TRAILS News

It is officially fall, or maybe the new Montana hybrid of fall/winter.  During this season that is often full of preparing for family gatherings, work events, and more, TRAILS is busy ramping up the work in open education and textbook affordability.

New workshops have been added to the fall schedule.  New opportunities for professional development are coming up.  New grant opportunities are being prepared to be shared later this month.  Check out our latest schedule with links to sign up for any or all events.  Here’s the highlights.

More Virtual Review workshops have been added by faculty request.  This are a brief introduction to what OER is and how it may benefit you.

The ReDesign Your Course with OER class is running again!  This was a great success with faculty who participated this summer.  This fall, faculty will be joined with colleagues from Montana and other west coast states in this iteration of the class.  This is asynchronous to best fit your schedule and allow for the maximum benefit.  Questions?  Check out the introductory sign-up here.

NEW!!! An Open Pedagogy workshop is now on the schedule!  Yes, you requested it; it has been added.  Interested in learning more about open teaching practices but not sure about switching textbooks, maybe you don’t even use a textbook?  This is the workshop for you.

Looking for more from TRAILS OER?  Let me know what you need.  In the meantime, if you missed the Fall OER starter packet, this is full of lots of links and ideas to get you started.

Now that school is underway, are you ready to get involved in more with Open Education and Textbook Affordability initiatives?

The MUS TRAILS OER program is offering the following opportunities to Montana higher education institutions.  All events are free and open Registration.

• September 13th –  Faculty Virtual Textbook Review Workshop.  Textbook Review Workshops are 1 hour, providing and introduction and overview of OER.  The workshop will answer basic questions as well as provide faculty the opportunity to write a review of a textbook in the Open Textbook Library.   Register here.
• September 16th thru  November 10th – Open Educational Practices Course.  This course introduces participants to open educational practices. Topics include open educational resources, open content development, accessibility, instructional design, and open pedagogy. Open educational practices are applied throughout the course in a variety of individual and team learning activities. Register here.
• September 18th –  Community College Webinar on Copyright and Licensing with OER. No matter how long you’ve been an advocate of OER, you may sometimes feel like you need a (fun and nuanced) refresher on the nuts and bolts of “open.”  This webinar will engage a panel of experts in a discussion ranging from the basics of copyright and Creative Commons licensing to the tough questions we inevitably encounter when working with open resources.Register here.
• September 20th – Open Textbook Network Train OER Leaders Workshop. Details and Registration here.
• September 26th – Faculty Virtual Textbook Review Workshop. Textbook Review Workshops are 1 hour, providing and introduction and overview of OER.  The workshop will answer basic questions as well as provide faculty the opportunity to write a review of a textbook in the Open Textbook Library. Register here.
• October 15th –       Faculty Virtual Textbook Review Workshop. Textbook Review Workshops are 1 hour, providing and introduction and overview of OER.  The workshop will answer basic questions as well as provide faculty the opportunity to write a review of a textbook in the Open Textbook Library. Register here.
• October 1st –          Open Education Leadership: a global webinar.  Join us for an informative webinar on the ways OEC is meeting the needs of leaders including State or regional leaders; the Open Policy Forum; OpenEd Tech; and including information about leadership sessions at the Open Education Global Conference in Milan.Register here.
• October 17th –       Community College Webinar on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in OER. The OER movement is deeply rooted in ensuring equitable access to information; but there is more we can do to help increase equity, diversity, and inclusion in our resources. Join us for this webinar to learn about the ways in which colleges can consider issues of equity when designing and delivering OER courses and degree programs.  Register here.
• November 17th –  Community College Webinar on Measuring OER Impact Research.  When starting an OER initiative at your institution, it is important to consider how you will measure the impact that OER is having on teaching and learning. This webinar will discuss the best studies that are currently out there, key research designs for institutions, lessons learned, and what data institutions should be collecting right now. Register here.

More opportunities to come. Stay tuned!

It’s official!  The TRAILS OER program launched its first faculty incentive grant cycle last week.  We are soliciting applications today.  So, if you are teaching a course at a TRAILS  institution, you are encouraged to apply.  If you know someone teaching at a TRAILS institution, share this information with them.  Read the grant descriptions for this grant cycle and apply here.

For faculty working on  a course over the summer an thinking about adopting an open textbook, TRAILS is hosting a ReDesign Your Course with OER class during the summer.  This is a step-by-step class that will walk through changing textbooks and laying out a course with some instructional design methods woven in.  This class is asynchronous and can be taken at any point during the summer.  It will be available the first of June.  Individuals interested, curious about the details, or who want to know more before committing, please sign up here to get that information.