6 Ways to Celebrate Open Education Week

Posted March 3, 2022 in JMU Libraries News, Open Education News

It’s Open Education Week (March 7-11), and we’re celebrating not just because we’re excited about open education, but also because we still have a long way to go toward making education affordable and accessible at JMU and beyond.

Here are 6 ways you can celebrate Open Education Week!

1. Find out how your peers are using open course materials. On March 9, 10am-12:30pm, take a virtual tour of four courses that use open educational resources (OER) or open pedagogy.

2. Complete our asynchronous workshop on open textbooks to be eligible to write a review of an open textbook and receive a $200 stipend. Apply by March 11 to take this self-paced workshop online.

3. Celebrate the efforts of JMU faculty like Dr. Jim Bywater, who is using open, affordable course materials in his graduate and undergraduate courses because he believes it’s a matter of access and equity for his students.

4. Get to know our champion for open, affordable textbooks. Liz Thompson is our Open Education Librarian. Thanks in large part to her work, over 8,000 JMU students last year saved a total of nearly $900,000 in book costs, and the program is growing! Learn more.

5. Learn about the movement toward openness in education and how our efforts fit into the broader picture of open education initiatives in Virginia and the United States by looking at our brief timeline of open education.

6. Join the effort by starting to use open educational materials. Contact your liaison librarian for help finding resources for your course or visit our Open Educational Resources page or overview of OER basics to start exploring on your own.