Symposium to focus on teaching with Open Educational Resources

Ask Huimei Delgado about the benefits of open educational resources and the Purdue math instructor is quick to emphasize the added flexibility, along with the potential for saving students money.

“Obviously, a lot of people are excited about the cost savings,” says Delgado. “In addition, Open Educational Resources provide a flexible means of tailoring course materials to fit specific needs.”

Open Educational Resources are educational materials distributed at no cost and with legal permission for the public to freely use, share, and build upon the content. On Nov. 8, ITaP is hosting an OER symposium to discuss the benefits and challenges of teaching with open resources. The symposium will also include information about Purdue’s Open Educational Resources Adoption and Replacement grants, which are designed to encourage faculty to use and create open access educational materials.  

Faculty and staff can register to attend the symposium, which is made up of three separate one-hour sessions and includes lunch. Anyone interested in learning more about educational resources, but unable to attend the event, can contact tlt@purdue.edu to request more information.

Delgado, who will be the symposium’s featured speaker, first began using open educational resources in 2015 as part of a Mathematics Department team that looked to find a replacement for expensive textbooks for a number of courses. This fall, the instructors and staff who worked on that project received the Leadership in Open Access Award from Purdue Libraries and the Office of the Provost.

“I’m also going to talk about some of the challenges that might come with using open resources,” says Delgado. “For example, it can be challenging to find the right materials or integrate different pieces, or it might be time consuming getting everything put together depending on what you are planning to do.”

The symposium will also feature ITaP instructional design specialists who work with faculty to help overcome some of those challenges, and a brain-storming session to help faculty collaborate on ways to use open educational materials in the classroom.

More information about each of the three hour-long symposium sessions, including how to register, can be found on the ITaP training calendar.

Writer: Dave Stephens, technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue, 765-496-7998, steph103@purdue.edu.

Last updated: October 31, 2018