Early Bird

CDHE to host virtual OER summit Friday

The event highlights the role of Open Educational Resources in remote and online learning and includes MSU Denver experts.

June 1, 2020

The Colorado Department of Higher Education will host an Open Educational Resources Virtual Summit on Friday in collaboration with the Colorado OER Council. The event will also feature experts from Metropolitan State University of Denver, Community College of Denver and Colorado State University Pueblo. The summit is free, and sessions include Twitter chats, webinars and virtual panels, some of which require advance registration.

Open Educational Resources Virtual Summit

Friday

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

See full agenda

“At this unique time, and in place of our annual convening, we want to provide a virtual community of practice and learning that continues to support the tremendous efforts our faculty and staff have put forth in response to the pandemic and the needs of our students,” said Angie Paccione, Ph.D., executive director, CDHE. “Along with our ongoing initiatives, like Gov. (Jared) Polis’ Z Degree Challenge, this summit gives us an opportunity to share best practices and learn from leading experts on these topics.”

“I’ve put my advocacy for more access and equity in the classroom into practice by implementing OER into my Educational Foundations course for aspiring teachers,” said Jose Martinez Molinero, Ph.D., assistant professor, Education, at MSU Denver.

Martinez Molinero began by evaluating and reviewing an OER textbook through the Open Textbook Review Workshop last fall. He later joined the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design’s OER faculty learning community to learn about effectively implementing the textbook and other OER into his course. This semester, he piloted the OER textbook by including a chapter from the text.

The event will also include OER Council member Jonathan Poritz, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics at CSU Pueblo and author of two OER math textbooks, and Melissa Randall, instructor of business at Community College of Denver. Randall will present on employing open pedagogy approaches to guide undergraduate students in creating a business-law OER textbook, a project supported by a CDHE OER grant.

“It’s truly transformed our classroom and deepened students’ comprehension of legal concepts,” said Randall.

The newest cohort of OER grantee projects includes initiatives to expand OER for incarcerated learners, a statewide online math lab and several other institutional efforts to promote professional resources for faculty and staff supporting OER, among other projects funded earlier this year after approval from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

“Our aim is simple,” said Spencer Ellis, director of educational innovation at the CDHE. “We’re investing in the future of teaching and learning to expand access, contain costs and enrich learning experiences for students.”