The Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) Initiative is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals for the 2023 OER Grant Program. For 2023, M.O.S.T. is seeking proposals for two grant programs.  

Faculty OER Grant Program

The Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative is seeking proposals for its Faculty OER Grant Program, which supports faculty efforts to increase access, affordability, and achievement for students at Maryland's postsecondary institutions through the incorporation of open educational resources (OER) into teaching practice.

Available grants in 2023:

• Adopt/Adapt OER ($1,000 grant + Participation in the Lumen Circles Community of Practice)

• Create/Revise and Publish OER ($2,000 grant + Participation in the Rebus Textbook Success Program)

• OLI STEM Courseware Grants ($5,000 grant + Participation in the NSF-Funded Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative (OLI) STEM Courseware Project) NOTE: Available for 2-year colleges only

Institutional OER Grant Program

The Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative is seeking proposals for the Institutional OER Grant Program, which supports strategic institutional efforts to increase access, affordability, and achievement for students at Maryland's postsecondary institutions through more systemic incorporation of open educational resources (OER) into teaching practice.

For 2023, selected institutions will be awarded $20,000 grants to support significant advances in OER adoption, scaling, and sustainability in support of student success. In addition, grantees will receive strategic planning and implementation support for their projects from M.O.S.T. in the form of consultations and regular monthly check-ins.

All proposals must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 1, 2023

All institutional grants and faculty grants awarded to UMBC must be routed to the Office of Sponsored Programs prior to submission. Contact your unit's business manager or proposal development staff to discuss your application.

Informational Webinar

Join M.O.S.T. on Monday, January 23, 2023 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET for an Informational Webinar to learn more about the grant requirements and expectations for successful grants. We will also answer any questions about the grants at that time. Register for the Informational Webinar.

If you have any questions, reach out to us at most@usmd.edu.

Join the Maryland Open Source Textbook initiative to celebrate Open Education Week 2022! 

Check out the events and webinars happening locally at Montgomery College and all the activities happening globally. 

• Reusable Learning Object Project: A Coordinated Effort to Address Cost Management, Affordability, and Digital Equity | Tuesday, March 8, 2022 3:00-4:00 pm 
• Publishing through Pressbooks | Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:30–1:15 pm
• The Development and Implementation of a OER Nursing Assessment Guide | Thursday, March 9, 2022 12:30–1:15 pm
• Student Voices: Student Panel Discussion | Friday, March 10, 2022 1:00-2:00 pm

• An engaging community of practice with faculty from multiple institutions over 6 or 9 weeks (see below for details)
• Weekly activities to explore, apply, and reflect on your use of effective teaching practices in relation to OER (~2 hours/week) 
• Opportunities to build on your strengths and expand your teaching with OER 
• The ability to set teaching goals and track progress
• Asynchronous engagement in a virtual platform (website) to fit your schedule 
• The ability to earn a Lumen Circles Fellowship Certificate in Effective Teaching Practice

• Teaching with OER & OER-enabled Pedagogy (9-week program): Explore evidence-based teaching strategies in the context of using OER and OER-enabled pedagogy. Develop your teaching capabilities with techniques that apply the principles of open education to engage students and strengthen their success using openly licensed content. (Note: Prior to the fellowship, you should identify OER content you plan to use with students during the term of your fellowship.)
• Success Accelerator for OHM or Waymaker Courseware (6-week program): Explore and apply evidence-based teaching practices using Lumen Learning’s OER-based courseware. Share ideas and enrich your Lumen courseware implementation with coaching and peer support around pedagogy, course design, use of learning data, and best practices to increase student engagement and success. Suitable for new or veteran Lumen courseware users.

Last month, we kicked off our GO Chat series for 2021 with a dive into all-things-open, as in Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Pedagogy, and Open Science. 

We started with a brief discussion about several recent articles that caught our attention: 

• Inside Higher Ed, Will College Be Free in 4 Years?, written through the lens of a 13-year-old middle schooler during the historic inauguration of President Biden, Vice President Harris, and FLOTUS Jill Biden. What might this mean for college affordability during the Biden administration? Despite the many political challenges, the authors deemed it a worthy aspirational goal for all institutions. 

• Faculty Focus, This Semester, Don't Forget Participation Feedback! This was a timely reminder about what can be a frustrating experience, a "participation" grade in an online class. Faculty can start by reviewing and refreshing their often-prescriptive language, modeling effective participation, using formative assessments, and preparing students to be effective participants in the classroom and work situations. 

• The Chronicle of Higher Education, Small Teaching Online column, 8 Strategies to Prevent Teacher Burnout. Author Flower Darby focused on flexibility and forgiveness as we approach the first year of pandemic teaching. She offered key takeaways for teachers: keep it simple, maintain balance, communicate strategically, and call timeout for yourself and your students.