Internet Learning Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 2017/Winter 2018 | Page 47

Internet Learning Journal
the use of free and open course materials”
(Haricombe, 2017). Additionally,
some Rhode Island state colleges are
estimating that they will save their students
approximately $5 million over the
next 5 years as they make the transition
to open resources (Haricombe, 2017).
Similar to the state of Texas’ Senate
Bill 810, “other states such as Florida,
California, Minnesota, North Dakota,
Oregon and Washington have enacted
legislation that has expanded or stabilized
open educational resources” (Haricombe,
2017).
Making the Transition
To remedy our own book dependency
and reprogram the way
we view classroom materials, we
followed some very simple steps. We
went into the project with some trepidation
as we had seen how the process
can go wrong without proper planning
and appropriate implementation schedules.
Fortunately, we have better tools
available than in the past and a deeper
understanding of how to avoid unintended
consequences.
To start the project, we did the
same type of benchmarking we would
do with any class; but, with much more
focus on course materials. We recommend
the following five steps for OER
integration.
Step One: Search the Web
The first step was to benchmark our
current readings against similar classes
across the academy by searching on-
line for syllabi. While we were already
aware of the major works in the field,
this helped us to keep abreast of new
resources and trends. This exercise is
also helpful because the syllabi often
provide links to unfamiliar open access
sites. Fortunately, even classes that
require textbooks tend to use at least
some OERs.
Step Two: Try New Technologies
The second step was to experiment
with new technologies, such as the Intellus
Learning interface. 2 This tool is
integrated within both our university’s
Learning Management System (LMS)
and library system. It simply crawls
though the web searching for OER content
for the topic of focus. This allowed
us to assemble many resources successfully
within a compressed timeframe.
Getting accustomed to any new tool
may be time-consuming and a bit frustrating
at first, but in our case, it was
worth it in the long run. As a smart system,
Intellus Learning makes use of the
learning objectives entered by the user
to suggest material when conducting a
search. An unanticipated advantage of
using Intellus was that in the process of
loading such course information into
the tool, we noticed that some courses
needed their learning objectives to be
updated.
Step Three: Collaborate with
University Librarians
We are fortunate at many universities
to have librarians with subject matter
expertise. Leveraging this can save a lot
2 For more information on Intellus Learning, see: http://www.intelluslearning.com/
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