Join in the celebration of Open Education Week on March 3-7, 2025. Learn how to make education more accessible and affordable for all students. What is Open Education? The Open Education movement starts with a fundamental tenet of education–that educators and students can and should freely share ideas and teaching materials–and pairs it with new technologies that aid the rapid dissemination of materials and ideas. Open Education aims to expand access to educational materials and create new opportunities for collaboration. You may have already encountered or implemented open education practices in your classes: Open Education includes things like free online textbooks, course materials that instructors can adapt for their students, and making visuals and other media free for educational use. Did you know that PCC offers classes with low or no cost textbooks? See How to Find Low/No Cost Materials Classes at PCC to learn about this option. How Can I Participate in Open Ed Week Events? Open education benefits everyone by providing access to knowledge and the opportunity to connect and collaborate with others. Learn more about PCC’s OER initiative and how it is benefiting students at the initiative website: pcc.edu/library/oer. Find online webinars and events at Open Education Week and find OER events happening around the state at Open Oregon Educational Resources. PCC Instructors: Funding Opportunities Available! The OER Steering Committee is delighted to share news about the ongoing PCC OER Grant program!? This program provides funding for PCC faculty and APs who plan to adopt, revise, or maintain open educational resources for their classes. Check the PCC OER Grants page for more information, and watch for an announcement about applications opening in Spring 2025 for the ’25-’26 grant cycle. In addition to these grants, instructor use of OERs can be supported in these ways: Request print copies of OER texts for instructor review or classroom sets. Submit Print OER Interest Form Funding for conferences, webinars and other OER-related professional development Look for opportunities you’re interested in (consider openoregon.org); begin planning; more communication about details and processes will be forthcoming. Compensate part-time colleagues to participate in SAC or department meetings focused on OER work. Submit OER maintenance grant interest form?? Submit SAC/department PT funding interest form (please try to limit responses to 1 per SAC/department/group).