Reducing Costs for Students (Course Materials)

REDUCING COSTS FOR STUDENTS

Banner states OER and Other Affordable Solutions: A CAL$ Training. Photo of smiling student on campus

Quick Access

   Modules   |   CAL$ Website   |   Course Proposal Template

Getting Started

Thank you for choosing to save your students money by taking part in this training! 
To begin the course, please:
  1. Carefully read the information on this Home page, which provides a suggested timeline and reviews the expectations for the deliverables you will need to complete by May 17th
  2. Familiarize yourself with the Canvas layout. Use the "Modules" option in the Menu (left) or Quick Access links (above) to access Module 1. 
  3. Begin working through Module 1: What are Open Educational Resources (OER)? 

Suggested Schedule

While you may work at your own pace, you are encouraged to complete at least one module each week. You must complete the modules in order, passing each module quiz, and submitting any module assignments, before moving on. If you follow the suggested schedule below, you should complete the training on/before May 10th.

Suggested schedule for training completion in Spring 2024
Module Number

Module Topic

Suggested Week of Completion

Available As Early As
Module 1

What is OER?

March 4-8

March 4
Module 2

Creative Commons Licenses and Copyright

March 11-15

March 4

Spring Break

March 18-22
Module 3

Finding and Evaluating OER

March 25-29

March 18
Module 4

Library Resources

April 1-5 

March 21
Module 5

Ensuring Accessibility

April 8-12

March 25
Module 6

Curating, Adapting, and Creating OER 

April 15-19

April 5
Module 7

Teaching Open and the ZCCM Designation

April 29 - May 3

April 19

Finalize and Submit Proposal for Course Changes

May 6-10*

*All deliverables must be submitted by Friday, May 17th. 

Course Deliverables

  1. Successful Completion of the Seven Canvas Modules. Each module will take approximately 1-2 hours to complete and include check-point quizzes and a final module quiz that can be taken as many times as necessary to earn a passing score. Passing the module quiz will unlock the next module. Some modules will also include a brief assignment that can be submitted directly to Canvas.
  2. Proposal for Course Changes. Each module will ask you to add and complete a section of your Course Proposal. In Module 1 you will be asked to copy or download the Course Proposal Template, and complete the first portion. In each subsequent module you will be given additional questions to answer in your developing Course Proposal. At the end of the training you will be asked to upload the completed Proposal for Course Changes.

All module quizzes and assignments, and the completed Proposal for Course Changes, must be submitted to Canvas by Friday, May 17th in order to receive the $500 payment for the course.

Faculty who develop a cost-savings plan for a General Education course AND commit to present their redesign to the Curriculum Advisory Board (CAB) or another campus venue, are eligible for an additional $300 stipend.

CAL$ Coordinator & Training Leader Beth Shook 

Headshot of smiling woman in a park setting.

I look forward to working with you in this training! Please reach out to me with any questions that you may have about this training or your Proposal for Course Changes. I am happy to connect over email, zoom, or in person.

I have served as our campus' Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) coordinator (or co-coordinator) since 2018, but my interest in OER started when I participated in Chico State's "Textbook Alternative Program" (TAP;  the precursor to CAL$) in 2015. I have worked on various OER projects since, but the largest is a peer reviewed OER textbook Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology. While I love helping faculty and students through CAL$, my full time position on campus is Lecturer for the Anthropology Department, where I have been working since 2004. 

Communication: Please use my email (bashook@csuchico.edu) as the primary communication with me throughout the training.

CAL$ Hours: Please email me for an appointment, and in that let me know if one of my dedicated "CAL$" office hours work to meet (Tuesday 12:30-3:30 or Friday 11-12) or if you would prefer an alternative time. 

This Reducing Costs for Students: OER and Other Affordable Solutions training is licensed CC BY 4.0, and adapted from ASCCC OERI — OER Basics by Rachel Arteaga and Suzanne Wakim CC BY 4.0. Where other openly licensed sources are utilized, it is noted in the modules themselves.

Creative Commons License

As explained by Creative Commons, this means you are free to:

  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
CC Attribution This course content is offered under a CC Attribution license. Content in this course can be considered under this license unless otherwise noted.