Spotlight on an OER

As you work on developing your course site, it’s helpful to see what others have done at CityTech. Below is an OER course site developed through the OER programming here at CityTech, by Prof. Theodora Siranian.

The site’s clean appearance is amplified by a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge, which helps orient visitors to its content. The overall cohesion  is supported by the layout: students can quickly navigate to their Syllabus, Research Project, and Essay Assignments from the main menu bar.

Prof. Siranian notes the program, “helped me create an open-access, resource-sharing site for my English 1101 course. This site provides my students with cost-free access to the course’s entire curriculum, and creates a wonderful digital synthesis between classroom activities, homework, and long-term projects.” 

If students are seeking additional writing resources, those are also available under “Helpful Style & Grammar Resources,” such as the Purdue OWL site, and Excelsior OWL. CityTech resources, such as links to the Atrium Learning Center and New Student Center are found on the homepage, where students are most likely to find them.

Prof. Siranian’s site achieves visual simplicity, while also providing a direct path to important content. She also confirmed that the student experience has been strongly positive: the class “has been extremely receptive to [the site’s] accessibility and cohesion.”