Module 4Publishing & Sharing OER

Module 4 features resources to help you prepare OER for publication. Best practices discussed include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and editorial processes to help you optimize accessibility and quality of your digital resources. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

Identify and apply the seven principles of UDL
Conduct an Accessibility audit of online learning materials
Edit, lay out, and publish a Pressbooks project with an appropriate license

Ensuring Accessibility

If you are interested in making sure that your teaching environment is both inclusive and accessible to all learners, then learning more about Universal Design of Learning (UDL) and accessibility can help you achieve these goals.

EXPLORE

Read Universal Design: Principles of Universal Design by American Library Association (2 min)
Read Universal Design for Learning and Digital Accessibility: Compatible Partners or Conflicted Marriage? by Educause (20 min)
Read Make Your Book Accessible and Inclusive by Pressbooks (4 min)
Read Key Questions to Consider When Planning Lessons by CAST (1 min)
Read How Do I Use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor as an Instructor? by Instructure Community (3 min)
Read Curating OER - Accessibility Checklist adapted from BC Open Textbook Accessibility Toolkit by Salt Lake Community College (3 min)
Watch Using Open Content to Create a Culturally Relevant Classroom by Open Education Conference (37 min)

Do

Using resources from the "Explore" section above, analyze your Pressbooks project for opportunities to incorporate UDL.
Review a Canvas course using the accessibility tool and work to address any red or yellow alerts that may appear.

Editing Your Pressbooks Project

OER creators have a variety of ways to help ensure their content achieves or exceeds the same professional standards they may expect from commercial publishing. Key strategies include budgeting sufficient time to prepare OER for publication, recruiting appropriate assistance, and engaging reviewers to apply tools such as rubrics and copyediting checklists.

EXPLORE

Read UH OER Publishing Guide: Editing & Formatting by the University of Hawai'i (12 min)
Read UH OER Publishing Guide: Layout & Design by the University of Hawai'i (5 min)
Read Make a Book Cover by Pressbooks (8 min)

Do

Identify the optimal approach to gaining peer review for your Pressbooks project and the steps you need to take to get the input you need.
Create a cover for your Pressbooks project.
Contact your institution's UEN Pressbooks site administrator to learn about what institutional resources may be available to help you review and refine your content.
Consider reaching out to relevant departments such as English, Literature, Writing & Rhetoric and/or OER program for suggestions on freelance copyeditors and proofreaders.

Publishing Your Pressbooks Project

Pressbooks offers several options for sharing a project. You can choose just one method or combine methods to make your content available on the platform(s) best aligned with your students' needs.

EXPLORE

Revisit these resources from Module 2:
- Read Creative Commons (CC) licenses (Links to an external site.) (2 min)
- Read Use & Remix (Links to an external site.) by Creative Commons (1 min)
- Read Copyright Made Simple(ish) (Links to an external site.) by Jen Hughes, Salt Lake Community College (10 min)
Read Attribution Statements by BCcampus (2 min)
Read Add Relevant Metadata by Pressbooks (3 min) and/or watch Adding OER Metadata by Pressbooks (3 min)
Read Control Your Book’s Privacy Settings by Pressbooks (3 min)
Watch How To Export Your Finished Book by Pressbooks (3 min) and/or read Pressbooks User Guide: Export by Pressbooks (6 min)
Read Import an Open Textbook into a LMS by BC Campus (4 min)

Do

Finalize your Pressbooks project by assigning it the appropriate copyright, completing the metadata, and exporting the files in at least one method.
Note that if you'd like to share your project as an OER but would like more time with it, you can come back and change the setting from "private" to "public" later.
Read out to your institution's Site Admin if you have any questions.

Go Further

Read The OER Starter Kit: Planning and Completing Your OER Project by Iowa State University Digital Press (3 min)
Watch the Navigating UDL Implementation in Higher Education by UDL IRN (1 hour)
Read A Comprehensive Guide to Applying Universal Design to Learning by Dr. Seanna Takacs et al (1 hour)
Read Pressbooks Accessibility Standards and Commitments by Pressbooks (2 min)
Read Trans Inclusion in OER by Kat Klement and Stephen G. Krueger (15 min)
Watch Getting Started with PressbooksEDU Webinar (1 hour)
Watch Pressbooks End User Training - July 2020 by Pressbooks (1 hour)
Try the Open Attribution Builder by Open Washington (1 min)