Minnesota State is participating in Open Education Week (March 1 – 5, 2021) by offering Minnesota State faculty and staff a series of sessions and a panel that are free to join.
Read about the sessions and the panel below. View all sessions and add them to your calendar within the Minnesota State OER Community Site.
An OER Journey
Monday, March 1
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Presenter: Lori-Beth Larsen, Central Lakes College
Lori-Beth Larsen has a Bachelor’s in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from St. Cloud State University. She has more than twenty years of experience teaching in elementary schools, high schools, community colleges and adult education. She is currently teaching English, Reading, and Global Studies at Central Lakes College. She is mostly passionate about making education worthwhile. When she is not working, she loves traveling with her daughter, reading, binge-watching Netflix, learning a new skill, and drinking coffee.
Where you can go with OER
Tuesday, March 2
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Presenter: Kate Brau, Hibbing Community College
Kate Brau is Health and Physical Education faculty for Hibbing Community College. She has revised online and face-to-face courses as OER. Trained as an OER Learning Circle Leader, she now is leading her fifth OER Learning Circle for her district and leading efforts to implement a Z-degree on her campus by fall 2021. Finally, she completed the Creative Commons Certificate for Educators Course in fall 2020. Kate graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a Master’s Degree in Education and from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a Master’s Degree in Community Health. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two children, and coaching a youth boys basketball team.
Course redesign and OER authoring in Modern World History
Tuesday, March 2
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presenter: Dan Allosso, Bemidji State University
I’ve been teaching World History II for several years now. It was the survey course taught each semester by the professor I replaced when she went on sick leave and subsequently retired. The first couple of semesters, I used commercial textbooks she had chosen, supplementing them with my own content in lectures and discussions to cover material I felt the textbook missed. The combined cost of the textbook and primary source reader to students was $200 (about $100 to those lucky enough to find them used). So in the second year of my Fixed Term employment, I joined an OER Learning Circle to begin shifting away from those texts. This will be the story of the progress I’ve made so far and what I have yet to do.
Teaching with an OER
Wednesday, March 3
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Presenter: Jody Ondich, Lake Superior College
Jody Ondich teaches Philosophy at Lake Superior College. She is the Peer Review Coordinator and serves as faculty lead for training in accessibility at LSC. She also serves on the Accessibility Committee for Minnesota State and teaches one of the state short courses on this topic. She has been teaching using open materials for 8 years, combining the use of library materials with public access and OER materials for most of her courses. She created an OER textbook in the spring of 2018 to serve as a resource for an Introduction to Philosophy course, and the text also works well in teaching Ethics. The book is called Words of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy, hosted at the University of Minnesota Open Textbook Library. The text assembles both ancient and modern resources to assist faculty in offering readings in the field of Philosophy to undergrad students.
An OER for Multilingual English Learners: Work in Progress
Wednesday, March 3
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Presenter: Laura Funke, Inver Hills Community College
Laura Funke has been teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and developmental writing in Minnesota community colleges since 1998. She is a full-time instructor at Inver Hills Community College, where she also co-directs the Learning Communities program.
Laura Funke designed an OER for students who are studying English as a Second Language. She will describe the reasons for creating the book, the process of creating it, and the support she received from Minnesota State and other faculty. She will also share students’ responses to the text and next steps for moving the book to a wider audience. While she considers herself a “newbie” in the OER world, she is glad to share her experience especially for those faculty who are hesitant about dipping their toes into the OER process.
How I redesigned my course to OER – and made it better!
Thursday, March 4
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Presenter: Nick Heisserer, Central Lakes College
Nick Heisserer is a Business Management Faculty at Central Lakes College. Prior to his current role, Nick has held numerous positions with CLC as the Assistant Director of TRIO/Upward Bound, Registrar, and Director of Admissions & Registration. Nick also runs a computer repair business serving the Brainerd Lakes Area. Nick received a Master of Arts in Management from the College of Saint Scholastica and a Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Secondary Education from Bemidji State Minnesota and an Accounting Certificate from Northwest Technical College in Bemidji, MN. Nick is currently a Doctoral Student at Metropolitan State University.
Z Degrees at 4 Colleges in 12 Months – An Interactive Panel Discussion
Friday, March 5
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Tim Anderson, System Office
Panelists:
- Emily Werschay, Mesabi Range College
- Bridget Reistad, Lake Superior College
- Melody Hoffman, Anoka-Ramsey Community College
- Brian Huschle, Northland Community and Technical College
- Keith Bistodeau, Anoka-Ramsey Community College
The State of Minnesota’s 91st Legislature passed Senate File 2415 in the spring 2019 session. This bill included a directive for the Minnesota State colleges and universities system, stating that three additional colleges must offer the opportunity to earn a Z-Degree by the academic year 2020-2021. Minnesota State is offering five new zero cost degrees (Z-degrees) at four different colleges, developed in just 12 months. Attendees will hear from a panel to learn of the struggles, the shared victories, and the commitment needed to do the seemingly impossible.
Minnesota State faculty and staff can learn more about OER opportunities, find resources, and chat with others in the system in the OER Community Site (sign in with StarID@MinnState.edu).
Follow us on Twitter @MinnStateOER #MinnStateOER
Learn more about Open Education Week at https://www.openeducationweek.org/.
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