The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill already has some groundwork laid for OER with the Carolina Open Education Resources Collection (Carolina OER or COER). The following ideas are intended for UNC Chapel Hill and with their existing groundwork in mind.
Integrate Carolina OER into a required part of orientation for new professors
A huge factor contributing to the lack of OER use is simply that people don’t know that it is available to them. I would make sure that the Carolina OER is really played up to new professors, outlining the ways in which it would benefit them (saving time, money, etc).
Offer bi-monthly seminars about OERs for faculty and require all faculty to attend one at least every other year.
The COER Committee would host these seminars every other month. These sessions would be crash courses in OERs, what they are, how to contribute to them, how to use them, why they’re important, etc. The seminars would also provide faculty with information regarding incentives (as outlined below). These seminars would also be a place for faculty to ask any questions they might have.
Offer incentives for contributions to the OER
I would implement interdepartmental and intradepartmental competitions. There would be awards for departments and individuals who reach a minimum number of contributions to the OER. Once that minimum contributing number is met, individuals and departments will be entered to win a much larger incentive for first, second, and third most contributions.
Departments:
When a minimum of 10 unique contributions are made from a single department, that department receives a number of bonus vacation hours to be distributed among members of that department. These departments will also receive a seal that they may place on their website or other publicity materials indicating they are a contributor.
“Unique Contributions” are defined as work not already submitted by another individual. For example, if Professor Jane and Professor John collaborated (directly or indirectly) on a lesson plan/lesson materials, only one would be allowed to submit the materials as a unique contribution.
Once departments meet the 10 contribution minimum, they are notified of their automatic entry into the annual interdepartmental competition. Departments with the first, second, and third most contributions to the Carolina OER (or proof of contribution to other OERs) will be awarded with a to-be-determined prize intended to be split between members of the winning departments.
Individuals:
When a minimum of 2 unique contributions are made from a single professor, that professor will receive a one-time bonus included on a paycheck. Professors who meet this contribution minimum will also receive a certification recognizing their contributions that may be added to CVs, personal websites, etc.
“Unique Contributions” are defined as work not already submitted by another individual. Adaptations of previously submitted work may be considered as unique contributions if the added content or adaptation is deemed to enhance the accessibility or content in a significant way. These instances would be reviewed by the COER Committee.
Create OER exposure/education requirements for certain curricula at UNC Chapel Hill, namely English 105 and introductory EDUC (School of Education) Courses. The idea here is to educate potential future educators about OERs and promote OERs early. This promotional idea would be for “the future faculty.”
English 105 is a required course for undergraduate students at UNC Chapel Hill. There are very few circumstances under which a student might not have to take the course (instances of a transfer student for example). In English 105, students are exposed to varied aspects of English writing, from book reports, to food reviews, to journal articles. Integrating OER as a topic or unit within this course would be a great way to expose students to OERs early. The assignment could be something as simple as “Select a lesson plan from OER Commons and adapt it to your style of learning or add 1-2 pages of content that you think would be helpful to the existing lesson plan.”
Many students taking EDUC courses are interested in education in some way, whether it’s becoming a teacher, administrator, instructional analyst, or course designer. These students should be aware of OERs right out of the gate. Arguably, there should be an entire elective course dedicated to learning about OERs, how to contribute to them, and how to use them to your benefit.
Handling concerns about OERs.
For those interested in OERs but who may have questions not answered, or not adequately answered I would instate a monthly open forum where anyone (professors, students, really anyone) may ask questions about the Carolina OER or about OERs in general. These monthly meetings would be hosted by at least 2 members of Carolina’s OER Committee. These monthly forums would be in addition to an open line of communication for questions or concerns via email to committee members.
I have neither given nor received aid while working on this assignment. I have completed the graded portion before looking at anyone else's work on this assignment. Signed Libby Soucaze.