OER Exploration

A response to the Find Your Fit Activity
created by Avinash Thadani (@athadani)

Number of views: 380

I approached my search for OER from the perspective of migrating my students from a proprietary textbook to an open textbook that my students and I could collaboratively construct. The concept of co-learning is an integral part of active learning. Towards this end, I searched the following repositories and discovered several OER that could (and will) be applied in the nursing courses that I facilitate:

  1. MERLOT. The advantage of using MERLOT is the ease of search, the editor review as well as the user rating. I found the following site that contains fairly useful content for my students which I intend to explore further: http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/APlab/Table-of-Contents.html. This OER would enhance student learning by providing a cost-effective solution to pricey academic textbooks. Naturally, a lot of work would have to occur in order to transition to an OER that is akin to an open textbook.
  2. eCampusOntario Open Textbook Library. This is a wonderful site with good search functionality. I was able to locate an open textbook for Microbiology which I intend to utilize when I develop a new microbiology course in our proposed 4-year BScN degree offering. The open textbook can be found at: http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/APlab/Table-of-Contents.html. Having reviewed several academic microbiology textbooks, the aforementioned resource is almost as good in terms of content and the advantage is the interactive nature of the OER (e.g., clicking hyperlinks). I further aim to enhance the open textbook by adding virtual simulations, VR demonstrations and other useful pedagogical tools.
  3. PhET interactive simulations. I am enthused about this simulation resource! The site is filled with virtual simulations related to a wide array of chemical, physical, and physiological concepts. In this age of remote learning, what is missing is the hands-on kinesthetic learning in the laboratory. Simulations are the next best replacement for actual experimentation. In particular, I found a simulation related to membrane channels. Our nursing students often find the concept of membrane transport to be challenging. This simulation exercise will enable them to explore this concept in a much more interactive manner. The resource can be found at: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/legacy/membrane-channels

Overall, I found this exercise very rewarding. I am now comfortable searching for and curating OER to enhance student learning.