Welcome to the OpenLab-OER faculty support guide for City Tech’s Model Course Initiative. This initiative provides professional development support for faculty developing and using openly available, fully developed instructional resources shared on the OpenLab. If you are interested in creating a model course or course hub, please contact the OpenLab Team.

On this site, you will find guidance for using and developing Model Courses and Course Hubs and suggestions on how to use them together.

Model Courses

A Model Course is an openly available, fully developed web-based instructional resource that can be cloned and/or adapted by a faculty member teaching a section of a course.

A Model Course is…

  • is an openly available, fully developed web-based instructional resource containing course info, learning outcomes, suggested weekly topics and projects, video resources, quizzes, rubrics, grading policy, and more.
  • can be cloned and adapted (with attribution) by other faculty teaching the course on OpenLab or as a pedagogical resource for faculty using Blackboard or other systems for their online course space.
  • is created by the course coordinator and/or faculty member(s) with subject matter expertise.
  • is identified with a ‘Model’ badge on the OpenLab.
  • is considered an open education resource (OER). An OER uses a Creative Commons license which lets others edit and remix the material.
  • has been approved by the course coordinator or Department Chair.

Course Hubs

A Course Hub is a publicly available, central repository of resources for a course for use by faculty and students (whether using Blackboard, OpenLab, or another platform). While not intended for direct communication between students and the faculty member teaching the course section, it can be used in conjunction with a cloned Model Course.

A Course Hub…

  • provides a shared, centralized collection of course resources for easy updating and communications.
  • can be developed for both students and faculty, for faculty only, or for students only.
  • contains shared resources, including the syllabus, lessons, support materials, and more. 
  • can be used by faculty in conjunction with a cloned Model Course, which can include links to resources and lessons on the Course Hub.
  • is created by the course coordinator and/or faculty member(s) with subject matter expertise.
  • is identified with a ‘Resource’ badge on the OpenLab.
  • is considered an open education resource (OER). An OER uses a Creative Commons license which lets others edit and remix the material.
  • has been approved by the course coordinator or Department Chair.

Goals and Benefits

  • To provide students with access to high-quality course content for a unified approach to distance, hybrid, and in-person teaching.
  • To ensure continuity of curriculum.
  • To reduce redundant work for Course Coordinators and teaching faculty.
  • To promote the use of best practices and consistent approaches using web-enhanced course materials and methods.
  • To encourage the use of open educational resources and open pedagogical methods to equalize access to educational materials.
  • To lower barriers to entry for faculty who have less experience with technology and digital pedagogy.