Open Education Task Force

 

Open Education at Seattle University

 

Textbooks and other course materials represent a significant expense for students at Seattle University, on top of tuition and fees. National surveys indicate that students will skip buying assigned textbooks despite concerns that it will impact their grade. Open Education is a solution to this issue.

Seattle University supports faculty and instructors who are interested in incorporating open educational practices into their pedagogy. This support is rooted in Reigniting our Strategic Directions 2022-2027 and Goal One: Reimagine and Revise the Curriculum through the Open Education Task Force. 

 

What is Open Education?

Open education, as defined by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, includes resources, tools, and practices that are free of legal, financial, and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared, and adapted in the digital environment.

What are Open Educational Resources?

Seattle University uses SPARC’s definition of open educational resources ("OER") as teaching and learning materials shared with licenses that permit them to be freely reused and repurposed by others. OER is the foundation of open education, and individual OER carry legal permission for open use. “Open” permission are usually defined by an open license.

 

Ways to learn more about Open Education:

Seattle University supports faculty and instructors interested in incorporating open education into their courses in a variety of ways through collaborations between the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, Seattle University Law Library, the Center for Faculty Development, the Center for Digital Learning & Innovation, and other partners.

 

Workshops and consultations

The Open Education Task Force and the Center for Faculty Development regularly collaborate on a workshop about Open Education Resources. Find more on the Center for Faculty Development’s events page.  

The Center for Digital Learning & Innovation hosts quarterly workshops on finding Open Educational Resources. You can also book an individual consultation if you can’t make a workshop!

You can reach out to your Subject Liaison Librarian to schedule a consultation to find OER on a specific subject. You can also reach out to the Library if you are interested in using Library materials for your class.

 

Find Open Educational Resources

The Center for Digital Learning & Innovation maintains a guide to places to find Open Educational Resources.

Other broad places to start are:

• Open Textbook Library
• OpenStax
• BC Open Collection BCcampus

 

Questions

The co-chairs of the Open Education Task Force welcome any questions about open education!

Chris Granatino: granatic@seattleu.edu

Kyle Brown: kbrown7@seattleu.edu

 

Seattle University’s Membership in the Open Education Network

Seattle University is a member of the Open Education Network, an alliance of more than 1750 colleges and universities working together to make education more equitable, affordable, and accessible through the use of open textbooks.

As a member of the Open Education Network, Seattle University has access to programmatic, financial, and collective benefits to build sustainable open educational practices. The University’s participation in the OEN connects us to a community of practice of others working to support open education, and collectively support openly available programming and resources for all to use.

 

Open Education Task Force at Seattle University

The Open Education Task Force explores opportunities for open education and open educational resources (OER) at Seattle University, identifies actions to support those opportunities, and advocates for open education on campus. As a Reigniting Strategic Directions working group, the Open Education Task Force activities support Goal One: Reimagine and Revise the Curriculum. The Task Force’s ongoing work focuses on education, advocacy, and supporting faculty who choose to investigate and select open educational resources for their classes.

 

Task Force Composition:

Executive Sponsor: Provost Shane Martin

• Chris Granatino, Lemieux Library & McGoldrick Learning Commons (Co-Chair) 
• Kyle Brown, Seattle University Law Library (Co-Chair) 
• Heather Brown, College of Science & Engineering 
• Megan Otis, Center for Digital Learning & Innovation
• Mimi Cheng, College of Science & Engineering 
• Naho Umitani, Student Government of Seattle University Rep
• Likhitha Veganti, Graduiate Student Council Rep
• Michael MacTaggert, Student Bar Association Rep