The Transition to Open Educational Resources
at UMUC
Megan Wilson, eResources Project Manager
Agenda
• eResources at UMUC
– Our Goals
– Our Process
• Tips, Tricks and Lessons Learned
• The Evolution of eResources at UMUC
• Successes
eResources Initiative
Goal
Every course will use electronic resources that are of no cost
to the student.
Milestones
• By fall 2014, 50% of all TUS courses will have been
through the eResources revision process.
• By fall 2015, 100% of all TUS courses will have been
through the process.
• By fall 2016, 100% of all TGS courses will have been
through the process.
eResources Process
Tips
• Establish a process, but leave room for flexibility.
• Be prepared to create content.
• Identify a team to review the terms of use for every
resource selected.
• Avoid linking to external content as much as possible.
• Build in time and resources for at least a minor redesign
of every course.
Tips
• Ensure ADA compliance.
• Develop a plan for courses relying on labs, software,
simulations, etc.
• Provide support to faculty in searching for openly
licensed resources.
• Provide resources to modify and improve existing OER
(don’t expect all content will be usable as is).
• Start with the most difficult/highest enrolled courses
first.
Tips
• Expect resistance. Change scares some people.
• Bring in an expert, like Cable Green or David Wiley, to
increase awareness of OER and to motivate faculty and
administrators.
Finding OER – Tricks of the Trade
• Saylor.org & MIT Open Courseware – Open
courses and books
• Boundless – (Semi) open books
• Open Textbook Library (UMN) – open books
• Project Gutenberg & Archive.org – public domain
• MyOpenMath
• Advanced Google Search
The Evolution of OER at UMUC
Pre-eResources Project
•
•
•
•
Adopt
Link
Insert resources
Treat eResources as a
special project
The New Normal
• Adapt and build
• Embed
• Design with electronic
resources
• Integrate electronic
resources into ongoing
course design and
development
How do we Measure Success?
How do we Measure Success?
Courses running with electronic resources at nocost to the students.
• 60% of all undergraduate courses running in fall
2014 have electronic resources at no-cost to the
students.
• By spring 2015, 84% of TUS courses will have
electronic resources at no-cost to the students.
How do we Measure Success?
In 2013, if every UMUC student purchased the required
materials for their courses, they spent over $8.5M on course
resources.
Term
% Savings
Total Savings
Spring 2014
17%
$1.1M
Summer 2014
30%
$1M
Fall 2014
54%
$3.25M
Thank you!
If you have any questions, please contact
Megan Benefiel
(Megan.Benefiel@umuc.edu).