Purpose
The TWU Libraries have made available mini-grants of $1,000 (less withholding) to support instructors wishing to redesign their courses to include Open Educational Resources (OER). These mini-grants will support instructors in transitioning their courses to no-cost materials for students.
Background Information
The OER Course Redesign Mini-Grant Program is one part of the Helping Education with Alternate Resources and Textbooks, or H.E.A.R.T. Initiative, at TWU. The mini-grants will support instructors utilizing OER at TWU.
The goals of the H.E.A.R.T. Initiative and the OER Course Redesign Mini-Grant Program include the following:
(1) Lower the cost of college for students at TWU in order to contribute to their retention, progression, and graduation;
(2) Encourage TWU faculty to find better and less costly ways to deliver instructional content to their students; and
(3) Support the development of alternatives to high-cost textbooks by providing the resources necessary for faculty to adopt, adapt, and/or create OER.
Defining OER
For the purposes of this initiative, OER instructional materials are defined as “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that allows for free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others, including full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge” (Texas Senate Bill 810 § 2 (1-a)).
