This spring, Open Access Librarian Abbey Elder will be hosting three workshops for faculty interested in learning more about OER or creating OER themselves. All workshops will be provided via Zoom. An overview of the workshops is provided below:
Webinar, OER 101: An introduction to free and open course materials
Feb 23, 2022
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
In this lecture-based workshop, participants will learn about open educational resources (OER), free course materials that instructors can use in place of expensive textbooks and adapt to fit their course's needs. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of the benefits and challenges of using OER, resources that they can use to find and evaluate these materials, and methods for integrating high-quality OER into their courses.
Webinar, Publishing Open Textbooks with Pressbooks
May 03, 2022
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Are you interested in publishing or adapting an open textbook for your course? Attend our workshop to learn more about ISU Digital Press' book publishing software, Pressbooks, an easy-to-use tool that allows authors to export their online text into multiple formats (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) and integrate interactive videos and tools for active learning.
During this workshop, attendees will get:
- access to examples of the types of projects that can be created in Pressbooks,
- an overview of various tools and features available in the platform, and
- hands-on experience editing and writing in a practice Pressbook.
This workshop will be held virtually via Zoom. Pre-registration is required to set up attendees with an account on the Pressbooks platform.
Webinar, Making the most of Pressbooks: Making your course materials interactive
Jun 15, 2022
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Our university's open access textbook publishing software, Pressbooks, allows instructors to incorporate a variety of interactive elements into their books. In this workshop, participants will learn how to utilize the tools built into Pressbooks to improve the interactivity of their online course materials.
Specifically, this workshop will review how to utilize:
- H5P, an interactive assessment tool for creating quizzes and activities inside your text;
- Hypothesis, an annotation and note-taking software that allows readers to hold discussions, read socially, organize their research, and take personal notes within a shared learning space alongside your course materials; and
- Glossaries, textboxes, and embed features available to make your Pressbook project more appealing and easy for readers to navigate.
If you already have a Pressbooks account or if you attended our May Pressbooks workshop, you can follow along during the session. However, the tips and tricks will be helpful even for those who are still in the planning phase for their Pressbooks projects.