Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Academic Department
• Assistive Technology or Disability Services Office
• Faculty Champions(s)
• Library
• Student Government
• Teaching and Learning Center
• Other

Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Scholarly Communication

Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:

• Biological and related sciences
• Business and administration
• Engineering and engineering trades
• Social and behavioral sciences

Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:

• Library Services
• Professional Development
• University Press/Publishing

OER Staff Location:

• Library

The Open Education Initiative Faculty Grants program encourages the use of existing and creation of new information resources to support student learning. This effort supports faculty who are interested in pursuing non-traditional open education resources and new forms of digital scholarship as alternatives to traditional textbooks and homework software access codes. This effort also supports faculty who are interested in further sharing their original works as open educational resources as part of the university’s land grant mission.

Program Type:

• Grant Program

Duration: 10/2017 - Present

Program Webpage: http://guides.lib.vt.edu/oer/grants

Scope: OER (open course content)

Primary OER Strategy: OER Publication

Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adaptation, OER Adoption, OER Awareness, OER Review/Assessment

Unit Housing the Program:

Library

Program Partners:

• Academic Department
• Academic/Information Technology
• Assistive Technology or Disability Services Office
• Faculty Champions(s)
• Library
• Teaching and Learning Center

Source of Program Funding:

• Library’s special project fund

Funding from Library Departments:

• Scholarly Communications

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 15,000

Total Student Savings to Date: $ 484,900

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Financial incentives (grants, stipends)
• Instructional design assistance
• Technical assistance
• Professional development
• Award or public recognition

Conditions: Recipients are required to openly license and freely share resources created or adapted

Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 6,000

Total number of incentive grants awarded to date: 2

Typical amount of each grant: $ 3,000

Links:
MOU for Participants

VT Publishing is the scholarly publishing hub of Virginia Tech. Based in the University Libraries, we are committed to increasing the visibility, reach, and impact of research produced at Virginia Tech. We publish scholarly and educational materials in multiple formats for wide dissemination and permanent preservation.
We offer:
Hosting and publishing journals, with an emphasis on online, open access formats
Working with Virginia Tech faculty to develop and publish openly licensed online textbooks and other educational resources, focusing especially on fields dominated by expensive, commercially published textbooks
Developing innovative online scholarly projects, including those in the Digital Humanities, that speak to multiple communities
Publishing book-length works (including edited and conference volumes) in digital open access editions, with a print-on-demand option
Creating permanent, accessible versions of faculty publications and related materials
Consulting on publishing-related issues such as how to get published, finding the right publisher, distinguishing between open access and toll access journals, understanding copyright and fair use, etc.

Program Type:

• Publishing/Development Program

Duration: 04/2018 - Present

Program Webpage: https://publishing.vt.edu

Scope: Cost-free course content, including OER

Primary OER Strategy: OER Publication

Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adaptation, OER Adoption, OER Awareness, OER Review/Assessment

Unit Housing the Program:

Academic Department

Source of Program Funding:

• Library’s general operating budget
• President, Chancellor, or Provost’s budget

Funding from Library Departments:

• Collections & Technical Services
• Scholarly Communications

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 1

Taking a transparent, public or open approach to one’s work as an instructor or academic can be daunting for even the most competent and skilled faculty. Faculty, students, and a librarian from five different Virginia institutions of higher education are involved in working in the open -- in their teaching, publishing, creating with students, and/or building or leveraging learning experiences. Panelists discuss their motivations, opportunities leveraged, and challenges they encounter in taking non-traditional and open approaches to teaching, learning, and publishing.

Matthew DeCarlo, Radford University; Susan Erickson, Virginia Wesleyan University, Associate Hub-Director #openlearning18; James Harder, Virginia Tech; Jennifer Kidd, Old Dominion University; Kathryn Murphy-Judy, Carrie Hamilton, and Savannah Aigner, Virginia Commonwealth University; Amy Nelson, Virginia Tech, Steering committee member, #openlearning18; Moderator: Anita Walz

Date: March 19, 2018

Event Type:

• Panel/Roundtable

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 18

Links:
Promotional Material
Recording

In this presentation, Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener outlines the key points of the open education philosophy. He addresses common criticisms of open education and presents case studies to support his assertions. In particular, he discusses Noba, an open educational resource for psychology instruction.

Date: March 17, 2016 - March 17, 2016

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 30

Links:
Recording

Open Education practices (OEP) have emerged as a transformational force in higher education. Whereas, higher education promises to be an instrument for economic and social mobility, in reality our institutions reinforce existing inequalities: Achievement, engagement, and persistence are closely tied to affordability. Our claim to be student-centered is likewise hypocritical as faculty pressures, accreditation requirements, and budgetary constraints influence or dictate the structure and content of learning experiences. Open Educational practices support teaching, learning, and publication in an increasingly diverse faculty and student body. OEP encompass the creation, adaptation, and adoption of open educational resources, open course development, and even the design of renewable, real-world assignments where students are empowered as co-creators of knowledge. This presentation draws on a diverse set of examples to make a case for why the shift away from traditional (closed) practices is not only desirable but also inevitable, and how OEP support the modern university’s mission by serving academic achievement, faculty and student engagement, diversity & inclusion, pedagogical innovation, and the university’s Land-grant mission. This event was part of Virginia Tech’s Open Education Week 2018 Symposium. Presenter: Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani

Date: March 19, 2018

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Approximate Attendees: 30

Links:
Promotional Material
Recording

Three faculty panelists and open education librarian, Anita Walz, explore varying approaches to innovative and open educational resources. This presentation will especially be of interest to those interested in a discussion of an ecosystem which contains open and commercial learning resources. Panelists include: Dr. Clifford Shaffer, Professor of Computer Science, Virginia Tech Dr. Benjamin Jantzen, Assistant Professor Philosophy, Virginia Tech Dr. Bruce Mahin, Professor of Composition and Music Theory, Radford University The Multimedia tour showcases innovative and open educational resources from Virginia Tech, Radford, and beyond. URLs for two of the live demos: http://algoviz.org (Cliff Shaffer) https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/i-love-music/id575931871?mt=11 (Bruce Mahin)

Date: March 28, 2014 - March 28, 2014

Event Type:

• Panel/Roundtable

Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER

Links:
Recording

Presenters: Jennifer Kidd, Cliff Shaffer, Steve Greenlaw, Steve Ellingson, Jyldyz Bekbalaeva, and Robert Browder shared short presentations on open practices in higher education.

Date: March 19, 2018

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Scope: OER (open course content)

Links:
Promotional Material

Open practices represent opportunities to align scholarly and instructional processes with scholarly ideals, ethical stances, real work impacts, and aspirations for a more just and equitable world. There are many types of “open.” The three we will discuss, open access, open education, and open data practices may appear distinct and siloed from each other; This is only a surface-level view. In reality, these open practices areas have tremendous areas of overlap. Their underlying values reflect similar aspirations for the common good, and aims of overcoming some shared problems found in research and instruction in higher education and in society in general.

 This panel features students, faculty, and administrators with wide range of expertise in the three areas of open access, open education, and open data. Join us for a stimulating conversation in which we come to understand the differences and similarities between the opens, their purposes, and their potential.

Presentations: Peter Potter, Anita Walz. Panelists: Karen DePauw, Rajiv Jhangiani, Philip Young, Jon Petters, Mayra Artiles, Monti Abbas. Moderator: Peter Potter

Date: March 19, 2018

Event Type:

• Panel/Roundtable

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 50

Links:
Promotional Material
Recording

Creating eBooks: A Discussion of Tools, Technology & Techniques (Open Education Symposium 2018). Presentation and discussion led by Corinne Guimont and Robert Browder.

Date: March 20, 2018

Event Type:

• Panel/Roundtable

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Links:
Promotional Material

Traditional course assignments are usually “disposable” in that students work to produce a discrete artifact that will be seen by just their instructor. It is little surprise then that students struggle to see meaning in these types of assignments, which usually end up in the recycling bin. Faculty, on the other hand, take pains to provide meaningful, formative feedback that we often find has been retrieved and read by only a tiny fraction of our students. So what if we forgo the disposable assignment and instead harness our students’ energy, potential, and creativity to have them produce resources for the commons? This is the philosophy behind OER-enabled pedagogy.

This hands-on workshop will equip participants with practical strategies and a suite of supporting resources with which to (re)design their course assignments. During this workshop participants will work collaboratively to generate and provide feedback on one another’s draft projects, which will themselves be shared as a public resource. Presenter: Rajiv Jhangiani

Date: March 20, 2018

Event Type:

• Workshop/Professional Development

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Scope: Cost-free course content, including OER

Links:
Promotional Material
News Coverage

Creative Commons licenses allow no-cost access, redistribution, remix, and reuse with attribution. This session is for faculty (and others) who want to know about no-cost platforms which enable sharing, finding, creating, and/or adapting of openly licensed or public domain resources. This session features live demos by expert users or creators of a selection of no-cost (some freemium) platforms and/or collaborative communities, including: VTechWorks, Merlot, Open Textbook Library, OER Commons, VT’s Odyssey learning object repository, Overleaf, Pressbooks, and Rebus Community for Open Textbook Creation. This event was offered during Open Education Week 2017. Moderator: Anita Walz.
Presenters: Anita Walz, Virginia (Ginny) Pannabacker, Kayla McNabb, Ryan Looney, Lisa Pedrides, Melinda (Mindy) Bolin, and Hugh McGuire.

Date: April 26, 2017 - April 26, 2017

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Scope: OER (open course content)

Event Hashtag: #openeducationwk

Links:
Event Summary
Recording

Virginia Tech faculty members discuss their experiences as adopters, adapters, and authors of open educational resources. The panel explores use and creation of open textbooks and online course materials and systems, including OpenStax Concepts of Biology, Fundamentals of Business, and Carnegie Online Learning Initiative. Student perspectives are also included. Panelists include: Stephen Skripak, Anastasia Cortes, Jonathan de Pena, Mary Lipscombe, Mayra Artiles, Jane Roberson-Evia, Peter Potter. Moderator: Anita Walz

Date: March 28, 2017 - March 28, 2017

Event Type:

• Panel/Roundtable

Scope: OER (open course content)

Event Hashtag: #openeducationwk

Links:
Recording

Virginia Tech’s Student Government Association (SGA), with assistance from the University Libraries, designed and developed an Open Education Week exhibit to educate and to solicit visitor input. The interactive exhibit featured a range of required student learning materials including textbooks, homework access codes, software, and clickers, visual representations of data related to course material costs and student responses, information about open education options, a new Creative Commons brochure, CC stickers, and several interactive features. Students also had the opportunity to write a personalized message on an SGA-designed postcard to their professor, department head, or whomever they want to contact.

Date: March 27, 2017 - April 7, 2017

Links:
News Coverage

This presentation will introduce the concepts of open education and open educational resources within the overall context of openness. The term Open Education broadly means resources and practices which reduce barriers to learning.
Two of the most popular applications include: teaching openly or open pedagogy -- the idea of letting the public into your classroom -- and the use/adaptation/creation of open educational resources which allow for greater academic freedom and pedagogical flexibility.
By the end of this interactive session participants should be able to articulate explain several ways one can engage in open education, list benefits and potential drawbacks to open educational activities, and explain whether one might engage in open educational activities in the future. Presenter: Anita Walz

Date: March 17, 2016 - March 17, 2016

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Scope: OER (open course content)

Links:
Promotional Material

Introduction by Julie Speer, Associate Dean for Research & Informatics. Opening remarks by Anita Walz, Assessment, Open Education & Online Learning Environments Librarian. Mohammed Seyam discusses the value of openly licensed material as a student, research, and graduate assistant. Heath Hart reflects on his adoption of an open educational resource and a (subscribed) online textbook in, “A Rousing Success and an Unmitigated Disaster.” Greg Hartman discusses his experiences authoring open-source (CC BY-NC) textbook, “APEX Calculus” http://www.apexcalculus.com. Peter Doolittle discusses the open education movement from a teaching and learning perspective, moving beyond just content into process. Presentations are followed by audience and panelist discussion.

Date: Feb. 25, 2015 - Feb. 25, 2015

Event Type:

• Panel/Roundtable

Scope: OER (open course content)

Links:
Recording

National surveys suggest that rising textbook costs have a negative impact on student learning. How are VT students responding to rising costs in their course selections, perception of academic performance, number of hours worked for pay, and methods of acquiring learning resources? How closely do textbook cost-related impacts at Virginia Tech match available national data?

This presentation gives a first look at a recent survey of 300+ Virginia Tech students (IRB 15-138) in national context, their reported methods of acquiring required learning resources, use of unassigned resources, and levels of concern regarding academic performance. The presenter, Anita Walz will also discuss assumptions of the Open Education movement (the movement for open textbooks and Open Educational Resources) as part of the presentation.

Date: March 15, 2016 - March 15, 2016

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Links:
Promotional Material

Go To Resource

The Librarian OER Toolbox is a collection of links to (mostly) open resources. It is designed for librarians, expert searchers, and people who "enjoy the hunt" through overwhelming volumes of information. This site represents the most comprehensive lists we have found of the places to look for open educational resources written in English. It also includes various tools for building skills with regard to open education and open educational resources.

Resource Permissions:
CC BY

Resource Citation:
Walz, Anita [date retrieved] "Open Educational Resources: Librarian Tool Box" Retrieved from: http://guides.lib.vt.edu/oer/lib-toolbox

Go To Resource

This session is designed to introduce educators and authors to conceptual and useful aspects of open licensing of content, Creative Commons licenses, and Open Educational Resources. The session introduces open licensing and Creative Commons, rationale behind open licensing and the sharing economy, how (and why) to openly license, where to archive, and will provide guidance on finding, properly attributing, remixing and using openly licensed resources. Slides: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/50583

Resource Permissions:
CC BY

Resource Citation:
Walz, Anita (February 2015) "Get creative (and stay legal): Copyright compliance with Open Licensing, Creative Commons, and Open Educational Resources" Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51601