week”
What’s new with open educational resources?
This spring marks the third year of the Open Educational Resources (OER) faculty fellowship program with 21 faculty from 16 departments represented – check out your colleagues’ work here!
This year in the Library we’re working on pairing up faculty in the OER fellowship with their library subject liaisons to consult on locating free/open and library subscribed course materials. We’re bringing back a tabling session during Open Education Week to talk to students about OERs and textbook affordability. We’re also looking forward to spotlighting the ongoing and excellent work of faculty throughout the college to teach with cost-free/affordable course materials that facilitate active and high impact learning – please consider sharing your work with us (email: ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu).
To learn more about OERs visit the OER Resource guide and the OER Fellowship OpenLab site.
And consider joining our upcoming faculty workshop:
When the Textbook Falls Short: Exploring Alternative Course Materials
Tuesday, April 25th, 2-3 PM, Rm A432 in the Library
Apply for a Fellowship to Adopt Open Educational Resources
Are you concerned about the cost of textbooks, and students’ inability to afford them? Do you find textbooks inadequate for the instruction you’d like to offer? Then you may be interested in exploring the material available through Open Educational Resources.
The City Tech Library is pleased to announce its call for applicants to the Spring 2017 Open Educational Resources (OER) Fellowship.
About the OER Fellowship:
Approaching its third year, the fellowship funds faculty to replace a required textbook with open educational resources (OERs) in a course they teach.
Faculty accepted for the fellowship will participate in a series of seminars (finding, selecting, adapting OERs, Creative Commons licenses) this coming spring as preparation for assembling the OER, complete the OER in June, and pilot the OER as the sole required course material in their fall course.
*Applications to develop OERs for 1st year courses are strongly encouraged, however, all course levels are welcome to apply!
Results so far:
Initial feedback from 3 sections of City Tech students assigned an OER developed during the fellowship are encouraging!
• 83% of students reported the OER increased their engagement with the course lessons in contrast to a traditional textbook
• 81% of students found the quality of the OER course readings to be somewhat to much better than a textbook
• 88% of students reported the OER increased their exposure to different ways of learning
• 89% of students reported the OER increased their satisfaction with the learning experience
In the first year of the fellowship, 3 courses that assigned OERs saved students nearly $26,000 in potential textbook fees over two semesters.
The second cycle of the fellowship is piloting 7 new courses that have obviated another $26,000 in textbook fees in this semester alone. Savings will grow as semesters progress, and more sections adopt OERs.
Potential Applicants:
Please review the fellowship program information and guidelines and submit your application online – due 11:59 p.m. EST, Friday, November 18th.
Contact Prof. Cailean Cooney, Chair of the Library OER Committee with any questions. ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu
Faculty panel on Open Educational Resources
Mon. October 17th
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Namm 227 (Faculty Commons)
Join a City Tech faculty panel discussion about integrating open educational resources (OER) into the classroom.
RSVP to: ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu
Featured panelists:
Prof. Susan Brandt – Entertainment Technology
Health and Safety in Production (ENT 1102)
Prof. Heejun “Ellen” Kim – Hospitality Management
Hospitality Services Marketing and Management (HMGT 4702)
Prof. David Lee – Humanities
Business and Professional Communication (COM 3401)
Prof. Ari Maller – Physics
General Physics I: Introduction to Mechanics (PHYS 1441)
Prof. Debbie Priftakis – Biological Sciences
Human Anatomy and Physiology I (Lecture) (BIO 2311)
Prof. Anne Marie Sowder – Construction Management and Civil Engineering
Construction Management II (CMCE 2321)
Prof. Suresh Tewani – Chemistry
General Chemistry I (Lab) (CHEM 1110)
This event is co-sponsored by City Tech Library and the Faculty Commons.
Want to learn more about OER now? Browse the Library’s OER Resource Guide!
Consequences of Textbook markets moving to Access Codes
Student PIRGs – a powerful collective student advocacy body – has taken a prominent role in criticizing textbook publishers’ rising profit margins amid growing concern over college affordability. Its newest report focuses on textbook publishers’ shift to access codes as a strategy to maintain profit margins despite the emergence of free alternatives like open educational resources.
Here’s the full report:
“Access codes create a direct link between the ability to pay and the ability to get good grades.”
More reports from Student PIRGs:
Covering the Cost – investigating the real impact of high textbook prices on today’s college students (2016)
Open Textbooks: The Billion Dollar Solution – alternative textbook model could save students a billion dollars (2015)
Faculty Workshop on Alt / Open Educational Resources
Tuesday, September 13th, 1-2 PM, Rm A432 in the Library
When the Textbook Falls Short: Exploring Alternative Course Materials
RSVP to: ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu
Learn how alt / open educational resources (OERs) are sustainable, accessible, and engaging to students. Find out how to locate and adopt dynamic course materials to supplement or replace textbooks.
We’ll cover all the basics – the meaning of the term OER, the differences between open and free course materials, and we’ll review attribution and Creative Commons licenses.
To learn more about the Library’s OER Initiative and OERs in general please visit our Initiative site and our OER resource guide.
Dibner Library at NYU-Poly to restrict access thru May 20
The Dibner Library at NYU-Poly will be closed to people other than NYU-Poly students and faculty during the final exam period: Sat. May 7th – Fri. May 20th
City Tech Library’s membership in ALB (Academic Libraries of Brooklyn) permits access to participating member libraries around Brooklyn, and any current City Tech student, faculty or staff member may obtain an ALB card at our library’s circulation desk. Have more questions about ALB? Post a comment here, or ask a reference librarian!
“We could all pay $25 and share the textbook”
by Prof. Cailean Cooney
“We could all pay $25 and share the textbook”
– Heard in the Atrium on the second day of Spring classes, 2/2/16
The beginning of the semester is an exciting and crucial point in the year. It demands heightened patience and attention from the whole college community as we adjust to the swell of students and a surge in academic activity. Continue reading ““We could all pay $25 and share the textbook””
