Open education offers valuable opportunities for faculty to make their courses more engaging and affordable for all students. The University Library offers a suite of services to support instructors who want to adopt, remix, and/or publish their own open educational resources (OER) or engage in other open educational practices.
Benefits of OER
- All materials are free for students to access on the first day of class and in perpetuity.
- Digital and print copies are available for text-based content.
- OER come in many formats, including books, videos, simulations, and more.
- Instructors can customize materials to match their course's organization, content, or teaching style.
Learn More and Get Started Today!
Contacts
Open Education Services
The University Library offers services to support the implementation of OER and open educational practices across Iowa State University. Support available includes:
- Consultations to help instructors locate and evaluate OER
- Funding for OER adoption, editing, and/or development through the Miller Open Education Mini-Grant Program
- Training and professional development for instructors on open educational practices
Contact: Abbey K. Elder, aelder@iastate.edu
ISU Digital Press
The Iowa State University Digital Press supports the publication of open textbooks through Pressbooks, an easy-to-use web-based authoring tool that creates interactive, mobile-friendly web books with options to export in PDF and EPUB formats. The Digital Press provides:
- Project management, formatting, and peer review support for authors
- Easy embedding of multimedia content and interactive elements through H5P, Hypothes.is, and other tools
- Integrating open textbooks into Canvas through the Pressbooks LTI
Contact: Harrison W. Inefuku, hinefuku@iastate.edu
Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching
CELT partners with educators to support student-centered learning at Iowa State University. Their office can support:
- Training and professional development for educators on effective teaching practices
- Instructional design and course redesign support
- Coordination for course review and Quality Matters certification
Contact: celt@iastate.edu
Example OER
OER can vary widely in their length, format, and type. A demo showcasing various types of OER available in Pressbooks is available through the Iowa State University Digital Press:
Additional examples suited to a specific discipline or course can be located with support from Abbey K. Elder, the Open Education Lead on campus: aelder@iastate.edu