Massive uptick in registration for the upcoming FREE four-week workshop, Adopting Open Textbooks, is a good indicator of OER community’s interest and involvement locally and globally.
With less than a week before it begins, the FREE four-week workshop on Open Textbooks can already be deemed a success. An 800% increase in registered participants indicates the high level of interest and acceptance of the topic and format, and because the platform will remain open, we’re expecting to see even more remote attendees.
The workshop will be facilitated by BCcampus Open Education experts:
- Clint Lalonde – Senior Manager, Open Education
- Amanda Coolidge – Manager, Open Education
- Lauri Aesoph – Manager, Open Education
“We’re very pleased with the response to this online workshop,” shared Lauri Aesoph, Manager of Open Education at BCcampus. “Last year’s enrolment was about 30; this year, so far, we have more than 240 registrants from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and other parts of Canada, as well as the U.S. and around the globe.”
This workshop is designed to provide practical, relevant information about implementing open textbooks into their learning model, either instructing or learning. Subject-matter experts with current information about a specific field, faculty seeking quality resources to support student learning, and anyone with questions about the open textbook concept are welcome to join the online workshop.
If this sounds like you, register to ensure you have the course materials and login credentials.
Registration is now closed.
Weekly focus
Each of the four weeks of the workshop will explore a different segment of open textbooks, and should take between 3 and 5 hours per week to complete the content, webinar, and activities:
Week 1 (January 12-16): What is Open? What is an Open Textbook?
Peel back the layers of open education and discover what’s involved in creating an open textbook and other Open Educational Resources.
Week 2 (January 19-23): Creative Commons Licenses
Become familiar with the application, impact, and use of Creative Common resources.
Week 3 (January 26-30): Institutional Readiness
What will your institution need to do to effectively transition to open textbooks?
Week 4 (February 2-6): Find, Evaluate and Modify Open Textbooks
What makes for a good open textbook, and what is its typical lifecycle?
The sessions are primarily asynchronous, allowing participants to work at their own speed and around their schedule. Each week will include at least one synchronous session of about 30 minutes, which will be recorded and shared online. These synchronous sessions will begin each Wednesday at 11am (PST) and available through the Blackboard Collaborate.
- Wednesday, Jan 14 OpenStax College
- Wednesday, Jan 21 Creative Commons
- Wednesday, Jan 28 Tidewater Community College
- Wednesday, Feb 4 Merlot
Participating online
The main site for the workshop is adoptOTB.com, and there is a Google+ community, Twitter hashtag (#AdoptOTB), and a Blackboard Collaborate space for the weekly synchronous sessions.
Notable quotes:
“This workshop covers the basics about open textbooks and how to adopt, or use, them in the classroom. The workshop is free and covers four weeks, starting January 12. Most of the sessions are asynchronous, convenient for busy faculty, though each week we will host a special guest during a synchronous session, which will be recorded and made available online.” ~ Lauri Aesoph