Welcome to our next topic in the ‘Open Ed in a Minute’ series! Today, we'll explore how to get the most out of JCU Library’s Readings platform to support teaching and help your students succeed with the best free-for-students resources!

About Readings

JCU Library’s Readings platform enable lecturers to curate the best available content providing students with diverse, comprehensive and free learning materials. These materials can be drawn from Library collections along with high-quality content that is freely available online.

Readings benefits for you and your students

• Students have a consistent experience when accessing their reading materials across different subjects
• Readings content and links are checked and maintained by Library staff
• Library staff are available for troubleshooting
• Readings can be divided into sections and linked by a relevant week or module in LearnJCU
• Readings includes student engagement analytics
• Subject readings can be viewed in a range of referencing styles
• Although directly linked in LearnJCU, Readings is available independently 24/7. This means subject readings can be accessed even if LearnJCU is not available.

Get the ball rolling

1. Learn about Readings and Readings best practice at JCU.
2. Learn about JCU Library’s Textbook Affordability Project, 2024-2025.
3. Ask your Liaison Librarian for help and advice.
4. Stay up to date about textbook affordability and open education at JCU. Request to join the JCU Open Education SIG.  

We hope this has inspired you to dust off your subject Reading list to enhance its potential for your students. In the next post, we'll dive into the benefits finding and adopting/using open educational resources (OERs).

Welcome to our next topic in the ‘Open Ed in a Minute’ series! Today, we'll explore finding and adopting/using open educational resources (OERs) to support teaching and help your students succeed with high-quality, accessible OERs!

About OERs

Open educational resources (OERs) are resources that reside in the public domain or have been licensed to permit free use, distribution and re-purposing by others. They:

• Give you the ability to adapt instructional resources to the individual needs of your students
• Allow you to ensure that learning resources are up to date.
• Ensure that cost is not a barrier to learning for your students.
• Are being used for education purposes across the globe and are becoming mainstream (used and developed) within Australian higher education.

Steps for identifying and adopting/using OERs

Selection and adoption/use of OERs requires pretty much the same process as selecting a traditional textbook or readings for your students. You may identify one OER that meets your needs, or you could end up using sections from multiple OERs.

1. Decide what you need 💭 Do you want:
   • OERs with interactive elements and/or embedded multimedia (e.g., H5Ps, videos)?
   • inclusion of supplementary/ancillary materials (e.g., lesson plans, slides)?
   • Australianised content (e.g., metric measurements, professional standards)?
   • accessibility features (e.g., download options, diverse perspectives)?   
2. Search trusted/recommended repositories 📚 Top repositories include:
   • JCU Library Discovery Collections (JCU Library curated OERs by discipline)
   • JCU Open eBooks (home-grown at JCU)  
   • Open Educational Resources Collective (Australasian)
   • Pressbooks Directory
   • Open Textbook Library
   • OpenStax
   • OER Commons
3. Use advanced search filters 🔎 Advanced search filters will narrow down your results. Where available, filter:
   • by publisher to limit to OERs developed by Australian universities.
   • by date for OER currency
   • for resources that have been peer-reviewed
   • for resources with a Creative Commons license that is compatible with your preferred teaching format (e.g., online, blended, or face-to-face).
   • by content type to find videos, notes, homework sets, textbooks, tutorials, etc.
4. Evaluate OERs for quality and relevance 🧐 Evaluate identified OERs as you would a traditional textbook. You could also consider whether the resources align with your learning objectives, are culturally inclusive, or can be easily adapted to meet your students' needs. 
5. Integrate selected OERs thoughtfully ⚒️ Leverage OERs and develop a best practice approach supporting learning and teaching in your subject/s.

Get the ball rolling

1. Learn about JCU Library’s Textbook Affordability Project, 2024-2025.
2. Check out our OER Library Guide.
3. Ask your Liaison Librarian for help and advice.
4. Stay up to date about textbook affordability and open education at JCU. Request to join the JCU Open Education SIG.  

We hope this has inspired you to consider adopting/using OERs to enhance student success. In the next post, we'll dive into the benefits finding and adopting/using open educational resources (OERs).

“Open Ed in a Minute: Students succeed with adoption/use of OERs” is a derivative of “2.2 Discover & Integrate High-Quality OER in Your Courses” by Texas State University Libraries, used and licensed under CC BY 4.0 by Claire Ovaska.

Welcome to our final topic in the ‘Open Ed in a Minute’ series! Today, we'll explore adaptation/creation of open educational resources (OERs) to support teaching and help your students succeed!

About adaptation/creation of OERs

OER publication across all disciplines is growing apace within Australia. Despite this, you might not find exactly what you need to replace your commercial textbook. Options to consider include adaptation of one or more existing OERs into a new resource, or creation of a new OER, potentially by repurposing your existing lecture/subject content.

Academic staff benefits

• Subject issues 🧐 Address problems affecting your subject such as current textbooks don’t service the topic area, students don’t have access to their key learning resource from day-1, lack of Australian content.
• Metrics 🔢 Use JCU Open eBooks engagement metrics to support career progression.
• Research 🔍 Conduct a research project on the OER and its impact on student success, gain new readers for your traditional research outputs. 
• Pedagogy 🧑‍🏫 OER benefits can include adaptable content, high-impact-practice, renewable assessment, critical thinking and reflection, technology-enhanced learning,  student-centred learning or co-creation with students.
• JCU 🏫 OER benefits include retaining JCU’s competitive advantage, meeting JCU objectives, improving student outcomes.
• Community 🏘️ Strengthen community connections with an OER, e.g., Sports Marketing, Why Play Works, A Yolŋu Philosophy Reader, Mathematical Reasoning and Investigation.
• Values 🫶 Align the OER with your values, e.g., sustainability, marginalised groups, innovation.
• Internet as student 🎓 What do you want the Internet to learn in an AI world?

The nitty-gritty  

• Adapting an OER can be quick or slow, depending on the project scope and the quality of the OERs being adapted.
• Selecting an open licence for the resulting work is a must.
• Attributing third-party content utilised in the new OER is a must.
• Integrating OERs with best practice learning and teaching approaches will enhance the student experience.

Get the ball rolling

1. Learn about JCU Library’s Textbook Affordability Project, 2024-2025.
2. Ask your Liaison Librarian for help and advice.
3. Connect with the Library Open Education staff to propose an OER project.
4. Stay up to date about textbook affordability and open education at JCU. Request to join the JCU Open Education SIG.  

We hope this has inspired you to consider OER adaptation/creation to enhance student success.

This marks the last post in our ‘Open Ed in a Minute’ series. We hope you have found the series both informative and inspiring, and we look forward to supporting your move towards textbook affordability in your subjects!