Open Education 2017

Open Educational Resources (OER) have the potential to benefit stakeholders and communities across higher education, from libraries and faculty support offices to students, instructors, and administrators. The most successful OER campaigns are built on collaboration amongst these stakeholders, but establishing strong partnerships is easier said than done.



In this panel, we will share practical strategies for identifying and enlisting campus stakeholders as OER allies, drawn from our experiences with successful OER collaborations at three different institutions. Session attendees will explore opportunities for connecting with a variety of stakeholders, learn how collaboration with those stakeholders can empower OER initiatives, and develop a plan for outreach to a new potential ally at their own institutions.



Our discussion will highlight potential partners for open education initiatives, including teaching and learning centers, student government, instructional designers, provosts' and presidents' offices, campus bookstores, IT, and more. For each potential partner, we'll explore how OER can intersect with the partner's mission and goals, describe the unique resources and expertise which that stakeholder can leverage in support of OER, and share an example from our collaborative initiatives. This stakeholder-focused overview will lead into an interactive opportunity for participants to analyze a stakeholder at their own individual institutions and identify approaches for recruiting them as a new OER ally.



Building collaborative OER or open education initiatives can be challenging, but stakeholders working together can reach higher and farther than any could alone. Through this panel, we seek to inspire and empower open education champions in many different contexts to enlist new allies, strengthen existing partnerships, and assemble successful collaborations.