The Open Curriculum Project develops high-quality, accessible open educational resources, including textbooks and aligned course materials, with an equity lens. For more information on how the project is run, please read Unit 0.

In the first year of this project, author teams drafted open textbook manuscripts. In the second year of the project, Pilot Instructors designed and piloted courses that are integrated with the open textbook manuscripts. The Early Adoption Instructor joins the project during Year 3, when prelaunch textbooks and pilot course materials are available.

As an Early Adoption Instructor, you receive a $750 stipend to redesign your course while adopting the prelaunch textbook.

Required activities:

• Adopt at least half of the chapters in the open textbook manuscript.
• Report your student enrollment when requested by the project leadership team.
• Consult with the Open Education Instructional Designer in 1:1 meetings or at weekly drop-ins:
  • 3-4 hours prior to the start of your adoption term.
  • 1-2 hours after the adoption term ends to revise selected course materials to share with an open license.
• Within 4 weeks of end of adoption term, complete the Template for OERC Group Item Descriptions [Google Doc] and share at least one openly licensed course artifact that aligns with the open textbook manuscript (examples: course map, syllabus, discussion prompts, assignments with rubrics, slide decks, etc.) This deliverable is required to receive the stipend payment.

Optional activities:

• Read the Course Design Accelerator units of this training (Year 2, Units 2-5).
• Consult with the Open Education Instructional Designer in 1:1 meetings or at weekly drop-ins.
• Adopt/adapt course materials created by Course Pilot Instructors in Year 2.

Additional Information for Early Adoption Instructors

How do you sign up to be an Early Adoption Instructor?

Please fill out one form per course that you’re signing up for.

You will need to include a letter of support from your department chair, dean, or similar role that is responsible for assigning courses. The purpose of the letter is to verify that you will be assigned to teach the early adoption course at least one time during the academic year. Letters can be attached via the form or emailed separately to Amy Hofer at hofera@linnbenton.edu.

How does an Early Adoption Instructor get paid?

Early Adoption Instructors will usually be paid via payroll through their own institution and will need to sign an MOU (memorandum of understanding). Some institutions prefer not to handle this type of contract; in these cases, you will work with us as an independent contractor and we will create a Personal Service Contract with you. Early Adoption Instructors receive the stipend one time even if they run the redesigned course more than once during the pilot year.

Who can be an Early Adoption Instructor?

Early Adoption Instructors who teach at one of Oregon’s 24 public community colleges and universities are prioritized.

Lead Authors and Contributing Authors are encouraged to pilot the course(s) that they worked on. If you are assigned to teach other courses in the cohort, we encourage you to pilot those in addition or instead.

What does it mean to adopt a prelaunch textbook?

An Early Adoption Instructor teaches a course with the textbook that was developed by the author team. While you are not required to use the entire book, you must assign a significant portion of the book (50 percent is a general guideline, or 4 chapters) in order to participate in this role.

The textbook manuscript will be in Pressbooks, the same platform that we will use to host the final, launch version of the book. It will be available at the beginning of Year 3 of the project. For access prior to Year 3, we will be able to provide an About This Book document with a detailed outline of the textbook and access to the Year 2 version of the manuscript in Pressbooks.

What does an Early Adoption Instructor do?

An Early Adoption Instructor adopts the textbook that was developed by the author team. The Early Adoption Instructor may also adopt/adapt course materials developed by Pilot Instructors during Year 2 of this project. The Early Adoption Instructor develops course materials as needed, such as assessments, rubrics, supplemental reading lists, lectures, or discussion prompts. An Instructional Designer will partner with you for a minimum of 3 hours and can offer up to 6 hours of as-needed support.

Openly licensed course materials that you share with Open Oregon Educational Resources will be shared on OER Commons [Website] along with other resources developed for the course.

What does the Instructional Designer do?

The Instructional Designer supports you in meeting the grant goal of developing an equity-minded openly licensed course that integrates with the openly licensed textbook. They facilitate sharing openly licensed course materials across the state so that Oregon instructors can align and enhance the student learning experience. They can review overall alignment in your course structure, the clarity and transparency of activities, assignments, and rubrics, as well as opportunities for students to share their learning with the communities that matter most to them.

Licenses and Attributions for Early Adoption Instructor

“Early Adoption Instructor” by Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed under CC BY 4.0.