#OpenEd21 was held October 18-22, 2021. Registered attendees retain unlimited access to recordings through their Sched account. Simply log in or reset your password using your registered email address. Recordings are now available to the public.
For many universities, the sudden shift to virtual learning in March 2020 lead to chaotic changes as faculty restructured their courses to fit a new and unexpected teaching environment. Researchers at a regional midwestern university surveyed faculty members in May 2019 and April 2021 on perceptions of OER and preferences in selecting course materials. In this presentation we analyze where significant differences in the data occurred before and during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as where they did not. Additionally, we will analyze qualitative feedback from the survey and the subsequent focus groups to discuss contributing factors.
The most obvious change during the pandemic was how instructors taught. There was a significant difference in teaching modalities between May 2019 and April 2021. More faculty were teaching online and fewer face-to-face in 2021. Faculty were asked in 2021 if Covid-19 had an impact on their course materials and 23% of faculty said that it did. Of those, 11% said that they shifted their course materials from a print to an online version, 8% lowered the number of required and/or supplementary texts, and 1% raised the number of required and/or supplementary texts. But why did a significant majority of faculty, 77%, report no effect of Covid-19 on their selection of course materials? What changes since 2019 could have prepared them for the sudden pivot to online instruction? There were increases across the board in use of OER and positive perceptions of OER. From 2019 to 2021 faculty who responded that they perceived OER as extremely or somewhat positive increased by 43 percent, from 42% to 60%. Faculty who use or have used OER in their teaching went up from 24% to 27%. Faculty who use or have used Open Textbooks specifically went up 20% to 27%. After the 2019 survey the OER Task force launched a series of OER adoption grant rounds for a $1000 incentive to integrate OER in their classrooms. 16% of respondents in 2021 said that they had received a $1000 OER grant.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
Describe the impact of Covid-19 on teaching modality and use of course materials
Discuss how an OER adoption grant can create a positive OER culture
Pre-recorded videos are embedded in the session page for anytime viewing. The video will also be streamed live in Zoom at the scheduled time. Videos and session login links are visible to logged-in attendees only. See the FAQ for more details.Pre-recorded sessions offer the best of both worlds! You can watch the video when it's convenient for you, or you can return at the specified time to watch it with other attendees. In most cases, the presenters will be joining the live viewings, so you'll also get... Read More →
