Open Education at GCC is delighted to announce that we have been able to choose two GCC librarians for a special fellowship. We are inviting them to become OER Librarian Facilitators for faculty and to support the adoption and adaptation of OER materials for the Near-Z Degree program. This week, we are putting the spotlight on Jacqui Higgins-Dailey, GCC librarian and supporter of OER.
Introduction
My name is Jacqui Higgins-Dailey and I’ve been a librarian for 13 years. Prior to that, I was a journalist and a PR professional. I’ve been working at GCC for five years, first as an adjunct and the last two years as full-time faculty. Before GCC, I was a librarian with Phoenix Public Library. I love being a librarian and I love teaching, so GCC has been the perfect fit.
Outside of my work, I enjoy travel, hiking, camping, yoga, and spending time with friends and family.
OER Contributions
All the Information Studies (IFS) courses that library faculty teach do not require traditional textbooks and utilize OER resources. This is for a variety of reasons: to cut down on costs to students, to encourage more students to engage with our courses, to enhance our diversity, equity, and inclusion work, and to be able to tailor the curriculum to best meet the course objectives. OER gives faculty the opportunity to engage with course content more creatively and it envisions a more equitable learning opportunity for students.
In addition to using OER for the library course I co-teach (IFS 201: Information in a Post-Truth World), I assist other librarians and faculty in finding OER sources for their classes as well. Whether that means looking for quality materials within the library collections, finding OER textbooks on platforms like OpenStax, or compiling articles and content from a variety of online sources – aiding faculty in accessing OER is a way to empower educators to move toward more accessible educational content.
Faculty Takeaways
It’s always a challenge to move away from a model that we, as educators, have been using for decades. It can be intimidating to imagine what using OER might look like but I would suggest starting small. Learn a bit more about OER and what resources are available. Reach out to a librarian for information and help with selecting some options for consideration. Reach out to the OER Committee to learn more and find out what other instructors are doing. Check out the Open Ed Conference in October. There are so many resources available and people who are eager to share.
********
The OER Spotlight reveals faculty and staff in different departments across the campus to whom you can reach out to ask questions about OER. If they don’t know the answer, they are willing to help you find out. Contact Open Education @GCC for more information.
