Professional Development

What courses are currently offered?

• Making the Case for ZTC: Pathways to Equity 

• Building a Team: Training OER Support Staff 

• Teaching with OER and Open Pedagogy for Equity 

• Navigating the Future: Open Education with Generative AI

• Beyond Boundaries: OER and Universal Design for Learning

How often are the courses offered?

It depends, but generally we are running the courses in three terms – fall, spring, and summer – with one - two sessions of each course per term. 

How long do courses last?

Each asynchronous course runs for four weeks. The content is delivered in one module each week (except the first week, which includes an introductory module in addition to Module One), with such activities as group discussion, self-check quizzes, activities modeling open pedagogy, and personal reflection. Capstone activities depend on the course but may include creating action and team-building plans as well as discussion of future challenges.

Who is eligible to take the courses? 

Any administrator, staff, and faculty member at a California community college is eligible to participate in the courses. 

How can participants register for the courses?

Courses are available via the California Virtual Campus Online Network of Educators (@One). 

How many seats are available in each section?

Courses currently are capped at 35 participants per section. 

Is there a fee to participate in the courses? 

No; courses are funded by the Community College Chancellor's Office Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Grant Program. However, there is a fee of $160 to earn graduate-level credit through Fresno Pacific University. 

Can participants earn a badge?

Yes, participants who successfully complete all required assignments in a course, and finish with an overall grade of at least 80%, will receive a digital badge, issued through Badgr.

Are courses available for credit? 

Graduate-level credit is available for a fee through Fresno Pacific University. 

Are courses available in Canvas Commons? 

• Currently, three self-paced versions of the courses are:

1. Making the Case for ZTC: Pathways to Equity

2. Building a Team: Training OER Support Staff

3. Teaching with OER and Open Pedagogy for Equity

• Navigating the Future: Open Education with Generative AI will be available early in 2025, and Beyond Boundaries: OER and Universal Design for Learning in Fall 2025. 

• Search in Canvas Commons for: ZTCPD.

• This course explores the fundamental connections between equity, Open Educational Resources (OER), Guided Pathways (GP), and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) pathways. You will employ an equity cognitive frame to examine the impact of textbook costs on student success, and the disproportionate impact on historically underserved students. You will also dig into the growing research on OER efficacy, consider the "what" and "why" of Guided Pathways, and review successful ZTC pathways, across the state and beyond. You will leave this course understanding how OER and ZTC pathways promote student success and reduce equity gaps, supporting the Vision for Success of the California Community Colleges.

• This data-rich course will help colleagues advocating for OER adoption and ZTC pathway development to make their case.

• Designed for those who coordinate or aspire to lead OER programs, “Building a Team: Implementing ZTC Pathways” will help you to understand and implement key elements of an OER/ZTC workflow, ranging from searching for and sharing OER to formatting documents, using appropriate attributions and licensing, as well as ensuring accessibility. 

• This workflow-focused course will benefit those leading or preparing to lead local ZTC programs.

• This course explores the connections between equity, Open Educational Resources (OER), open pedagogy, and culturally responsive pedagogy. You will look at a variety of real-world examples (e.g., non-disposable assignments, open student projects, open course design, culturally-relevant OER) and be asked to consider: how might you implement these approaches in your own teaching? What are some concrete actions you can take in your own course to create more culturally responsive spaces for your students and transform your teaching and learning using OER or open pedagogy?

• This pedagogy focused course will benefit teaching faculty and those supporting innovation in teaching (e.g., instructional designers and teaching and learning center staff).

• This course explores the connections between Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Open Educational Resources (OER), and Open Pedagogy. You will gain essential AI literacy and practice using one or more AI tools as well as review the basics of OER and Open Pedagogy. Then, you will explore strategies for harnessing AI to create or adapt OER, while identifying opportunities to collaborate with students. You will also dig into the ethical considerations related to employing AI in open education as well as evolving practices for licensing and attributing work created with generative AI.

• This exploratory course should benefit anyone involved in creating, discovering, or re-mixing OER.

• This course explores how using Open Educational Resources (OER) can help us continuously improve our teaching materials with an eye toward supporting all learners. We will focus on evaluating OER through the important perspectives of accessibility and Universal Design for 

     Learning (UDL). By using these lenses, we can ensure that our content remains relevant, engaging, inclusive, and effective for ALL students. 

• "Beyond Boundaries: OER and Universal Design" is based on "Adapting OER to Incorporate UDL," a course offered by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME). "Adapting OER to Incorporate UDL" was developed with support from a Michelson 20MM Spark Grant and is licensed CC BY. We are grateful for ISKME's collaboration and partnership.