International Journal of Open Educational Resources Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2019/Winter 2020 | Page 24

International Journal of Open Educational Resources
programs in the United States (Seaman,
Allen, & Seaman, 2018), experimentation
with “authentic tasks and active
learning techniques” (Finch & Jefferson,
2013, p. 181) in blended and online
learning environments is still widely
discussed in the literature, and students
reportedly “bemoan the fact that they
do not have the personal connection
they desire when learning online” (Rapchak,
2017, p. 59). Courses and training
delivered by librarians, however
“multi-task, multi-purpose, multi-disciplinary”
(Finch & Jefferson, 2013, p.
182) they are designed to be, can be also
be disappointing to students and participants
if they lack the collaborative
approach and “facilitative nature” (p.
187) of the CoI model, which identifies
teaching, social, and cognitive presence
(see Figure 1) as overlapping elements
in “a successful higher educational experience”
(Garrison et al., 2000, p. 87).
Figure 1. Elements of an education experience.
Methodology
While interest in open education
already existed in
pockets around campus, advocacy
for OER came only after it became
obvious that both library staff
and academic administration—i.e., the
Provost—were in a position to foster
a CoI around OER. A handful of individual
faculty were using OER in their
courses, but a formal network of support
was lacking until an interdepartmental
working group of library staff
began meeting to discuss and develop
a campus-wide strategy. The group
formed out of professional interests and
personal experience. Several librarians
at CofC teach a credit-bearing information
literacy course, and most had
reused content from an open textbook
from SUNY Open in their course—i.e.,
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