Faculty workshop focusing on open educational resources

The McKillop Library is inviting faculty to an introductory workshop on open educational resources and open access textbooks, scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 22 in Room 106 of the library. The workshop will focus on locating and evaluating high-quality, peer-reviewed resources and textbooks to incorporate into lessons, exams and assignments.

Open educational resources are teaching, learning and research materials that are free of copyright or license restrictions. Faculty members may choose to replace a paid textbook with a freely available textbook or with a series of resources. These freely available materials can be reused, revised, remixed and redistributed, providing an opportunity to move away from traditional textbook-based instruction and explore alternative methods of instruction.

Last September, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo launched the open textbook initiative, which aims to save college students $5 million a year by replacing traditional textbooks with openly licensed textbooks or other open educational resources. Salve Regina has pledged to participate in this initiative with other Rhode Island colleges and universities, supporting the University’s mission to make it easier for students of all financial backgrounds to afford college and succeed academically.

As part of this initiative, Salve Regina has committed to helping interested faculty adopt open educational resources to replace paid materials, and to annually submit data about the adoption of these resources to compare the University’s success with participating Rhode Island institutions. John Lewis, collection services librarian, is coordinating the open textbook initiative at Salve Regina, and librarians are providing individual support and workshops for faculty.