Congratulations to Karen Pikula, Psychology Faculty at Central Lakes College/OER Faculty Development Coordinator (Educational Innovations, system office) and Kimberly Johnson, Director for Faculty and Instructional Development (Educational Innovations, system office) for receiving the 2018 Impact Excellence Award from the Minnesota Learning Commons (https://ccaps.umn.edu/minnesota-learning-commons).
Given to organizations or individuals whose work constructs or reflects an extraordinary impact on teaching and learning, Dr. Pikula and Dr. Johnson were recognized for their work with the systemwide Open Educational Resources (OER) Learning Circle Project.
The systemwide virtual OER Learning Circle Project was created to expand OER use and reduce student book costs and was piloted in spring 2018. The impact of this innovative and collaborative faculty development project has been profound.
This high-quality professional development model was created originally to impact textbook affordability: indeed, faculty have created projects saving students over $250,000.00. But there have been amazing, unexpected impacts, too, including strong collaborations across disciplines and institutions, a cadre of emerging leaders and OER champions, and a dramatic infusion of student-centered, equity-focused curricular content. Congratulations to Karen and Kim!
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