February 2025 | Issue 7 | Volume 2 | Previous Issues
Open Educational Resources Make College More Affordable
The cost of attending college is a particularly salient concern for our students. Textbook and course material costs are variable, and in any given semester, students may be making choices to buy textbooks or to buy food/gas/necessities. One solution to these growing costs, that faculty have control over, is the use of free Open Educational Resources (OER).
And if you are interested in some additional context, beyond saving money for students, last April, Robin DeRosa delivered an inspirational keynote address titled Teaching Toward an Open Future in which she proposed that we use Open Education as a bridge to help us cross from higher education’s current challenges into a more hopeful future where our colleges and universities are vehicles for the public good, powered by the people who work and learn within them. By aligning our values with our pedagogies and linking the university to the communities that surround and sustain it, we can imagine a way forward and design our daily work to bring us one step at a time toward the higher education that our students deserve.
While using OER may be a small act of commitment to college affordability, it is another action that demonstrates care for students.
In this issue, you’ll read about OER at VTSU from both the faculty and student perspectives. Additionally, we want to highlight the paid professional development opportunity to adopt OER (or Faux-ER) materials into your F2F+ class. And if you don’t know the difference between OER and Faux-ER, that’s ok! We’ll explain it all with the summer cohort work.
We also want to take a moment and encourage you to read the January/February 2025 issue of the Office of DEISJ newsletter. Last week, we were part of several conversations with faculty who shared the kinds of questions they were fielding from students about the potential impact of new federal Executive Orders. From federal grants such as TRIO and ROAD to Success that provide academic and financial support to students to student loan forgiveness programs to international student visas, our students have the potential to be affected by new rules and regulations. Thank you for engaging with your students’ questions and modeling information and news literacy in a period of turbulence and change.
Jen Garrett-Ostermiller, Director
Jeff Tunney, Associate Director
Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation @ VTSU
Get to know us!
$$$ Professional Development: F2F+ Course Development or OER Adoption
These Summer 2025 opportunities provides a generous grant-funded stipend ($1750) for faculty who participate in and complete the curriculum development work. If you have questions, please reach out to the CTLI at ctli@vermontstate.edu.
F2F+ Option 1: Course Development
Through the Davis Educational Foundation grant titled “Prioritizing Access Through ‘Face-to-Face Plus’ Expansion + OER Adoption,” faculty stipends are available for one more round to develop courses in the F2F+ modality.
| Limited Funding Availability – Apply for priority consideration by March 1, 2025 |
| Attend a full-day kick-off retreat on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Compensation: $300 |
| Complete a 4-week ‘Intro to F2F+ Teaching’ course in June 2025. •4-6 hours per week of attendance and homework (synchronous, offered in the F2F+ modality) •Complete a F2F+ course redevelopment map •Complete at least 2 F2F+ class lesson plans (practice 1) •Work with a Mentor to plan, revise, and develop F2F+ teaching •Practice with classroom technology Compensation: $1750 |
Please apply for priority consideration by 12noon on March 1 to develop a course in the F2F+ modality. Selected individuals will take a 4-week synchronous course in June 2025, during which they’ll map out the outcomes, assessments, and learning activities for a F2F+ course then design lesson plans for teaching in the F2F+ modality. Additional support will be provided for effective integration of technology. Faculty who have participated in this program in the past are eligible to apply, as long as you are converting a new class that you haven’t previously converted.
The grant was received from the Davis Educational Foundation established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.
F2F+ Option 2: Reducing Textbook Costs Through OER and Faux-ER Conversion
Through the Davis Educational Foundation grant titled “Prioritizing Access Through ‘Face-to-Face Plus’ Expansion + OER Adoption,” faculty stipends are available for one more round to make F2F+ courses more affordable by reducing or removing textbook costs.
| Limited Funding Availability – Apply for priority consideration by March 1, 2025 |
| Attend an kick-off retreat in early June (date TBD based on participant schedules). Compensation: $300 |
| Work with CTLI staff and Librarians to convert a F2F+ class to no- or low-cost course materials and textbooks in June, 2025. •Research Open Educational Resources (OER) relevant to course and discipline •Determine if OER materials will be adopted, adapted, created, or a combination •Select and create OER materials, ensuring costs for students will remain under $50 •Create resources and activities to accompany OER materials •Have students complete a survey about their OER experience •Share what you’ve learned through presentations, case study write-up, lessons learned tips, etc. Compensation: $1750 |
Please apply for priority consideration by 12noon on March 1 to convert an existing F2F+ course to no- or low-cost textbook/materials for students. With support of librarians and CTLI staff, you will explore existing Open Educational Resource (OER) and Faux-ER (e.g., through library subscriptions, etc.) materials to adapt or adopt; if no relevant materials exist, you will have the opportunity to create your own (or some combination of adoption, adaptation, and creation). Faculty who have adopted OER in the past have appreciated the ability to customize content to suit their outcomes, students, and interests. Students appreciate the emphasis on affordability and accessibility.
The grant was received from the Davis Educational Foundation established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.
Faculty Spotlight: Trish van der Spuy
In this issue of the Vermont State Educator, we are highlighting the background, experiences, and perspectives of Castleton-based history professor, Trish van der Spuy. It is a pleasure to share her personal and academic journey, her perspectives on open educational resources, and the influence of a staff member who can best be described as purfect.
Please tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to VTSU.
What attracted you to your academic discipline? What are your favorite things about it?
I was born in Zimbabwe when it was the British colony of Southern Rhodesia and grew up in Rhodesia, a racist settler state. 18 years later, as Zimbabwe became independent, I left my home to attend the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Having lived in a country that has been compared to North Korea in terms of its censorship and propaganda, I was suddenly experiencing the apartheid government desperately hanging onto its racist policies, deploying police and military against black South Africans, even attacking the campus of U.C.T. with teargas and chasing us into the library. I had intended to teach high school and my first degree was in English and Psychology, with a graduate degree in English and a high school teaching diploma. But living through the history of the demise of apartheid and participating in the birth of South African democracy, I was drawn into studying, researching, and writing history – collaborating with fellow historians to write textbooks reinterpreting national history, researching different aspects of Cape Town’s history through the lens of gender and asking the perennial question, “Where are the women?”
I taught History and Women’s and Gender Studies as I was slowly working towards my PhD, without mentorship. Later, I was invited to teach for a year at Emory University, and I well remember the long discussions about the wisdom of going to the U.S.A., what my friends and I imagined as a police state where violence was endemic, and everyone strutted around with guns. In the end I saw no alternative, and in August 2003 I left my family, friends, and precious dogs and boarded a plane to Atlanta, GA. trusting my life to the cosmos. If an opportunity arose, I would embrace it. From Emory, where I taught South African history, I was invited to teach the African history program at Williams College. During those two years, I was struck by the ignorance among both American and international students about the richness of African history, and by how eagerly they learned these new perspectives. I decided to dedicate myself to this work as my form of “national service” and a year later arrived at Castleton State College as a new Assistant Professor of African and World history. If I failed to reach just one student each year, I would return to South Africa. Twenty-something years later, I am still here, caring for four rescued dogs and two cats, grateful for the memories of, and gifts from, former students, researching and teaching what I love, mentoring students as I never had been myself, in a community of colleagues and students where I know I belong.
Open educational resources (OER) have been a topic of discussion among many educators in recent years. From your perspective, how can the adoption of OER be beneficial to the students enrolled at Vermont State?
Many of my colleagues have long designed courses with the cost of textbooks in mind, aiming to require resources at little to no cost to our students. Having had the opportunity to attend a CTLI OER workshop, I have learned that there is so much more to this movement than I had known; I now include a focus on Open Access publishing in my own research as well as my teaching. I would encourage faculty interested in OER to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge in the CTLI and among our librarians, and I would like to see administrative affirmation by systemic support for and advertising of OER/low-cost courses.
As a Castleton-based faculty member, have you had an opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Max the Cat who is listed as a staff member in the university’s directory? He is in the unique position of being our only colleague with a Doctorate of Litter-ature and we are curious about his role on your campus.
My office is in Leavenworth Hall, and the faculty lounge windows provide the perfect vantage point for observing Max the Cat, who often waits for community members to greet him. He demands to be greeted, in fact, and he invites students, faculty, and staff to stop, and for a moment forget our anxieties and stress, and instead focus our attention on Max’s purring life force, and smile.
VTSU Student Survey Results About OER Experiences
Open Educational Resources (OER) have many benefits. They reduce costs for students; they allow faculty, not publishers, to choose course content; and they are flexible – creating opportunities to pick and choose the best resources for any given module or unit.
We asked students in 10 fall classes at VTSU to respond to a survey in November/December 2024, reflecting on their experience with OER. 40 responded and here’s what they had to say.
Our students, like students around the country, find textbook expenses to be problematic:
- 50% have not purchased a required textbook for a course because cost was too high.
- 35% say that lack of access to course materials has been a barrier to their success in the classroom.
And, they endorse not just lowering costs, but using OER materials, recognizing the value for learning:
- 87.5% agreed or strongly agreed that the instructor should continue using the OER material/textbook in the same or similar courses.
- 85% agreed or strongly agreed that the OER material/textbook helped them succeed in the course.
- 82.5% agreed or strongly agreed that the OER material/textbook supported their learning in the course AND that it was easy to navigate and use.
One student said that OER “eliminated the stress of frantically looking around for the cheapest buying options, which allowed me more time to prepare for semester in other ways and provided a wider range of reference and resources for a more rounded comprehension, kept me engaged by mixing things up, rather than getting stuck simply reading chapter after chapter after chapter in the same book.”
Additionally, low and no-cost courses are appealing for students at the point of registration:
- 78% are likely or very likely to recommend classes to other students that use Open Educational Resources.
- 61% are likely or very likely to enroll in a course or section of a course because it uses Open Educational Resources
Are you interested in adopting OER for your course?
If you are teaching a F2F+ course, apply to join the Summer 2025 cohort for paid professional development (see above).
If you teach in Science and/or Allied Health, stay tuned for details about an OER project through the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund and the Teaching & Learning with Technologies OER committee.
If you are interested in exploring options independently, start with the excellent Open Educational Resources and Textbook Alternatives guide on the VSCS libraries website.
Program Assessment
As part of VTSU’s commitment to continuous improvement, all programs including the Gen Ed are engaging in Program Assessment, utilizing the VTSU system launched in August 2024. The CTLI’s role is to provide professional development and support, related to assessing student learning against program outcomes and those small pedagogical changes made in response to the assessment findings. The Program Assessment Sharepoint Site is your starting place for all things program assessment.
Within the site, we have created 7 self-service workshops on the following topics:
- 4 assessment reports used throughout the PReCIP cycle
- Direct measures
- Indirect measures
- Signature assignments
Each workshop includes a slidedeck and detailed notes with the intention of providing just-in-time resources. However, these resources are a starting point, not an end. If you would like additional information or to talk though questions/ideas, we are more than happy to connect with you individually or as a program.
Virtual Workshop with City University of New York
We are pleased to announce the availability of this free virtual workshop, which is a collaboration between the Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE), VTUS’s Office of Multilingual Students Services, and the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation.
Communities and schools are shaped and strengthened by the migration of people and ideas across the globe. The City University of New York – Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE) creates opportunities for educational stakeholders to learn from immigrant students, families, and educators directly impacted by restrictive immigration policies and educational inequality. We aim to develop multimodal and multilingual resources that center the strengths of mixed status immigrant communities that include undocumented, refugee, asylum-seeking members, and Students of Color.
Thus, learn, act and advocate for an equitable education for immigrant students and their families! During this 90-minute interactive session, Sunisa Nuonsy, a CUNY-IIE instructor, will provide an overview of CUNY-IIE’s grounding principles and the multimodal and multilingual resources that have been developed for educators to use with colleagues, students, families, and community members. CUNY-IIE is a New York State Education Department-funded project that unifies educators, researchers, families, and local leaders to learn about, from, and with immigrant communities, to act in ways that center our shared humanity regardless of legal status, and advocate for equitable policies and opportunities.
We invite inquiries regarding the application of this topic’s insights to Vermont State, Vermont State University, and its services to multilingual, multicultural students.
- Date: Thursday, February 20th
- Time: 9:25-10:40am EST
Please register in your browser or scan the QR code:
The link to join the virtual session will be sent to registrants 1 week prior to the session.
Campus Partner Update: VSCS Libraries
Check out the VSCS Library website for up-to-date news, services, and resources. If you have specific reference or resources questions, be sure to reach out to your liaison librarian. For questions or feedback, please reach out to us at libraries@vsc.edu. Learn more about the library resources, services, and events below!
February Virtual Resource Display: Black History Month
Each month, the library features a virtual display that includes a variety of library resources, including print books, eBooks, and streaming media. For the month of February, we are celebrating Black History Month. This year’s theme is African Americans and Labor, focusing on the “various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people.” You can check out our current display as well as previous displays here: Black History Month: African Americans and Labor
Spring Semester Workshops
Along with our VSCS Libraries Virtual Orientation, and In-Person Tours, we offer a variety of workshops for faculty and students. Topics include APA citation, newspaper databases, and meeting the written expression learning outcomes. If you can’t attend live, recorded sessions are available anytime. New workshops will be added throughout the semester, so check out our workshops and tutorials page: Tutorials and Workshops – VSCS Libraries
Preserving Information Online
If you need to preserve public United Sates Government websites that are not directly related to a class, the general public can use this link to submit URLs to ensure information is archived. If there are things directly related to a class that you need access to, please reach out to your liaison librarian as they have a working document of identified material that needs to be preserved and can do what they can to find and capture the material for your courses.
Teaching Students to Read Digitally
Jeff Tunney
Associate Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation
Are you interested in using digital books and content in your classroom?
It is sometimes assumed that the process of reading a digital book is the same as a traditional book, which isn’t the case. The following sections delve into the benefits and challenges of digital reading as well as success strategies related to the study of digital content.
The Benefits
- Note Taking Features – Books and other digital content often include highlighting tools and the ability to add comments or notes within the text.
- Interactivity – Some content may be interactive. For example, it isn’t uncommon to be able to search text using keywords, access specific sections using embedded links, and take advantage of available video or audio options.
- Portability – A student can load multiple books on to the same device, which makes accessing materials more convenient, especially when they have a heavy course load.
- Cost – In many, but not all cases, eBooks are a less costly option than traditional texts.
The Challenges
- Distraction – As digital content is typically read on the same device(s) used for other tasks, such as playing games and accessing social media platforms, students are more prone to lose focus when compared to reading printed materials.
- Perceptions of Importance – (Pecorari et al., 2012, as cited in Lim & Toh, 2020), in a study on reading in higher education, have found that students perceived reading, be it in print or digital format, to be of limited importance. They concluded that students’ resistance to reading may be related to a lack of motivation as a result of low reading ability.
- Changes in Reading Behavior – The increased use of mobile devices, such as smartphones, for reading amongst students have also contributed to new reading behaviours such as browsing and scanning, more selective reading, less in-depth reading, and lower reading concentration (Liu & Huang, 2016, as cited in Lim & Toh, 2020).
- Educator Assumption – Many instructors assume students are comfortable with digital reading because they are fluent in the use of technology as digital natives. This assumption, however, is flawed because digital reading skills, such as critical evaluation of digital texts, are not developed incidentally as a result of leisure media use (Bennett et al., 2008, as cited in Lim & Toh, 2020).
Student Success Strategies
- Combine Formats – One success strategy is to have students read digital materials and write notes on paper using a structured approach, such as the Cornell note-taking method (see our January 2025 newsletter for details research on and various methods of notetaking). The physical action of writing notes, based on embodied cognition learning research, leads to better information retention when compared to typing alone.
- Direct Instruction – Another success strategy is to model the use of the technology. Demonstrate how to navigate the book or resource while highlighting available tools, such as annotation and highlighting.
- Slow Down and Reflect – Digital resources lend themselves to more skimming and passive reading when compared to their paper-based counterparts. It is advantageous to encourage students to practice deep reading and complete a reflection exercise once their reading is finished. This practice will condition them to think critically about what they have learned and how it relates to their assignment and course objectives.
- Active Reading Strategies – Encourage students to use an active reading strategy, such as the SQ3R reading comprehension method, which stands for survey, question, read, recite, and review. It can be used with both physical and digital texts, but can be particularly helpful in countering the negative reading behavior associated with digital content.
References
Lim, F. V. & Toh, W. (2020). How to teach digital reading? Journal of Information Literacy. http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/14.2.2701
Additional Resources
Fingal, J. (2020). Teach Students How to Read – and Understand – Digital Text. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). https://iste.org/blog/teach-students-how-to-read-and-understand-digital-text
Hopman-Droste, R. (2022) Digital Reading Strategies to Improve Student Success. Pearson. https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2022/01/digital-reading-strategies-to-improve-student-success.html
Mangen, A., & Pirhonen, A. (2022). Reading, Writing, Technology, and Embodiment. In S. L. Macrine, & J. M. B. Fugate (Eds.), Movement Matters : How Embodied Cognition Informs Teaching and Learning (pp. 103-117). The MIT Press.
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13593.003.0013
Miller, K. (2024). Getting Students to Read Digital Texts More Deeply. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/deep-reading-digital-texts-middle-high-school/
Shanahan, T. (2023) Is Digital Text a Good Idea for Reading Instruction?. Shanahan on Literacy. https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/is-digital-text-a-good-idea-for-reading-instruction
Stachowiak, B. (2017). Digital Reading, Teaching in Higher Ed. https://teachinginhighered.com/2017/09/11/digital-reading/
Teaching with AI
Are you interested in learning more about ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools?
The Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation has partnered with the Auburn University Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning to provide VTSU faculty members with an opportunity to participate in the award-winning Teaching with AI, a fully-online, self-paced, asynchronous course especially designed for higher education faculty.
The course, which includes content focused on the technical, pedagogical, theoretical, and ethical implications of AI, should be beneficial to beginners as well as more advanced users of this emerging technology.
What are the goals of the course?
- Learn about AI and its implications for teaching and learning in higher education – especially those relating to academic integrity;
- Consider examples (good and bad) of how to redesign courses for AI;
- Experiment with AI tools, redesign assignments, and get feedback;
- Engage in conversations about your thinking on topics related to AI in the college classroom;
- Access a (growing and evolving) repository of research on teaching with AI;
- Engage your department colleagues in the conversation by modeling best practices and sharing your learning to ensure students in your program have a consistent, comparable learning experience no matter who is leading the class.
What is the time commitment and what do I earn by completing the course?
- The total time for an engaged learner to complete all five modules is between 10 to 15 hours.
- The VTSU licenses expire on April 1, 2025.
- If you complete one assignment at the end of each module, you will earn an AI Explorer digital badge to add to your CV.
How do I sign-up?
The CTLI has purchased licenses for 100 VTSU faculty members, available first-come, first-served. Please submit the form below to express interest. As long as licenses are available, your login credentials will be created and your enrollment into the course will be initiated. Further instructions and correspondence will be emailed to your Vermont State email address.
Spotlight on LinkedIn Learning Resources for Faculty
What is LinkedIn Learning?
LinkedIn Learning provides 24-hour access to high-quality, on-demand, online video courses and collections for professional development and training in specific skills, taught by industry experts. LinkedIn Learning has over 300,000 tutorials and 16,000+ professionally produced videos on a wide range of topics.
Each month, we’re featuring LinkedIn Learning courses that may be of interest to you or your students.
Here’s the selection for February:
- Thinking Creatively
- The Digital Transformation of Learning
- Enhance Your Productivity with Effective Note-Taking
- Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement
- Leading Virtual Meetings
LinkedIn Learning is now available to everyone on campus, including students, at no cost!
Bookmark LinkedIn Learning in your favorite browser and use your VTSU credentials to sign in.
The VTSU license for LinkedIn Learning is available through a recent federal grant for the next two years.
Campus Update: F2F+ Testing Space
Update from Disability Services & Academic Support
Last fall, several faculty members teaching in the Face-to-Face Plus (F2F+) modality reached out to Academic Support Services to inquire about proctoring tests for students enrolled remotely in those courses.
Disability Services and Academic Support decided to expand testing on the Castleton, Johnson, Lyndon, and Randolph campuses to include F2F+ students on a space-available basis, maintaining priority for students with disabilities. Staff in Disability Services and Academic Support are working with Williston faculty and administrators to develop a solution for testing students with disabilities at that campus. Additionally, they are continuously evaluating the testing needs of students across the university.
Evaluating Student Learning in F2F+ Classes
While many students enrolled in F2F+ courses are based at one of our 5 primary campuses, we also have remote students taking F2F+ classes geographically located around the state, country, and even world. Accessibility is one of the four pillars of F2F+ teaching, and proctored tests may limit access to F2F+ courses. Additionally, given limited staff and space in Academic Support on our campuses, proctored tests may be difficult to schedule. As a result, it is wise to consider alternatives to proctored tests when planning a F2F+ class. The Face-to-Face Plus (F2F+) Teaching Guide provides guidance on assessing student learning. Additionally, in the CTLI, we are happy to meet with any faculty member who would like support for designing their course and/or assignments. Schedule a 30-minute consultation at a time of convenience for you and we’ll get started!
ROAD to Success: Faculty Stipends
The ROAD (Rural Opportunity and Development) to Success team led by Beth Walsh is excited to announce a new, stipended course development opportunity for faculty. The grant-funded ROAD to Success initiative aims to increase access to higher education for rural Vermont students.
Grant Objectives
One of the primary goals of the ROAD grant is to enhance educational accessibility for students in rural communities through online coursework. By developing high-quality online courses, we can break down geographical barriers and provide flexible learning options for students who may not have easy access to traditional on-campus programs.
Proposal Opportunity
All full- and part-time faculty are invited to submit proposals to develop fully online classes.
Key Details:
- Selected applicants will receive a stipend of $1,000 per credit for course development at the completion of the process (e.g., a 3-credit course would yield a $3000 stipend).
- Faculty will work one-on-one with the ROAD grant instructional designer to ensure course quality and adherence to best practices in online education. There will be a minimum of three required remote meetings with the instructional designer.
- All courses will adhere to the VTSU Online Standards.
Priority Areas
While proposals from all disciplines are welcomed, priority will be given to courses that contribute to:
- The development of 100% Online certificates
- The development of 100% online degree programs
- Programs planned for future online delivery
These priority areas align with the grant’s long-term strategy to create comprehensive online learning pathways for students in rural areas.
Application Process
To apply, please submit by May 1, 2025 a detailed email to Beth.Walsh@VermontState.edu, including:
- Name of program, programs, or general education course
- Course title and course description
- Rationale for online/hybrid development including department plan for online program development
- Target student population
- Your experience developing online courses
- Proposed semester launch date
Applications will be reviewed as they are received. Funding is limited, and faculty are encouraged to submit sooner rather than later.
All interested faculty members are encouraged to apply and contribute to this important initiative. By participating in the ROAD to Success grant program, you will play a crucial role in expanding educational opportunities for rural students and shaping the future of online education at our institution and in Vermont.
For more information or to submit your proposal, please contact Beth Walsh at 802.635.1377 or Beth.Walsh@VermontState.edu.