Temple University Libraries is celebrating Open Education Week from March 10 to March 14, 2025. Open Education Week is an annual celebration designed to raise awareness about open educational resources and practices.
Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are free of cost and access barriers, and which have permissions for reuse. Examples of OER include videos, images, lab activities, homework assignments, and textbooks.
Open educational practices — also known as open pedagogy — use OER to support student learning by inviting them to become active participants in the teaching and learning environment, engaging in knowledge creation and sharing.
Faculty who use OER instead of a commercial textbook can help save students hundreds of dollars a semester. Faculty who use OER can also revise, remix, and build upon the content created by others, customizing the material to meet the needs of their particular class. This can aid in bringing about a more holistic teaching and learning experience.
Check out our Open Educational Practices guide to learn more.
Open Education Week Events
To mark Open Education Week, Temple University Libraries will be offering the following activities:
Student Event
- Stop by the Textbook Affordability table on the first floor of Charles Library to share your story about how textbook costs impact you, learn more about how to advocate for zero-cost course materials, and craft a ‘Thank you!’ to your professors who have used affordable textbooks.
Online Workshops
- Make Your Courses Affordable with Zero-Cost Course Materials
Monday, March 10 | Noon | Register
Join us as we highlight multiple options for locating zero-cost course materials, including open educational resources (OER) and library resources.
- How to Promote Your Open Scholarship
Tuesday, March 11 | Noon | Register
This workshop will cover strategies on how faculty can promote their open scholarship. This will cover building a scholarly profile, where to store your work, how to showcase your work on social media, and how to express this hard work in the promotion and tenure process.
- Copyright and Creative Commons: Considerations for Content Creators
Wednesday, March 12 | 1:00 PM | Register
Join us as we cover the basics of Creative Commons licenses—what they are, how to find CC-licensed material, and how to license your own work.
- Transform Your Information Literacy Assignments with Open Educational Practices
Thursday, March 13 | Noon | Register
Join us as we provide an introduction to open educational practices and how they connect with the information literacy concepts you want to teach. Gain strategies for moving beyond traditional research paper assignments to more renewable assignments where students are actively engaging in knowledge creation.
- Textbook Affordability Project Application Information Session
Friday, March 14 | 1:00 PM | Register
Join us as we discuss the TAP grant award opportunities, application process, requirements, and answer any of your application questions.
Faculty Drawing
- Attend our Open Education Week workshops for a chance to be entered. Registering for more events increases your chances of winning a library swag bag!
Faculty Peer-to-Peer OER Advisor Panel
Wednesday, March 12 | 3:00 PM | Register
Have you been thinking about converting your course to zero-cost course materials for your students but are not sure how or where to start? Consider taking advantage of a new resource that can support your transition process.
In this online session the panelists will introduce the Faculty Peer-to-Peer OER Advisors program and share the types of assistance available from the faculty OER advisors. Working with Temple University librarians, the advisors can identify OER and other zero-cost resources, as well as using their past experience with this process to offer tips and suggestions for a smooth conversion to zero-cost course materials.
Apply for a Textbook Affordability Project Grant Award!
Open Education Week is also a great time to learn more about Temple University Libraries’ Textbook Affordability Project, which awards grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 to faculty who adopt, adapt, or create free alternatives to commercial educational resources. Engaging in open educational practices, like replacing a disposable assignment with a renewable assignment, is also an option. Over 100 Temple faculty have been awarded grants since 2011. The call for applications will open on February 24, 2025, and close on April 4, 2025.
We hope you will join us for our Open Education Week events!