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Resource Integration Task Force Report

May 2020

Group members: 

  • Caitlin Balgeman, Marian University
  • Aaron Elam, Wabash College
  • Amanda Hurford, PALNI (Chair 2020)
  • Rebecca Johnson, formerly Manchester University (Chair 2019)
  • Vicki Mast, Franklin College

Executive Summary

PALNI’s Instructional Technology and Scholarly Communications advisory groups both focus on faculty integration of resources. Together, these groups created joint action items for the Resource Integration Task Force to address. The Task Force was charged with identifying and developing best practices and support for the integration of content including tech tools, open content and licensed works. Another goal was to create a resource for faculty piloting the PALSave Open Textbook Adoption Grant Program (now Course Redesign Grants). The Task Force created the resulting ​Zero-Cost Textbook Adoption LibGuide​, which offers information and best practices related to the adoption of zero-cost course materials, and can be used by anyone involved in the process of changing from commercial to zero-cost textbooks. A Canvas course with the same name and similar content was also created for faculty awardees of PALSave Course Redesign Grants. The Resource Integration Task Force is now dissolved and Amanda Hurford, chair of the Scholarly Communications Steering Committee and PALSave Admin Team, will keep the Guide updated and appropriately in line with the faculty course. The Resource Integration Task Forces recommends that the Instructional Tech Steering Committee consider tech tool integration as a future action item or separate task force, as it was out of scope for this work.

Background

PALNI’s Instructional Technology and Scholarly Communications advisory groups were both created in 2017, representing new areas of growth for the consortium. Both of these groups involve communication and information needs that span beyond the library and focus on faculty integration of resources and tools. Together, Instructional Tech and ScholComm created joint action items on the PALNI Strategic Plan for 2017-2020 addressing these areas of focus. To address such action items, the Resource Integration Task Force was formed.

Falling under the strategic initiative to “Support and enhance library and institutional missions” and the goal to “Investigate and support best practices in faculty and librarian collaboration to more effectively meet local institution and library missions and serve the campus community,” these action items were created for shared exploration and work:

  • Explore best practices in OER and OA content in curriculum integration
  • Determine copyright and fair use expertise and resource identification for use in an instructional design setting

Goals

The Resource Integration Task Force was charged with identifying and developing best practices for the integration of content within course designs and curriculum to support ease of use and integration of resources including tech tools, open content and licensed works.

The Task Force set out to focus on three main areas of resource integration by addressing one area per semester between Spring 2019 and Spring 2020. The areas identified for exploration were open educational resources & creative commons licensing, library resources & licensing, and streaming media/tech tools & copyright/fair use.

Another, more practical goal was to assist the PALSave Admin Team with creating a functional resource for faculty use in the pilot of the Open Textbook Adoption Grants (Now called Course Redesign Grants) slated to start in the summer of 2019. This accelerated the need for a deliverable from the Resource Integration Task Force.

Process

Under Chair Rebecca Johnson (formerly of Manchester University and Chair of the Instructional Tech Steering Group), the task force began in February 2019. First, an idea gathering process was undertaken in which team members brainstormed resources for best practices, and discussed potential content delivery formats. One source of inspiration was an ​open Canvas course​ from Open Oregon, which was used to offer course redesign support to faculty.

The task force decided to create a LibGuide to deliver content for OER adoption in a module based format covering:

  • Setting the stage
  • OER basics
  • Locating open resources
  • Evaluating resources
  • Course Redesign
  • Integration

To facilitate that process, the modules were split up amongst the team and content was added to a shared Google doc. Next, the LibGuide was built with content from the brainstorming document, and revised one module at a time with feedback from the PALSave Admin Team. When completed, each module was made available to piloting faculty to review, check for understanding with a quiz, and fill out a form to provide feedback. The guide and content were largely well received by faculty, but they provided some suggestions in the forms and in Zoom meetings held by the PALSave team to incorporate for future iterations of the grant cycle.

Amanda Hurford stepped in as chair of the Task Force after Rebecca’s departure late 2019. In Spring 2020, the Task Force compiled resources for an additional module to address the remaining goals of the Resource Integration Task Force. This module/tab, Using Non-Open Resources, describes best practices for non-open content including library licensed materials, streaming media, etc., and addresses copyright implications and fair use for faculty. With the addition of this module to the guide, its name was changed to Zero-Cost Textbook Adoption.

Responding to faculty pilot participant feedback suggesting a more linear learning format, the PALSave Admin Team adapted the Zero-Cost Textbook Adoption LibGuide to a Canvas course for the 2020-2021 Course Redesign Grants cohort. To reflect this change in audience, the original LibGuide was altered to serve as a parallel, more general resource for all stakeholders interested in the component processes to adopt a zero-cost textbook.

Work Completed

The deliverable created by the Resource Integration Task Force is the ​Zero-Cost Textbook Adoption​ LibGuide. As described on the PALNI LibGuides list, this guide offers information and best practices related to the adoption of zero-cost course materials, and can be used by anyone involved in the process of changing from commercial to zero-cost textbooks. A Canvas course with the same name was also created, with largely the same content, for faculty awardees of PALSave Course Redesign Grants.

Addressing the action items, the guide addresses best practices for OER and OA content in curriculum integration, and identifies copyright and fair use guidelines for instructional use.

Next Steps

With the completion of the Zero-Cost Textbook Adoption LibGuide, the Resource Integration Task Force is now dissolved. Amanda Hurford, chair of the Scholarly Communications Steering Committee and PALSave Admin Team, will keep the Guide updated and appropriately in line with the faculty Canvas course content.

The Resource Integration Task Force did not have the capacity to address Tech Tool integration at this time, and recommends that the Instructional Tech Steering Committee consider that topic as a future action item or separate task force.