UM System Launches Affordable and Open Education Resources Initiative

Open education has come to UMKC in a big way. On the heels of UMKC Online’s well-attended and well-received Open Education Conference in fall 2017, the University of Missouri System announced an A&OER grants initiative to grow the use of affordable and open educational resources across all four campuses. The A&OER Grants Program encourages faculty experimentation and innovation in finding new, better, and less costly ways to deliver learning materials to students through the creation, adaptation, adoption, and review of A&OER.

In addition to the system-wide task force, each campus has its own committee focused on supporting the use of A&OER in the classroom. The UMKC committee is chaired by librarian and OER lead Scott Curtis. Current representation includes faculty, instructional designers, librarians, SGA, FaCET, and the university bookstore.

Faculty interested in the grants program can review and submit an application at the A&OER Taskforce website. For questions about the A&OER initiative, contact umoer@umsystem.edu.

Faculty Support for A&OER

UMKC’s upcoming transition to the Canvas learning management system offers many faculty a prime opportunity to redesign their courses with A&OER in mind. A team of campus support services is available to help with the course development process. UMKC librarians and instructional designers are on hand to help faculty select, assess, and use A&OER in ways that support and enhance their pedagogical goals and teaching style. The UMKC Bookstore can assist with a host of affordable learning solutions such as enrollment in AutoAccess – a program that provides reduced-cost publisher course content that is integrated with the Blackboard or Canvas LMS. UMKC Publishing can obtain or assemble specialized course material items and kits and will work closely with faculty to create a custom course reader/packet and ensure that it is copyright compliant.