Early Bird

MSU Denver awarded $60K to support Open Educational Resources

CDHE grant will target faculty adoption of teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain.

By Lindsey Coulter

January 28, 2019

You might remember an October Early Bird article requesting candidate courses for a Colorado Department of Higher Education grant. Good news! Your responses — and the hard work of Provost Vicki Golich, Ph.D.; Emily Ragan, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and Open Educational Resources coordinator; and Matt Griswold, director, Online Programs — have paid off to the tune of $60,000. The CDHE grant will support faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources, particularly targeting courses with high enrollment and high materials costs.

OERs are teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual-property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. Open Educational Resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software and any other tools, materials or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

“Open Educational Resources are a fantastic fit with MSU Denver because they align so well with our mission, which includes access,” Ragan said. “OERs benefit students by reducing costs and providing equitable access to materials. They are also a natural fit with our faculty, who are dedicated to teaching and innovating in the classroom.”

The first meeting of the OER FLC is Thursday. To learn more, contact Emily Ragan or visit the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design website.