Creating an Army of OER Advocates: Open Education Professional Development for Academic Librarians
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Workforce Development, Continuing Education, and Professional Development
Presentation Format Requested
Fast Format (7 minutes)
Session Abstract
Interest in Open Educational Resources is increasing. At many universities, academic librarians lead campus advocacy efforts to establish and advance OER initiatives. Professional development programs have been created to address their learning needs as they venture into these roles. This presentation offers a preliminary thematic investigation of these programs.
Target Audience
This presentation is targeted at audiences interested in
- Professional development programs for non-teaching academic faculty and academic professionals
- Open Educational Resources (OER)
- Campus OER advocacy
- Professional learning for career enhancement
- Online delivery of professional development
Learning Outcomes
Session attendees will
1. Gain a basic working knowledge of Open Educational Resources (OER) and
2. Gain a basic working knowledge of OER advocacy.
3. Learn more about available OER training programs for academic librarians
4. Learn how these training programs are situated within the context of professional education traditions and
theory
5. Gain knowledge of how these programs are examples of new trends in continuing education and
professional development
6. Learn how online delivery shapes these professional development programs
Session Description
Importance and Timeliness: The cost of higher education is rising. Implementing open educational resources (OER) is gaining popular support as one small way to combat this. Academic Librarians have become active participants in these efforts on many college and university campuses. This session offers a preliminary investigation into the construction and delivery of open education leadership professional development programs for academic librarians. These programs offer training and experiential learning experience that help academic librarians gain the knowledge they need to advocate for OER on campus
Impact: Professionals need avenues for keeping current and means for acquiring new skills and knowledge. Open education leadership and professional development programs have already had a tremendous impact on the library community. The presenter offers a brief overview of the open education and OER movement and provides some background on the history of librarian professional development.
Innovation: These programs take on innovative formats and utilize the power of technology. After initial cohort meetings at or before national conferences, two of the programs continue with robust online components. The third program examined is offered completely online.
Format & Technique
The session will be presented using powerpoint slides. The slides will provide visuals for OER and OER program formats.
Primary Presenter
Elaine Thornton, University of Arkansas
Work Title
Open Education and Distance Learning Librarian