With little question, OER have the potential to greatly improve affordability, access, and student success in education. Yet, to achieve the greatest impact, OER need to be successfully adopted at scale with intentional planning for sustainability. In this session, the authors present a model for identifying and defining eight dimensions of sustainability in OER adoption:
open content creation
institutional program management
initial course design and course refresh
faculty development
content sustainability and development
marketing and communications
technical support
research and reporting
The model will demonstrate how to prioritize these various dimensions, how their interrelated nature impacts sustainable OER adoption, and ultimately how each dimension facilitates OER adoption at scale for the greatest long-term impact. The model draws on the empirical examples from ongoing system-level higher education OER initiatives at the City University of New York (CUNY), the State University System of New York (SUNY), and the University System of Maryland (USM) to demonstrate real-world approaches to engaging with these various dimensions of institutional OER transformation.
