The landscape of learning is always changing—and so is open education. Over the summer of 2025, UTA OER reimagined how we engage with and support our community in this work. Relaunch Week is both a celebration and a milestone: honoring how far we’ve come since launching OER at UTA in 2017, and highlighting how we’ve transformed our program to meet the evolving needs of our students, faculty, and the shifting educational landscape.
Throughout the week, you’ll find opportunities to learn, connect, and take part in shaping the next chapter of OER at UTA.
Start the week with an introduction to OER at UTA and the new Badge Program.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Microsoft Teams
Textbook costs affect every student’s journey. Join us to explore the impact of affordability on access, and see how OER at UTA is creating new pathways forward. We’ll introduce the Trailblazers Badge Program and set the stage for the week ahead.
Whether you join live or watch later, RSVP to let us know you’re excited for OER Launch Week!
Learn where and how to find OER, from top repositories to UTA’s support tools.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Microsoft Teams
From top repositories to UTA’s own discovery tools, we’ll walk through where and how to find OER that fits your courses. This session will highlight practical search strategies and the supports available to help you get started.
Whether you join live or watch later, RSVP to let us know you’re excited for OER Launch Week!
Date: Tuesday, September 9th, 2025
Time: 12:30-1:30
Location: Central Library, Suite 516
Come meet the people behind OER at UTA! Stop by the OER & Digital Scholarship Suite (5th floor, Central Library) to:
RSVP today and join us to connect, explore, and see open education in action.
OER is about people as much as resources. Explore the human side of open education.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Microsoft Teams
OER is more than free materials, it’s about the people whose learning and teaching it transforms. In this session, we’ll share insights from UTA students who have experienced OER firsthand, alongside national survey data that shows the broader impact on equity, connection, and success across higher education.
Date: Wednesday, September 10th, 2025
Time: 12:30-1:30
Location: Central Library, Suite 516
Come meet the people behind OER at UTA! Stop by the OER & Digital Scholarship Suite (5th floor, Central Library) to:
RSVP today and join us to connect, explore, and see open education in action.
Open pedagogy invites students to be creators, not just consumers. In this beginner friendly session, we will unpack the what, why, and how, then help you shape one right sized open assignment you can pilot this term. We will center consent, credit, and care while lifting student voice.
Define open pedagogy and name at least three practices that align with it, distinguishing it from OER adoption alone.
Draft a small open assignment aligned to one course outcome, specifying the student contribution, intended audience, and tool you will use.
Prepare the ethics and logistics by writing brief consent and attribution language with a pseudonym option, selecting an appropriate Creative Commons license, and applying the starter rubric to evaluate the work.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Microsoft Teams
Ready to roll up your sleeves? This session spotlights open pedagogy in action with real classroom examples. See how student co-creation, choice, and authentic audiences can deepen learning and belonging, and leave with a right-sized assignment, consent and attribution language, and an adaptable rubric you can use this term.
Look ahead to open pedagogy and celebrate what is possible at UTA.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Microsoft Teams
We’ll wrap up the week by looking ahead to open pedagogy and emerging opportunities at UTA. Join us in celebrating how far we’ve come, and in shaping what the next chapter of OER could be.
Recognize the financial impact of textbook costs on students.
Explain in simple terms what OER is and why UTA is investing in it.
Identify the OER Trailblazers Badge Program as a pathway for engagement and recognition.
Couldn’t join us live? No problem. You can watch the full recording of today’s launch webinar right here. Whether you’re revisiting the conversation or catching up for the first time, this is the place to see what OER at UTA looks like now, where we’re headed, and how the Trailblazers program opens the path for everyone.
In spring 2024, we launched a storytelling project to capture the lived experiences of open education at UTA. What began as a handful of interviews has grown into a documentary series that shares how OER impacts teaching, learning, and student success on our campus.
The OER Journeys project brought together voices from across UTA—faculty, students, and the OER team—to reflect on why openness matters and how it changes classrooms. Each episode highlights the people behind the movement and the values that guide their work.
We are deeply grateful to the faculty who opened their classrooms and shared their stories with us:
Dr. Dylan B. Parks – Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Biology
Dr. Kimberly H. Breuer – Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of History
Dr. Lisalee D. Egbert – Assistant Professor and Coordinator of ASL, Department of Modern Languages
Dr. Shelley L. Wigley – Associate Professor and Public Relations Sequence Coordinator, Department of Communication
Dr. Rebecca L. Mauldin, PhD, LMSW – Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Their time, candor, and commitment to students made this project possible.
The series is still being finalized, and we’ll share polished episodes here as they’re completed. Today, we invite you to begin the journey with us.
Part 1: Opening Doors
Think you can guess the price of a college textbook? Here’s your chance. Match each real price tag to its textbook and see how unpredictable, and expensive, the market can be. Then ask yourself: if the quality looks the same, why are some books free while others cost hundreds of dollars? What are we really paying for when it comes to course materials?
Thanks for joining us today—whether you tuned in live or are catching up later, we’re glad you’re here. If you’re ready to keep exploring, you can bookmark the OER Subject Guide, sign up for the Trailblazers badge program, or reach out directly through Ask the OER Team.
And don’t stop here—come back tomorrow as we dive into Tools and Access. By the end of that session, you’ll be able to:
Locate at least one major OER repository and start a search.
Describe UTA’s OER matchmaking service and how it supports adoption.
Connect OER discovery to affordability outcomes at UTA.
Your OER journey is just getting started, and there’s always a next step waiting.
Locate at least one major OER repository and know how to begin a search.
Describe UTA’s OER matchmaking service and how it supports adoption.
Connect OER discovery to affordability outcomes at UTA.
OER (Re) Launch Week: Day 2 by Megan Zara
Missed us live today? You can watch the full Day 2 workshop here. We go hands-on with Open Textbook Library, OER Commons, and MERLOT to turn a haystack of results into a short list you can actually use. You will see three quick habits in action: start broad then narrow, check filters for level, format, and license, and review and preview before you decide. We also point you to the spots on the OER LibGuide where these tools live so you can try them and share with your students.
Taking the Leap
Today’s activities are hands-on. You will project real savings and build a short list of high-fit resources.
Stop by Central Library, room 516, for a quick meet and greet.
Open the Faculty or Student Cost Avoidance Calculator below.
Pick one course or your current schedule. Enter students, sections, and terms.
Use the UTA average textbook cost or type the actual price.
Note the one-semester number and a two- or three-semester projection.
Save or copy your results for advising, grant language, or promotion materials.
Choose one repository we covered today: Open Textbook Library, OER Commons, or MERLOT.
Start broad with a subject or course name. Then add one or two qualifiers.
Turn on filters for level, material type, and license.
Preview one chapter or activity.
Save two promising options with links and licenses.
If results look thin, remove one filter and rescan. If a review is old, check a couple of links and the license before deciding.
Need a jumpstart? Let us help! Sumbit an OER Matchmaking request for a customized list of search results on your topic!
Thanks for joining Day 2. If you want to keep building momentum, revisit the OER Subject Guide, try the Faculty or Student Cost Avoidance Calculator, and save two promising resources from today’s repository search. You can also reach us through Ask the OER Team or stop by Central Library room 516.
By the end of that session, you will be able to:
Reflect on how OER affects students’ academic and financial lives.
Recognize the role of storytelling and community practice in building equity.
Share or listen to at least one personal OER story from a faculty or student perspective.
At UTA, we talk about “cost avoidance” as the money students don’t have to spend on textbooks when courses adopt open or low-cost materials. To help visualize that impact, we’ve created two interactive calculators, one for faculty and one for students.
Use the tabs above to open the Faculty Calculator or the Student Calculator and see the impact from your perspective.
Faculty OER Cost Avoidance Calculator
This tool helps instructors see the ripple effect of replacing a single textbook with OER or other affordable course materials.
How it works: Faculty enter the number of students per section, check the semesters they teach (Fall, Spring, Summer), and add how many sections they typically offer each term. They can use UTA’s average per-student savings ($116 for no-cost, $92 for low-cost) or plug in the actual cost of their current textbook.
What it tells you: The calculator projects annual and multi-year savings for students, showing the tangible impact of one adoption across multiple sections and years. It helps faculty see that even small shifts in one course can translate into thousands of dollars saved.
This version helps students estimate their own potential savings from OER adoption.
How it works: Students enter the number of courses they’re taking each semester, how many use OER or low-cost materials, and how many semesters they’d like to project across. They can use UTA’s average textbook costs or input the actual prices they’ve paid.
What it tells you: The calculator shows per-semester savings, a multi-semester projection, and a comparison of what savings would look like if all their courses used OER. It makes the personal, semester-by-semester impact of OER more concrete.
Together, these tools highlight the affordability spectrum from both perspectives:
Both calculators drive home the same message: every adoption adds up. Discovery leads to adoption, and adoption leads to meaningful affordability outcomes for Mavericks.
How much of an impact would replacing a textbook in one course have on students' cost avoidance?
Projection uses: students per section × total sections per year × per-student savings. Helpful for estimating annual and multi-year impact from replacing one textbook with OER or a low-cost option.
What Could OER Save You?
This estimates how much you avoid spending on textbooks when some of your courses use OER (no cost) or low-cost materials. Per-semester savings = (No-cost courses × baseline cost) + (Low-cost courses × low-cost savings).
Reflect on how OER affects students’ academic and financial lives.
Recognize the role of storytelling and community practice in building equity.
Share or listen to at least one personal OER story (faculty or student).
Watch Today's Recording
Missed us live today? You can watch the full Day 3 session here. We look beyond cost to the human side of OER. You will learn the plain-language difference between contextualizing and customizing, see quick before-and-after examples, hear student voices from UTA, and get a simple overview of Creative Commons that keeps sharing fast and human. You will leave with one small swap to try this term and links to support at UTA, including OER Matchmaking, Strategy Sessions, and Pressbooks. We also point you to the spots on the OER LibGuide where these resources live so you can reuse them with your students.
Part 3 - Coming Soon!
Today’s activiy is interactive, OER Mythbusting!
Stop by Central Library, room 516, for a quick meet and greet.
Thabnk you for joining us today! Keep the momentum with three quick moves.
Engage - Open the OER Mythbusting interactive in the Engage tab. Note one myth you believed and what changed your mind.
Explore - Keep exploring repositories. Save at least two promising titles to your shortlist.
Choose and plan - Pick one book from your shortlist.
Find the license, attribution, and any change log.
Decide your path: contextualize or customize.
Capture your ideas in the OER Evaluation for Modification tool so you have a simple plan to bring back.
Define open pedagogy and name at least three practices that align with it, distinguishing it from OER adoption alone.
Draft a small open assignment aligned to one course outcome, specifying the student contribution, intended audience, and tool you will use.
Prepare the ethics and logistics by writing brief consent and attribution language with a pseudonym option, selecting an appropriate Creative Commons license, and applying the starter rubric to evaluate the work.
Watch Today's Recording
Missed us live today? You can watch the full Day 4 session here.
Part 4 - Coming Soon!
Today is a do-one-thing day. Pick a right-sized open move, write a one-sentence plan, and try it while the idea is fresh.
Use our resources and pick your move!
Copy, fill in, done.
Examples
“Next Tuesday, students will add one glossary entry with a source for next term’s class. Visibility: link only. License: CC BY.”
“This week, we will replace a generic example with a local case students source. Visibility: course only. License: n/a, attribution inside the LMS.”
“By Friday, students will curate four artifacts with captions for our program page. Visibility: public. License: CC BY-NC.”
Test your OER vocabulary with today’s H5P crossword in the Engage section. Fast, fun, and a good warm-up before you draft your plan.
Thabnk you for joining us today! Keep the momentum with three quick moves.
Engage - Grab the Rubric and Consent Pack and make it your own.
Try 1 Open Pedagogy ideas.
Complete the crossword puzzle
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