This week, in my Open Education class, we read the article " Open Education in Promotion, Tenure, & Faculty Development." by Elder et al. (2021). This article presents a matrix designed by the Iowa OER team to assist faculty advocating for the recognition and inclusion of open educational practices (OEP) in their institutions for promotion and tenure.
I consider it essential that higher education institutions recognize OEP for promotion and tenure to incentivize these practices, which benefit many students like myself.
I'm a first-generation college student returning to school to get a graduate degree after being a stay-at-home mom for more than ten years. I had the opportunity to see firsthand some of the many benefits of OEP. I almost finished my degree after so much economic effort and sacrifice. I didn't have the burden to buy expensive traditional textbooks. In all of my classes, I have used an open textbook that helps me reduce my education cost. Also, I have enjoyed free access to all the materials required for my classes. I consider that all the open textbooks that I have accessed showed a high-quality standard. I also enjoyed the additional multimedia content and examples these textbooks offered me. I had a better experience using open textbooks than traditional textbooks.
I would love to see how universities incorporate OEP as evidence that professors can deliver to obtain promotion and tenure. This recognition can benefit students and recognize the effort made by Open Education scholars. Also, it will create a way for faculty to get formally recognized for engaging in OER activities that helps many. This is an important step that institutions should take to recognize and endorse OEP. Hopefully, this recognition will encourage more faculty to explore and adopt these beneficial practices.
Love your personal view! I find it sad that in promotion and tenure we focus on things, that while helpful don't always directly impact student learning. I'd like to see us have more of a balance where research, publications, and teaching are all seen and valued.
I love how you shared your personal experience with the benefits of OER. So many students could benefit it more professors adopted OER! Hopefully universities can better support and encourage the adoption of OER through formal practices so that more students can benefit like you.