Kaleidoscope Project – NGLC project – TC3

http://www.project-kaleidoscope.org/

Assumptions

  1. Students require timely access to educational materials to support success.
  2. Education can only be delivered in an environment of open exchange and sharing.
  3. Use of OER increases instructor and student access to quality materials.
  4. Faculty collaboration enhances course design and engage faculty/improves teaching.
  5. Collaborative use of common OER increases our ability to discover and enrich and sustain resources for use by students.

Project Goals

  • improve success
  • eliminate textbook costs as a barrier
  • improve course designs to improve student learning and success
  • use OER exclusively in course designs
  • assessment-driven enhancement
  • focus on at risk student’s unique learning needs
  • create a collaborative community to share learning and investment

Engagement Process

  • Institution
  • academic leaders
    • define priorities and strategies
    • identify resources and limitations
    • provide support and assistance
  • Discipline 
  • faculty teams
    • create course designs
    • share teaching practices
    • improve learning results
  • Project team
    • guide implementation
    • complete analysis and evaluation
    • facilitate communication and change

.77 improvement in intermediate algebra – extraordinary results

reduced the costs to students and did no harm. reduced costs to $0

faculty perceptions

  • 100% would use OER again
  • 100% found quality are equal to or better
  • 100% continued in the program

faculty perception of quality 97% same or better.

Student preferences 73% prefer Kaleidoscope

Course design process

  1. Define student learning outcomes
  2. Create summative assessments
  3. Identify core open resources
  4. Create formative assessments
  5. Identify supplemental OER
  6. Deliver courses
  7. Evaluate and improve

Common assessment – encouraged, not required.

  •  Not define delivery approach
  • Not Standardize teaching and learning activities
  • Not creating OER. Curating best of OER.

Course types created:

  1. Use a complete open text: business fundamentals, chem, GEO, Psych
  2. Use consolidated diverse resources: biology, English comp, developmental writing,
  3. Use and integrated open tool set/content: developmental math and developmental reading.

John Connor – provost

  • Reduce costs – barrier to success
  • Marketing initiative – 0 cost for materials.
  • Digital natives vs immigrants
  • Faculty selection – hand picked
  • Brought unions in

Johanna Duncan-Poitier – on the phone

simple speak- elevator speech

  1. reduce costs increase success/financial barrier is removed
  2. collaborate on resources to support course delivery. supports systemness
  3. higher level of student engagement in courses/reduced withdrawal and increased success.

Big idea: a textbook-free general studies degree – this is already mentioned in the revised OpenSUNY Proposal.

Questions/Observations:

  1. I am wondering how this fits in strategically with other OER open initiatives with similar objectives at the system level?
  2. I am also interested in how this might integrate with SUNY-wide programs (SLN/CPD) short term as part of the longer term scalability and sustainability plan.
  3. I am also interested in long term sustainability and scalability of such a project, and see Open SUNY as a vehicle for that.