Webinars

Upcoming Webinars

Archived Webinars & Workshops

• Open Textbooks: The College Student Speaks Out
  

Date & Time: Tuesday, 4/05/2011 2:00-3:00 EDT - 11:00-12 Noon PDT
Presenter: Nicole Allen, Textbook Advocate for the Student PIRGs and Director of the Make Textbooks Affordable campaign
Topic: In the national debate surrounding textbook affordability and adoption, the student voice often goes unheard. Join Nicole Allen, the national Textbook Advocate for the Student Public Interest Research Groups (Student PIRGs), and college students from around the nation as they discuss their initiatives to make textbooks affordable through the use of high-quality open textbooks and other cost-saving solutions. Learn what motivates students to become and stay involved, and how they impact teaching and learning along the way. Check out this lively discussion.
Archived Session

• Transitioning from the Edge of Education to the Mainstream
  

Date & Time: Thursday, 2/24/2011 2:00-3:00 - 11:00-12 Noon PST
Presenters: Joel Thierstein, Associate Provost, Rice University / Executive Director, Connexions
Topic:The presentation will give a brief description of Connexions to date and how it plans to transition from the periphery of education to the mainstream.
Archived Session

• Can a Great Textbook be Free? Building a Sustainable New Text Model in the Era of the $200 Textbook
  

Date & Time: Thursday, 1/27/2011 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST – 11:00 – 12 Noon PST
Presenters: Eric Frank, Co-Founder and Director, Flat World Knowledge
Topic:With the emergence of disruptive new business models, higher education publishing is in a state of tremendous flux. The rise of high quality, peer-reviewed open textbooks challenges the current status quo and the traditional model of overpriced, inflexible and too-often revised textbooks. Eric Frank will discuss:
- Why Higher Education Publishing is failing to meet the needs of today's students, faculty, authors and institutions
- Emerging new textbooks based on openly licensed content
- Challenges and opportunities to building a sustainable new model of textbooks based on the economics of free.
Archived Session


• The Stitz-Zeager Open Source Precalculus Project
  

Date & Time: Thursday, 1/13/2011 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST – 11:00 – 12 Noon PST
Presenters: Carl Stitz & Jeff Zeager, Authors, College Algebra, Precalculus
Topic: Professors Stitz and Zeager will talk about the 18-month process of writing a 900+ page Precalculus book, why they gave it away for free on the Internet, and their plans for the book and its website.
Archived Session

• Can We Write Textbooks the Way We Write Scholarship?
  

Date & Time: Friday 11/19/2010 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST – 11:00 – 12 Noon PST
Presenters: Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, Editors, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing
Topic: This webinar will discuss the principles behind and production processes of Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, an open textbook series for first year composition. Writing Spaces is a peer-reviewed edited collection which contains individually authored texts. The traditional proposal and peer review process employed by Writing Spaces not only gives the college teacher-as-author a line on her CV, one that should be more favorable to tenure and review committees than some other models of open textbook production, but also serves to build the ethos of the project within the open textbook movement. Archived Session

• Ohio Higher Education's Textbook Affordability Initiative
  

Date & Time: Tuesday 11/09/2010 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST – 11:00 – 12 Noon PST
Presenters: Steve Acker, Research Director, eText Ohio-OhioLINK/ The Ohio Board of Regents
Topic: Two years ago, Ohio launched a textbook affordability initiative under the direction of Chancellor Eric Fingerhut. The value proposition of the textbook affordability strategic plan focuses on improving learning outcomes as well as reducing the cost of textbooks.

The three strands of textbook affordability are: (1) working with traditional textbook publishers, (2) engaging in open educational resources initiatives, and (3) supporting digital literacy workshops and programs for both faculty and students.

This presentation will focus on the OER (Open Educational Resource) strand of textbook affordability/learning outcomes. We will discuss the rationale for the faculty innovator program and the faculty team OER authorship initiative; what we have learned to date; and where we hope to move in the future. Archived Session

• Online Homework Support for Open Texts by WebAssign
  

Date & Time: Wednesday 11/03/2010 2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT – 11:00 – 12 Noon PDT
Presenters: Mark Santee, Director of Marketing, and Jennifer Ferrali, Math Editor, WebAssign
Topic: Adopting an open text doesn’t mean having to forego the technology support offered by traditional textbooks. WebAssign, the market-leading online homework system for math and science, is now supporting key open texts with the same robust features and functionality that have supported over 600 textbooks from every major traditional publisher for the past 14 years. Learn how WebAssign can make adopting an open text an easy choice for you, and an affordable choice for your students. Archived Session

• An Introduction to CK-12 FlexBooks
  

Date & Time: Wednesday 10/27/2010 2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT – 11:00 – 12 Noon PDT
Presenters: Brooke Turner, Partner Relations Representative, CK-12 FlexBooks
Topic: Learn about the CK-12 Foundation and its innovative FlexBooks – free, open, high quality digital textbooks to download, customize, print, or share. Explore FlexBooks and how they can solve the problems of heavy, rigid, expensive textbooks and limited access to flexible high quality content for K-12 and community college students. CK-12 FlexBooks support the latest technology. Archived Session

• OnCore Blueprint and Digital Content Repositories: Evaluation Insights from Higher Education Administrators and Campus Scholars
  

Date & Time: Tuesday 10/19/2010 2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT – 11:00 – 12 Noon PDT
Presenters: Margaret Holt, Evaluator; and Susie Henderson, OnCore Blueprint and Associate Executive Director, Florida Distance Learning Consortium
Topic: This “conversational” webinar will describe the OnCoRe Blueprint, a national model for the creation of sustainable statewide digital content repositories, as it was used to inform the planning, development and implementation of the Kentucky Learning Depot, a P20 statewide repository. In addition, findings from nine interviews with Orange Grove scholar/advisors will be presented to illuminate their effectiveness in expanding repository awareness and utilization on five Florida campuses. These individuals were nominated by their Florida Distance Learning Consortium member or the Orange Grove institutional liaison for their leadership capabilities and interest in digital content. Archived Session

• Developing and On-Demand Printing for Open Textbooks: A Publisher's Perspective
  

Date & Time: Thursday 10/7/2010 2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT – 11:00 – 12 Noon PDT
Presenters: Meredith Babb, Director, and Kara Schwartz, Acquisitions Editor and Digital Initiatives Coordinator, University Press of Florida
Topic: There are many challenges in "legacy" book publishing; however, add to those the infinite variety of products that can be created by easily adaptable open access books, and you can understand the seeming reluctance of publishers to embrace adaptable textbooks. In this webinar, two members of the University Press of Florida will discuss the "normal" challenges of textbook production as well as the complicated process of adapting existing books for open access use. The perception that it is no more complicated than a word processing "cut and paste" feature is part of the problem. How does a publisher create a book from a variety sources in varying formats that has a uniform look and pedagogy? University Press of Florida will discuss the actual production processes, how they can be modified to accommodate open access/ adaptable texts, the need for discreet editions and International Standard Book Number (ISBN) assignments, and what challenges lie ahead. Archived Session

• "You Must Be Crazy Giving Away Your Work!"
  

Date/Time: Thursday September 23 at 11am Pacific, 2pm Eastern
Presentor: Bernie Poole, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Topic: Bernie discuss the various open textbooks that he has authored, including the 7th edition of Education in an Information Age plus issues related to his open textbook experience. In addition, he discusses his personal motivations, lessons learned, guidelines and personal benefits as an author of open textbooks. Archived Session

• Creating Open Educational Resource (OER) Content Playlists as Alternatives to Traditional Textbook Materials

Date/Time: September 14, 2010 at 2:00 pm Eastern time.
Presentors: James Glapa-Grossklag, Dean, Distance Learning Programs and Training and John Makevich, Instructional Design Coordinator
Topic: College of the Canyons, with the generous support of a two-year FIPSE grant, is working to provide a solution to the high cost of academic materials for students.  We are developing ways to increase access to open educational resources within our OER content repository and other repositories, create new OER content to be housed within our repository, and define a model for academic content "playlists".  These playlists are essentially a way of taking OER objects and assembling them in a sequential order with transition materials in order to emulate the flow of content in a traditional textbook.  The benefits of playlists are to not only reduce the cost of access to learning materials, but also to actively compile otherwise individual objects into a cohesive and interactive academic outline.

In this webinar, we will describe our progress thus far in the populating of our repository and some of the victories and challenges that have arisen.  In addition, we will preview the early steps in content playlist development and indicate what work remains to be done in that area.  We will also examine some of the other ways the materials can be disseminated to students, such as campus printing solutions.

Archived session

• Online Open Textbook Workshop (3 days)
Date/Time: July 30, 2010
Presenter: Jacky Hood, Director of the College Open Textbooks project
Topic: This hybrid workshop will include both scheduled live online sessions as well as assignments and discussions with freedom to perform these within 2-3 days. The workshop requires at least 9 hours throughout the month of Augusfor general participants and 13 hours for Advocate Trainers. These sessions will be archived for those who cannot attend. Stipends are available for 4 Advocate/Trainers from this workshop. Advocate/Trainers must attend all 3 weeks. Archived Session


• University of North Texas Open Access Symposium

Date/Time: May 18, 2010
Host: University of North Texas
Topics: Diverse topics on open textbooks were offered at this symposium. Presentations from this symposium are now available. Check this site at a later date for video recordings of the sessions. Archived Sessions

• In search of affordable textbooks: How open-access can reduce costs.

Date/Time: May 12, 2010 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time).
Host: Dr. Cable Green, Director of eLearning & Open Education, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Topic: What open textbooks are and how much they can save; Why textbook costs are out of control; How open textbooks are created and maintained.
Where to find open textbooks for your course; One professor's perspective on using an open textbook.
Archived session and slides.

• Creative Commons, OER and Open Textbooks 

Date/Time: May 6, 2010 at 3:00 – 4:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time).
Presentors:Timothy Vollmer, CC Open Policy Fellow, and Lila Bailey, CC Counsel  
Topic: Mr. Vollmer and Ms. Bailey will discuss: the range of CC licenses and where they are used CC’s role in addressing barriers to open resources, such as discovery, language, cultural, and technical issues; CC within open textbooks, and new CC initiatives. PPT Presentation; View archieved webinar

• Connexions and Open Textbooks- Making textbooks customizable, deliverable to multiple formats, and encouraging adoption
Date/Time: Friday April 16th at 2:00 PM (Eastern daylight time)
Presentor: Joel Thierstein, Executive Director of Rice University's Connexions Repository. PPT Presentation; View archieved recording.