IDEAS WORTH SPREADING.
The 2021 Institute continues to promote “design thinking,” an intentional, creative approach to problem solving well suited to complex, dynamic environments like college and university campuses.
Institute Purpose and Design
Open educational resources are educational materials, from single lessons to entire textbooks, that are free for faculty and students to use, customize, and share. They have been proven to be a viable affordability strategy for higher education, saving students—and often institutions—money. Providing all students with free materials on the first day of class also tends to level the academic playing field. Research on OER has demonstrated that performance gaps have been narrowed and failure and withdrawal rates have been reduced in some contexts. As a result, OER are emerging as both a quality and an equity strategy for higher education that should be considered by all colleges and universities as they develop and revise their student success initiatives.
Designed for educators seeking to launch, expand, or hasten campus adoption of free and affordable instructional materials, the Institute on OER will help teams of faculty, staff, and administrators design and implement a campus transformation strategy to accelerate campus OER plans for large scale engagement and adoption. Campuses and systems exploring OER for affordability, student success, or student learning purposes are among those ideally suited for the Institute. Additionally, the Institute represents an opportunity for a campus to develop formal collaborations between various units, such as libraries, academic affairs, and student affairs, in the service of student learning and success.