Becoming an OER Advocate<\/h2>\r\nAdvocating for OER use on your campus -- among your students, colleagues, and campus leadership -- is the next step on your journey. Students may not realize that they can play a key role in OER adoption on campus. Faculty on your campus may have never heard of OER, or if they have, they may not know how to start using them in their courses. And campus leadership may not be aware of the institutional benefits of adopting a campus-wide OER initiative.\r\n\r\n![\"Faculty](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3065\/2018\/06\/23191142\/group-discussion-300x200.jpg\")
Take the initiative to share your experiences with OER, and even any apprehensions you might have about integrating OER into your teaching, learning, and research. Many campuses hold OER-themed programming, like panel discussions or workshops, during Open Education Week<\/a> or similar annual events. These provide opportunities for you to become involved in programming that supports OER use on campus.\r\n\r\nRemember, SUNY OER Services<\/a> partners with local practitioners for workshops on incorporating OER in the classroom; using and remixing content; and understanding open licensing. SOS can also help you work with campus stakeholders to build sustainable practices around OER.\r\nFinding Other Campus Advocates<\/h2>\r\nSupport from a school's administration, including the president and provost, is critical to the launch and continued success of any OER initiative. While individual faculty users of OER have clear impact for their students, administrative leadership can offer resources to connect faculty, provide support, and institutionalize OER programs to build a sustainable campus initiative. <\/span>Finding ways to incentivize and help faculty take the challenge of reengineering their courses is one of the most important steps in this process.\r\n\r\nYour campus most likely has an OER \u201cpoint person\u201d in place. This person typically serves as the primary contact for faculty, administration, and technical support teams. Acting as a campus liaison, this person should be able to provide accurate and useful information on OER use, and direct you to the appropriate resources.\r\n\r\nThis advocate can support your OER use by:\r\n\r\n \t- Explaining the benefits and challenges of integrating OER into your work<\/li>\r\n \t
- Helping you find, evaluate, adopt, adapt, and\/or create OER<\/li>\r\n \t
- Exploring options on your campus and beyond to store, share, and maintain OER<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Promoting and Sustaining OER Initiatives<\/h2>\r\nMeasure Success:<\/strong> Be sure that you are articulating the change in students and their learning since you have transitioned your courses to OER. If possible, try to show specific metrics in changes in completion rates, changes in test scores, or changes in final grades between your open materials and your previous conventionally published textbook.\u00a0Your campus\u2019s institutional research office may be able to help you identify these statistics.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShare your Materials:<\/strong> For many faculty, time is a big reason why they won\u2019t adopt open materials. When you share your completed OER classes, you make it easier for your colleagues to follow in your footsteps. Sharing isn\u2019t always easy, because it allows outsiders a more complete view into your course than you might be accustomed to, but sharing is the fastest way to inspire others in your field to adopt open education. If your whole course isn\u2019t ready to go public yet, that\u2019s okay - even making individual modules, handouts, lessons, or presentations can provide your colleagues a huge leg up.\r\n\r\nFind Friends:<\/strong> Faculty, librarians, and instructional designers who embrace OER are key in advancing an initiative on campus. These stakeholders serve as OER champions and understand that a successful implementation can result in the benefits OER offers, such as increased student savings, and increased success and retention rates. These colleagues can offer inspiration, commiseration, and opportunities that you may not be aware of on your own.\r\n\r\nIdentify Likely Administrative Champions:<\/strong> Talk about your success in open education with a trusted administrator, such as a dean or director. Chances are that your administration has heard of open education and might be looking for someone to help demonstrate the impact of open education to encourage others.\r\n\r\nBuild Your Message:<\/strong> If you are interested in growing open education at your institution, it will help you to build a cohesive message that resonates with others. Consider your goals, the reasons why you are interested in adopting open materials, and who you would like to influence as you craft a clear message that will inspire your colleagues, administrators, and students to support your efforts. It helps to be specific about what you want to achieve, and what you might need to make your open education work a success. Having an \u201celevator pitch\u201d ready for OER will come in handy in unexpected ways.\r\nThis content is adapted from the following works:<\/span><\/h2>\r\n\"Faculty Planning<\/a>\"\u00a0by\u00a0Open Education Consortium, licensed under\u00a0CC BY 4.0<\/a>","rendered":"
- \r\n \t
- Explaining the benefits and challenges of integrating OER into your work<\/li>\r\n \t
- Helping you find, evaluate, adopt, adapt, and\/or create OER<\/li>\r\n \t
- Exploring options on your campus and beyond to store, share, and maintain OER<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Promoting and Sustaining OER Initiatives<\/h2>\r\nMeasure Success:<\/strong> Be sure that you are articulating the change in students and their learning since you have transitioned your courses to OER. If possible, try to show specific metrics in changes in completion rates, changes in test scores, or changes in final grades between your open materials and your previous conventionally published textbook.\u00a0Your campus\u2019s institutional research office may be able to help you identify these statistics.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShare your Materials:<\/strong> For many faculty, time is a big reason why they won\u2019t adopt open materials. When you share your completed OER classes, you make it easier for your colleagues to follow in your footsteps. Sharing isn\u2019t always easy, because it allows outsiders a more complete view into your course than you might be accustomed to, but sharing is the fastest way to inspire others in your field to adopt open education. If your whole course isn\u2019t ready to go public yet, that\u2019s okay - even making individual modules, handouts, lessons, or presentations can provide your colleagues a huge leg up.\r\n\r\nFind Friends:<\/strong> Faculty, librarians, and instructional designers who embrace OER are key in advancing an initiative on campus. These stakeholders serve as OER champions and understand that a successful implementation can result in the benefits OER offers, such as increased student savings, and increased success and retention rates. These colleagues can offer inspiration, commiseration, and opportunities that you may not be aware of on your own.\r\n\r\nIdentify Likely Administrative Champions:<\/strong> Talk about your success in open education with a trusted administrator, such as a dean or director. Chances are that your administration has heard of open education and might be looking for someone to help demonstrate the impact of open education to encourage others.\r\n\r\nBuild Your Message:<\/strong> If you are interested in growing open education at your institution, it will help you to build a cohesive message that resonates with others. Consider your goals, the reasons why you are interested in adopting open materials, and who you would like to influence as you craft a clear message that will inspire your colleagues, administrators, and students to support your efforts. It helps to be specific about what you want to achieve, and what you might need to make your open education work a success. Having an \u201celevator pitch\u201d ready for OER will come in handy in unexpected ways.\r\n
This content is adapted from the following works:<\/span><\/h2>\r\n\"Faculty Planning<\/a>\"\u00a0by\u00a0Open Education Consortium, licensed under\u00a0CC BY 4.0<\/a>","rendered":"