I’m lucky. My job as an instructional designer gives me a bird’s eye view of how VSCC faculty turn their diverse teaching philosophies into high quality, high impact learning opportunities on eLearn. Many of our faculty tie classroom learning to work-based learning . Mel Matthews, Sleep Diagnostics, provides students with opportunities to conduct clinical work at locations throughout Tennessee. In Veterinary Technology, Dr. Hope Wright and D.J. Smith lead students through the program by employing a cohort model, creating learning communities of students who grow together. Recently awarded a grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents, Dr. Jeremy Shipley and Dr. Matthew Williams-Wyant are writing a “ technology-enhanced learning “ textbook for PHIL 1030. They’ll host their textbook on Perusall , a technology that promotes peer-to-peer learning and accountability in completing coursework by turning homework into a social experience. HIPs All of these great learning opportunities—wo
Affordable educational resources for students take various forms. Faculty may link to library subscription resources or refer students to credible websites. Free is good, but copyright restrictions and licensing may limit their use. Using open access journals and books prevents the door from being closed in the future. Or for a wide-open door with no lock, consider open educational resources (OER). The concept of open is not new. The public domain , works that are not protected by intellectual property laws and are free to use without permission, is a familiar source to many. Works enter the public domain in a variety of ways. A public domain work may initially come with a public domain license or it may be based on the age of the work. Open access (OA) is a publishing model for scholarly communications that removes financial, legal, and technical barriers to accessing research articles. According to the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) “open access i