Faculty interested in OER and/or ZTC course materials are encouraged to first discuss their interest with colleagues. You may discover that someone in your department is already using OER and/or has at least investigated some options. OER users are sharers! If you haven't already done so, check the disciplinary OER/ZTC page on this site to see if your department has any information there; even if you don't find anything, check with a colleague or the department chair. You may also want to check with a librarian to learn about ZTC materials for your discipline (see below for more info on this).
Faculty who are just starting their OER search are at the right place! Use the links in the menu at left to find some great resources to begin. If you would like further guidance, contact Jim Julius, Faculty Director of Online Education. Note that the Academic Senate of MiraCosta College passed a resolution in support of Open Educational Resources in 2016 and a clarification of ZTC and new designation for Low Textbook Cost (LTC) classes in 2018.
Funding to Support Work to Adopt OER
MiraCosta has AB 798 grant funds available to support work required to identify OER and redesign classes to save students at least 30% over current course material costs. Contact Jim Julius, Faculty Director of Online Education, to learn more about options for support.
MiraCosta Library Resources for ZTC Materials
MiraCosta's library includes access to digital resources such as academic journals on par with many universities. You can add links to most library resources that work seamlessly from Canvas. Some places to start:
- Research Guides - Subject- and class-specific sets of library resources such as journal articles
- Journals - Journal access organized by discipline
Videos from MiraCosta Flex Workshops
- Moving to Free and Open Course Materials – (Zoom Recording, 1 hour 39 minutes) – August 2020 Online workshop by Jim Julius, Pilar Hernandez, Nate Scharff, Jennifer Paris, & Richard Ma
- Revisiting Course Material Selections for Equity - (Zoom Recording, 52 minutes) - June 2020 online workshop by Jim Julius, Jennifer Paris, and Glorian Sipman
- Open Education Lunch Extravaganza 1/17/18 – Keynote by Nicole Finkbeiner of Open Stax (video, 35 min.) | Student Panel on OER (video, 25 min.) | Faculty Panel on OER (video, 33 min.)
Open Online "Courses" about OER for Faculty
- Adopting Open Educational Resources in the Classroom - comprehensive overview of openness in education, copyright and open license alternatives, and OER tools and resources
- Introduction to Open Educational Resources - Canvas-based course from Butte College
- How to use Open Educational Resources - self-paced workshop from Open Washington
Faculty Showcase
Watch this space for information from faculty about their journeys into Open Education.
