{"id":35,"date":"2022-02-06T18:17:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-06T18:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/integrations.pressbooks.network\/oerstarterkit\/chapter\/chapter-4-talking-about-oer\/"},"modified":"2022-05-19T20:06:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T20:06:47","slug":"chapter-4-talking-about-oer","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/integrations.pressbooks.network\/oerstarterkit\/chapter\/chapter-4-talking-about-oer\/","title":{"raw":"Talking about OER","rendered":"Talking about OER"},"content":{"raw":"
\n\nThis chapter was adapted in part from <\/em>The OER Starter Kit<\/em><\/a> by <\/em>Abbey Elder, licensed<\/em> CC BY 4.0<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>\n\nWhether you\u2019re an OER program manager or a staff member with no official OER duties in your job description, you\u2019ll likely be asked to answer many questions about OER as your program develops. In this chapter, we will be sharing some tips for answering common questions you may hear when talking about OER across your institution.\n

Addressing an Audience New to Open Education<\/h2>\n
    \n \t
  1. Explain that there are many options for adopting <\/strong>open educational <\/strong>practices <\/strong>(OEP)<\/strong>. Instructors can use open supplementary materials, such as slide sets or lecture notes, offer open content to students as self-study materials, or integrate an open pedagogy assignment into their course. An open textbook is not the single expression of the \u201cOER experience.\u201d<\/li>\n \t
  2. Don\u2019t assume ignorance from your audience.<\/strong> Ask if the instructor or staff member you are working with is familiar with open education or OER before reviewing the basics with them. Approach meetings with faculty as a conversation between peers rather than a lecture.<\/li>\n \t
  3. Alternatively, don\u2019t assume that your audience understands OER<\/strong> just because they have adopted open textbooks in the past or mentioned OER in passing. For example, librarians are often aware of trends in scholarly communication, but that doesn\u2019t guarantee that every librarian at your institution is well-versed in open licensing.<\/li>\n \t
  4. Emphasize the support available at your institution<\/strong>. Is there a way you can make finding and adopting OER easier for your instructors? Provide instructors with existing OER resources at your institution, such as those found in OER library guides. You don\u2019t want instructors to duplicate efforts or attempt to do all of the work on their own.<\/li>\n \t
  5. Conversely, make it clear what you cannot or will not do<\/strong>, and the required work faculty will need to do to locate and adopt OER for their courses. This will help you set expectations early, something we discuss in more depth in Chapter 12, Managing OER Consultations<\/a>.<\/li>\n \t
  6. Adopting OER may not be the best option for all instructors<\/strong>. Talk less, listen more. Rather than continuing to pitch a particular resource or set of resources to a reluctant audience, listen to the needs of the instructors at your institution and provide options for meeting those needs. You may be able to connect faculty with library licensed ebooks for their course, or find other alternatives that meet your faculty members\u2019 needs.<\/li>\n \t
  7. Avoid \u201cus vs. them\u201d language when discussing the pros and cons of open education<\/strong>. Many faculty members peer review or serve on editorial boards for traditional publishers, and some have written their own textbooks. These instructors often do this work because they care about advancing their discipline. Talking about any organization (i.e., a publisher, vendor, or institution) as if it is a monolith is likely to alienate your audience.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Benefits and Challenges of OER<\/h2>\nIf you\u2019ve ever skimmed through an OER library guide, you\u2019ve probably seen a list of \u201cbenefits and challenges\u201d to using OER. These lists are useful to have on hand when working with individuals new to open education. Below, we\u2019ve compiled some common benefits and challenges, and a description for each.\n

    Benefits<\/h3>\n

    No-cost Access Online and Low-cost Print<\/h4>\nBy definition, OER are free in perpetuity. Once you access content, you can download and keep a copy for as long as you\u2019d like. This gives OER a leg up on commercial electronic textbooks and homework software that might be utilized in a course once and then locked after a period of time. Instead of worrying about the cost of content and its effect on their well-being, students can access open course materials at any time without having to worry about the cost, even after their course ends. This not only supports students who may need to revisit content from an earlier course before diving into higher level content, but also empowers lifelong learning for nontraditional students and others who want to learn from the content, whether they are taking a related course or not. Additionally, the fact that OER start as digital materials allows students to access their course content on their phones and other mobile devices, allowing for a more flexible experience for users with diverse needs.\n\nSome critics have leveled the concern that because OER are digital, they can\u2019t support students who prefer their content in print; however, this is a fallacy. In addition to being free to access online, students can print as many pages as they want. Many open textbooks can be printed at a relatively low cost (under $50), and some OER platforms have made it even easier to obtain print versions of materials. For example, LibreTexts<\/a> offers a print-on-demand option for the books in its libraries, and OpenStax<\/a> has print versions that can be ordered in bulk by campus bookstores through the same systems they use to order traditional print books.\n\nTo review other options for getting access to affordable print OER, see Chapter 15, Making OER Available in Print<\/a>.\n

    Adaptable Content<\/h4>\nAdapting and revising content is both possible and encouraged thanks to the open licenses applied to OER. This freedom to adapt content allows instructors to more accurately match the materials they use with their course needs by adding or removing content. In addition to these simple edits, instructors using OER can also remix multiple materials by combining them to create something new. The adaptability allowed by the open licenses on OER can help instructors make a piece of content their own, whether they\u2019re making small changes or bigger ones. Simple adaptation examples include:\n