Session 1 (LOUIS D): Introductions (Summary and Project Updates)

Hi folks, there’s nothing you need to do with this thread right now. It’s just a placeholder for something you’ll do as part of your Week 1 Homework. I’ll have more information during our first meeting:)

Got it. This just confirms we’re in, though.

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Hello all, I am Wes Welch. I have been a faculty member with the University of Louisiana at Monroe for 7 years now teaching HIST courses. I have taught OER courses since last year but have never created my own OER course with exception of creating the content (quizzes assignments etc) based on the OER textbook chosen. I look forward to working with you all.

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Week recap, Met some of the cohort. Met leaders. Got introduced to website forum.rebus.community. Got leads on possible websites to facilitate student learning. Have lots more work to do. Checklist: Joined Mentimeter, joined Rebus, signed MOU in Rebus, Introduced myself in Rebus.

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Enjoyed meeting everyone this week!

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Hi folks–this is Joel under another email account, until the google sign-in is fixed:)

It was wonderful to meet so many of you, and see all/ most teams in our cohort represented at our first session!

Here’s the chat transcript from today’s session.

The main focus was to get to know one another’s projects, understand how our sessions will be structured, and learn about Rebus’ tools and approaches. As some of you requested more guidance for project accountability in the process, we are designing activities for in-session practice and application afterwards, so that you can successively build out your OER creation plan and implement it smoothly over the coming year. On that note, I kindly ask you to complete this week’s activities as outlined in your session handout, if you haven’t yet done so:

  • Agree to the Memorandum of Understanding for our cohort, in the MOU thread.
  • Write a brief introduction to the forum titled: Who’s in the cohort? including your role on the project and the dream goal you have for it.
  • Respond below in this thread with any weekly updates you might have before Session 2. We’re still getting used to the workflow so what an “update” looks like at this point may not be very substantial. View it like a brief weekly reflection on what you accomplished Rebus- and OER-wise. See the bottom of this recap for more info about team updates.

We also spent a bit of time discussing Rebus’ collaborative approach to publishing, and how a larger community around a resource can not only make it stronger, but also help maintain it down the line. Our approach hinges on thinking about communications, accessibility, formatting, and more at each stage to really harness the global potential of OER. And these stages can and most likely will be flexible, and thus play out in different ways for each team — that’s what the model is built to do!

We also discussed how being transparent about the process of creation can invite others to contribute and be involved in your projects, whether in big ways or small. Using a public-facing space for your project planning and communication, for example, is a unique way to broadcast your project and invite collaborators to join efforts in its creation.

Talking about the tools we use for the Textbook Success Program like Curriculum Hub in Google, for instance, we also mentioned the Rebus Community Forum, where this recap is posted and where we will conveniently streamline ALL our cohort communication. All materials will be available to you throughout the program. We encourage you to share your questions here! Please note that you can use

@oct22-d-cohort

for conversations that include all cohort members. In addition, you can also write direct messages to individuals, not only in your cohort, but the entire forum space. Refer to the video tutorials in your handout for a more in-depth overview of the forum and its features.

Team Updates Activity

To let each other know of the progress you are making as you are working through the tasks of the week, I kindly request that you share your team updates with me and the cohort by replying to this post with the following information. Please make sure to post prior to our next session, so I can read what you write and prepare my responses:

  • What activities have you managed to complete?
  • What challenges have you faced and what solutions have you found to address those?

Leave a few thoughts around the items that excite you, you would like to know more about, or you have questions about regarding the upcoming Session 2: Project Scoping [Read the initial 5 slides]

Hey Joel and everyone! :wave:t5: Those login issues should now be resolved, so hopefully you should all be able to sign in. If anyone has issues, please reach out to us — @kaitlin @joerdis or I will be able to troubleshoot and make sure you are all set.

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Weekly update: During our Microeconomics cohort meeting we introduced ourselves and broadly discussed project expectations and the general timeline.

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Hi everyone. My name is Lisa Namikas and I teach History at BRCC, Baton Rouge Community College, starting my 7th year. I participated in the World History cohorts last year developing OERs and it was a great learning experience. I loved the community our cohorts created and the outcomes we worked so hard to create. Looking forward to starting another round.

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I’m really looking forward to working on this project. I feel like I have so much to learn. I began looking online for existing open source Western Civil materials and I quickly found a few, so I think we will have a good bit to work with as far as remixing to create something new. We have not yet had our first Western Civ cohort meeting, but once we do, I think we will have a more clear idea of how we want to proceed. I think the next meeting, which covers project scoping, will also give those of us who have never participated in something like this a clearer picture of what we are doing. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend Monday’s meeting live, but I will watch the recordings and keep up on the forum as soon as I can.

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Connie,
I have also been looking at some open source Western Civ materials, so I think we will definitely be able to hit the ground running. As someone who worked on one of the OER projects last year, I feel like we will be in really good shape heading into our first meeting.

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I think this project is really exciting, and I am pleased to be a part of it. I have previously worked with LOUIS and the Rebus community and it was a well thought-out project. This should be similar, but I am always open to learning and discovering new things. I have already began looking at existing open source Philosophy materials, so I think we will have material to work with as far as remixing to create something new. We have not yet had our group meeting, but once we do, I think we will have a more clear idea of how we want to proceed. I am very much looking forward to the next meeting on project scoping.

Hello! Ready to get started with this project!

Hi everyone,
I am a faculty member at the University of Holy Cross in New Orleans. I’ve been teaching microeconomics since 2000. I was on the LOUIS Introduction to Business team. I teach classes with a mix of dual enrollment and traditional students. I have been using an OER for micro since 2018. I look forward to working with the team to customize the resources.
Kind regards,
Nicole

Hi Everyone:

I have completed all the Session 1 stuff, without any major problems. Onward!

Peter

I’ve spent some time reading about the development of open access materials. I’ve also spent some time reflecting on the needs of instructors and students with regards to course resources and content.

I’m currently not able to attend the training sessions as I teach a face-to-face class on Mondays from 12:30-1:50 (it only meets on Mondays). We will be done with class sessions soon and I’ll be available to attend the sessions. I am watching the videos for now.

Hi everyone, my name is Molly McGraw. I am a Professor of Geography at Southeastern in Hammond. I am excited about working on this project. I know a few of you and look forward to getting to know the rest.