It was a good restful weekend. Tonight we watched another session from OpenEd 2021 entitled “Building OER Capacity in the Midwest: Supporting Grassroots Efforts and Statewide Collaboration” presented by Jenny Parks, Annika Many, Jennifer Zinth, and Katie Zaback. Parks described MHEC: Midwestern Higher Education Compact. They received a Hewlett Foundation grant with National Consortium for OER (NCOER) to increase access, affordability, and equity using OER. They have tried to create groups of OER advocates in every state so that each state has a team that includes public libraries, K-12, and as many partners to support OER resources. Parks also mentioned that they have supported leadership training and launch OER resources. MHEC also has a webinar series with archived recordings that I want to check out. The state action teams have quarterly meetings and keep in touch to build an OER infrastructure and practices. Many talked about the State Capacity Assessment they developed: state policy and advocacy, communication & infrastructure, institutional commitment, and strategic planning were considered. For each of the items, responses were yes/no/in-progress. The assessment seems useful for RLOE too. Many explained that the goal was to “help people come together and build capacity.” Suggestions shared in the chat included offering professional development workshops and defining OER. Zinth is the Founder and Principal of Zinth Consulting. Zinth helped prepare a report to inform stakeholders to the policy, equity, and integrating OER in dual enrollment courses (high school/college). I had never considered the costs for students and schools for dual enrollment courses, including those with supplies. Zinth did eleven remote interviews with nineteen state stakeholders to address the question: who pays for dual enrollment textbooks? In some states (3) the state was responsible for covering the costs of the textbooks. In seven, the district or secondary school was responsible for covering the cost. In thirteen states the student was responsible. Zinth shared several interesting examples and quotes. Faculty members who co-created OERs with students and improved the course, OER for Spanish learners from Spanish-speaking families, and quotes like “Don’t just tell faculty to swim in the ocean” involve curriculum developers and librarians. Zaback then spoke about sharing the research and report with the public and creating a decision-making strategy. Key questions included how should OER be defined and how to account for non-monetary costs like time. Zaback shared a working principles that continue to evolve. The team ran out of time and had so much research, data, and strategies to share. I will have to explore MHEC resources and reports as more are developed and shared.
