Open Educational Resources

OER at City Tech

Call for Applicants: January 2025 Open Educational Practices Institute for Part-Time Faculty

October 28, 2024 / / 0 Comments

The OER Team at City Tech Library is seeking applications for the January Open Educational Practices Institute for Part-Time Faculty. (Chairs and full-time faculty, please recommend to your part-time colleagues!) The Institute provides asynchronous and synchronous virtual training on using free and openly-licensed materials for courses and foregrounding student-centered pedagogical approaches.

More specifically, participants will learn and discuss:

  • How to identify OER and other free and open resources
  • How copyright, open licensing, and fair use works in the context of course materials
  • How to make your course materials more accessible
  • How to bring student-centered pedagogy into your open educational practices

As a culmination to the intensive, participants will redesign a class activity or assignment using free and open resources that incorporate student-centered pedagogical principles. To qualify as a zero-cost OER, faculty can select course materials that are:

  • Open educational resources that are Creative Commons (openly) licensed, including, but not limited to, open textbooks
  • Public domain materials
  • Freely available web resources that do not violate copyright
  • Library-licensed digital resources, including articles and eBooks

Eligibility

Part-time faculty members at City Tech in any discipline with an active appointment are eligible to apply.

Faculty commitments/compensation

Participants will be compensated with a $1200 stipend for a commitment of 20 hours of project work, including asynchronous work and synchronous virtual training sessions. Participants will need to be available to attend all four synchronous sessions to receive the stipend. The final project must be completed by Friday, February 14, 2025.

Institute Dates

  • Thursday, January 9th, 2025, 10am-12pm
  • Tuesday, January 14th, 2025,10am-12pm
  • Thursday, January 16th, 2025, 10am-12pm 
  • Tuesday, January 21st, 2025, 10am-12pm 

Please fill out the OEP Institute application by November 25, 2024. If you have questions about the Institute or application process, please contact Joshua Peach, OER Librarian at jpeach@citytech.cuny.edu

New and Noteworthy OER 10/21

October 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

New and Noteworthy is the City Tech Library OER Team’s monthly roundup of notable open educational resources. We try to include at least one OER relevant to each school at City Tech in every post. At the end of the month, these resources will be compiled and distributed by the library liaison for your department. Please contact us if you know of new or particularly interesting OER to share with our colleagues or would like more information about open educational resources initiatives at City Tech.

Biological Sciences

Career and Technology Teacher Education

  • Interpreting AI in the News: A Media Literacy Plan, by Aspen Digital (2024). License: CC BY
    “To help the rising generation think critically about reporting on AI, Aspen Digital has published a media literacy lesson plan geared toward high school and junior college students: Interpreting AI in the News. This open educational resource is designed to equip students for an AI-driven world by fostering a deeper understanding of how the media portrays these emerging technologies. The plan includes a comprehensive set of resources: a materials list, resource links, detailed instructions, a sample presentation, conversation starters, assessment guidelines, and a vocabulary guide.”

Communication Design 

  • brAInchild: A Collection of Essays (2024). License: CC BY-NC-SA
    “This book is the work of a fourth-year seminar in [a] History and Theory of Art program. The course explores practical research methods and strategies on the theme of artificial intelligence (AI) and the visual arts. Each student has created an AI work using a platform of their choice, such as DALL-E or other image algorithms, with a prompt that interrogates an aspect of art history and theory. Their chapter then critically analyses the image considering its aesthetic qualities as well as questions of originality, intention, and creativity. The subsequent research surrounding each image examines the process of machine learning when used as an artistic tool; this in turn delves into the relationship between AI algorithms and the inclusion and exclusion of works from the art historical canon.”

Computer Systems Technology

  • Digital Skills: Artificial Intelligence (2024). License: CC BY-NC
    “This book includes modules that provide an introduction to various types of Artificial Intelligence (AI), using AI in your studies and the implications of AI for society.”
  • Introduction to Computers and Programming using Python: A Project-based Approach, by Esma Yildirim, Daniel Garbin, Mathieu Sassolas, and Kwang Hyun Kim, CUNY – Queensborough Community College (2021). License: CC BY-NC-SA
    “This book is designed to teach basic programming skills to students who are new to the field of computing using a project-based learning approach. It has been designed to give freedom to the instructor, both in format and topics ultimately used throughout the course. While we provide 13 turnkey projects, it is only expected that 3 or 4 are used over the course of a semester…”

Construction Management & Civil Engineering Technology 

  • 2024 Innovation in the Construction Industry (2024). License: CC BY-NC-ND
    “[Construction Management students at the University of Washington] in the Spring Quarter of 2024 worked individually on case studies of innovation in the Construction Industry.  Each student selected a topic that they were curious about, connected with industry professionals working in that area, interviewed those professionals, gathered documents, observed work, and summarized their case study analysis in this book.  Each chapter explores different elements of innovation using different perspectives and ways of thinking about a “case”.  Here in you will meet teams and individuals.  You will learn about different types of software, and different workflows and practices.  You will discover that innovation is made by people navigating institutional constraints, making many different types of decisions, and negotiating change across project teams and industry networks.  Welcome to an exploration of innovation in 2024.”

English

Health Sciences 

  • Hands-on Anatomy, by Jacqueline Phillips and Michael O’Hara, North Broad Press (2024). License: CC BY
    “Hands-on Anatomy targets undergraduate or graduate students who have completed an introductory anatomy course and are beginning to apply their anatomical knowledge to the human body, as well as healthcare professionals engaged in patient assessment and treatment.”

Hospitality Management

Nursing

  • Hands-on Anatomy, by Jacqueline Phillips and Michael O’Hara, North Broad Press (2024). License: CC BY
    “Hands-on Anatomy targets undergraduate or graduate students who have completed an introductory anatomy course and are beginning to apply their anatomical knowledge to the human body, as well as healthcare professionals engaged in patient assessment and treatment.”
  • Optimizing Population Health: Strategies for Advanced Level Nurses, by Kathy Andresen, University of West Florida Pressbooks (2024). License: CC BY-NC-SA
    “This resource provides an overview of population health concepts along with health promotion strategies utilized by advanced practice nurses. Resources are intended to be exemplary, but not exhaustive and introduce the reader to strategies that can be practiced while in graduate school as well as in healthcare settings.”

Open Data

  • UIS Data Browser, by UNESCO (2024). License: CC BY-SA
    “UIS Data Browser which brings together all our data on education, science, and culture, making it a convenient resource for everyone, from policymakers to researchers. With a refreshed interface, users can easily view and download customized data for their needs. The new browser also offers better tools for exploring metadata and documentation. Plus, the browser has great visualization features. You can filter indicators by country or region and create line or bar charts to see trends over time. It’s easy to share your findings on social media, too!”

    The data browser allows users to view and filter data and metadata, visualize and share it or download it in various formats (csv, excel). The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the official and trusted source of internationally comparable data on education, science, culture and communication. As the official statistical agency of UNESCO, and the custodian agency for Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Education (SDG 4), the UIS produces a wide range of data to inform the policies and investments needed to transform lives and propel the world towards its development goals.

City Tech OER team:

Anne Leonard, Interim OER Coordinator: aleonard@citytech.cuny.edu
Joshua Peach, Adjunct OER Librarian: jpeach@citytech.cuny.edu
Jo Thompson, Adjunct OER Librarian: jthompson@citytech.cuny.edu

Teaching & Learning Resources: Open Edition

October 7, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Teaching and learning is the heart of our work on the OER Team at the City Tech Library. While we assist with technical work, copyright, and the ins and outs of finding and licensing open educational resources, our goal is to provide faculty with opportunities to generate pedagogical materials and foster a classroom environment that is aligned with best practices in teaching and learning and with their own values as educators.

We have gathered some open resources below that deal explicitly with the subject of teaching and learning and its application of techniques and tools in the classroom, as well as in online instruction. Enjoy! 

  • 100 Ideas for Active Learning, by Active Learning Network (2022). License: CC BY
    “100 Ideas for Active Learning is a practical handbook to inspire innovative educational experiences. It is for educators and curriculum designers who wish to apply active learning tools and strategies in their own teaching and learning contexts. Effective learning happens through embodied experiences, when students are utilizing all their senses – physical, mental, emotional, and social. In this book, practitioners from around the world have come together to author one hundred short chapters, each with an idea designed to help educators encourage their students to take an active learning approach to their studies.”
  • Action Research for Teaching and Learning Handbook, by Dr. Zabedia Nazim and Dr. Sowmya Venkat-Kishore. License: CC BY-NC-SA
    “​​This Open Educational Resource (OER) supports the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) by offering curated materials for educators and researchers. Designed as a comprehensive guide, it assists in understanding and applying Action Research in teaching and learning. The resource covers formulating research questions by reflecting on teaching practices and applying findings to enhance educational practice. It also walks the novice and avid researcher through foundational elements of research, serving as a valuable digital library for scholars interested in improving their teaching and learning practice in higher education by using Action Research.”
  • Applications of Educational Technology, by Susan Stansberry (2018). License: CC BY-NC
    “This course is an introduction to the design and development of instruction using educational media and technology. It involves development of teaching and learning materials using digital technologies, contemporary applications of computers and other electronic systems to instruction. Because this is a preservice education course, the main focus is on effective integration of educational technology and instructional design.”
  • The Asynchronous Cookbook, by DLINQ staff contributors (2021). License: CC BY-NC-SA
    “Whether you’re teaching mostly in person but looking for some regular, asynchronous activities to add to your course, or teaching a fully online course, this resource is for you. The activities in this cookbook draw on research and good practice in online course design to provide recipes – concise and specific instructions and examples – for adding asynchronous activities to a course. Meaningful interaction between students and instructors is a key ingredient in all of these recipes.”
  • Design for Learning: Principles, Processes, and Praxis, by Jason K. McDonald and Richard E. West (2021). License: CC BY-NC
    “Our purpose in this book is twofold. First, we introduce the basic skill set and knowledge base used by practicing instructional designers. We do this through chapters contributed by experts in the field who have either academic, research-based backgrounds, or practical, on-the-job experience (or both). Our goal is that students in introductory instructional design courses will be able to use this book as a guide for completing a basic instructional design project. We also hope the book is useful as a ready resource for more advanced students or others seeking to develop their instructional design knowledge and skills.”
  • Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology, by Richard E. West (2018). License: CC BY
    “”What is this field?” “Where have we come from as a discipline, and where are we going?” “What do I want to study?”These and other questions are typical for new students in the field of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. This textbook is designed to help answer these questions and provide the quickest route to understanding the history and current trends in the field. After surveying classic theories and writings, as well as more recent applications of theory and practice, students will be better prepared to chart their own course and careers within the discipline. This book is designed to support foundations courses common in departments, as well as seminars on current trends and issues.” 
  • Game Based and Adaptive Learning Strategies, by Carrie Lewis Miller, Odbayar Batsaikhan, and Elizabeth Pluskwik (2022). License: CC BY-NC
    “This material can be used to teach pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and instructional designers about game-based and adaptive learning.  Assessments […] are included in the final chapter and serve as recommendations for assessments of the learning outcomes. The material in this book pairs well with Using Game-Based Learning Online – A Cookbook of Recipes by The EGG.” 
  • Hybrid-Flexible Course Design, by Brian Beatty (2019). License: CC BY
    “This volume provides readers with methods, case stories, and strategies related to Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course design so that they may make decisions about using it themselves and even begin their own HyFlex course (re)design. More specifically, based on the needs identified for their course(s), readers will be able to a) determine if and how HyFlex course design could help them solve critical needs, b) take advantage of emerging opportunities to improve their education practice, enabling them to better serve more students, c) gain an awareness of the HyFlex design, d) find their own innovative HyFlex solution to their specific challenges, and e) begin the HyFlex implementation process using strategies similar to those used by instructors described in this book. The volume describes the fundamental principles of HyFlex design, explains a process for design and development, and discusses implementation factors that instructors have experienced in various higher education institutions.”
  • Learning in the Digital Age, Rebecca Bayeck et al. (2020). License: CC BY
    “When discussing learning in the digital age, most focus on the technology first. However, the emphasis made in this book and the class is that it’s about the learner not just the technology. One of the things that is easy to lose track of when talking about learning in the digital age is the learner. Technology is important and it has significant impact but it is still about the person who is using the technology. Many people conflate learning in the digital age with technology in today’s age. This important misconception is common and results from our failure to examine our understanding of what “learning” really is.”

For more information about open educational resources, or to suggest additional resources, reach out to a member of the OER team. 

Anne Leonard (Interim OER Coordinator), aleonard@citytech.cuny.edu 
Joshua Peach (OER and Reference Librarian). jpeach@citytech.cuny.edu 
Jo Thompson (OER Librarian), jthompson@citytech.cuny.edu 

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