Moving Texas Forward

DIGITAL LEARNING AND OPEN EDUCATION INITIATIVES OF THE TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD

By Michelle Singh and Kylah Torre

The disruption to higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the vital importance of digital learning for Texas institutions and students. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) recognized that strengthening current practices and supporting innovation was imperative as we entered a new normal for teaching, learning, and student success.

In November 2020, THECB launched the Division of Digital Learning (DDL). Its mission is to provide leadership and advocacy for digital learning in higher education and promote, sustain, and advance a quality digital learner experience to position Texas as a world leader, resulting in globally competitive, digitally proficient citizens.

THECB appointed Dr. Michelle Singh as Assistant Commissioner of the DDL. Dr. Singh came to THECB from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, where she had served as Associate Vice President of Teaching & Learning Technologies since 2018. Over her 20-year tenure in higher education, Dr. Singh held positions as Chairperson of the Board for the Texas Distance Learning Association, member of the United States Distance Learning Association Board, Chair of the Texas A&M University System Council for Academic Technology and Innovative Education and Chair of the THECB Learning Technology Advisory Committee.

Under Dr. Singh’s leadership, the DDL aims to raise awareness of best practices in digital learning, build capacity of institutions to achieve and innovate in that space, and recognize digital excellence across the state. The DDL is currently developing a digital learning clearinghouse (DLTX), a comprehensive digital learning resource, program, and service site to facilitate community connections and knowledge sharing to move toward those goals. Over the past year, the DDL has also built on existing THECB open educational resource (OER) programs including grants, professional learning, and the OERTX repository, and expanded the agency’s portfolio of digital learning initiatives with a special focus on post-pandemic research.

CONNECTING COMMUNITY THROUGH SHARED RESOURCES

The OERTX Repository is a public digital library of OER for higher education, but more than that it is a place for collaboration, sharing, creation, and adaptation. Since it was launched in fall 2020, the site has attracted over 106,000 users across all continents. The site holds over 8,000 curated resources and 1,500 items that have been created with the embedded authoring tool. OERTX allows for users to build groups for discussion and curation of materials, to create and co-author OER, and to remix materials. All educational resources on the site are openly licensed and free to all.

The Texas Legislature has appropriated funding for building and maintaining OERTX, and for OER grants, which were awarded to individual faculty members who created and/or curated OER for core curriculum courses. In 2020, the agency also received $175 million in federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding, a portion of which went to additional grants to aid faculty

at Texas institutions in developing OER and redesigning courses to have zero textbook costs. GEER grantees are supported by three Technical Assistance Partners – institutions with expertise in OER creation and effective pedagogy – Dallas College, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and OpenStax at Rice University. All materials developed with THECB grants will be available at no cost in the OERTX Repository.

In 2020, THECB and OERTX were recognized for Outstanding Commitment to Excellence and Innovation in Distance Learning by the Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA) and in 2021, the DDL won an Innovation Award from the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) for OERTX and other OER efforts.

RESEARCHING THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC

Use and adoption of OER is expanding in Texas, as is evident in the recently released 2021 OER landscape survey report. The first OER landscape survey was conducted in 2019 as a partnership between THECB, the Digital Higher Education Consortium of Texas (DigiTex) and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME). The survey found that over half of Texas institutions had OER programs or were moving in that direction. The 2019 survey report identified institutional best practices for OER work, including designating positions to manage OER programs, allocating resources for faculty training, and collecting data on the impact of OER use. The 2021 survey was administered by the same organizations this past spring and shows how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected OER policies and programs. Survey analysis indicates a growing commitment to OER across Texas, with successful institutions taking a system-wide approach, including engaging multiple offices and roles across campuses, developing partnerships with external institutions and organizations, and collecting data to inform future policies and programs.

THECB’s Learning Technology Advisory Committee (LTAC) administers a survey biannually that examines the broader landscape of digital learning at Texas institutions. The most recent survey (report forthcoming) saw that institutions responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing ingenuity, technological resources, and increased digital learning support. The most common areas of increased support were digital access to student services, faculty training and assistance, expansion of digital learning resources, and increasing numbers of IT support staff.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OFFERINGS

Based on research and input from institutional partners, the DDL determined a need in Texas for OER and digital learning trainings. In June 2021, THECB launched the first OER Core Elements Academy in partnership with ISKME. Participants went through intensive training on finding, curating, evaluating, and authoring and remixing OER. Over 60 faculty, librarians, and digital learning staff actively participated in the inaugural academy. The success of the first Academy inspired THECB to launch a second cohort in fall 2021, with another 60 participants, which will be complete in December. Individuals who successfully complete the Academies are awarded a certificate. Future Academies are planned for those with intermediate and advanced knowledge of OER, as well as a train-the-trainer academy for those who want to serve as a resource at their institutions.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

THECB, DigiTex, and the Texas Digital Library (TDL) organized the first Open Texas conference in March 2021. The virtual event was free, and convened librarians, faculty, administrators, and other open education practitioners and advocates across Texas and beyond. The conference was hosted by Houston Community College and the University of Houston-Downtown. Over 1,000 people registered for the event, which included a keynote from Dr. DeRionne Pollard, current president of Nevada State College, as well as presenters from across the country, and a panel of Texas students. The next (virtual) Open Texas conference is scheduled for Sept. 21-23, 2022.

In advance of the next Open Texas conference, THECB is partnering with OpenStax to offer two days of OER workshops, collaborative creation, and expert guidance, Feb. 17-18, 2022. This event, based on previous Creator Fests hosted by OpenStax, will be Texas-focused and offer spaces for participants to think about OER development, tackle peer review, and learn from Texas OER stars.

MOVING FORWARD WITH DIGITAL LEARNING

Texas is at the forefront of digital learning and OER and THECB is working to support and scale best practices. The DDL is currently working to build the DLTX Clearinghouse, which will be a central hub for resources, events, and communities for digital learning in Texas. DLTX will allow stakeholders to educate, learn, drive change, advocate, innovate, and lead in the digital learning space. It will be a resource for all of Texas higher education as we move forward in an increasingly digital world.

Michelle Singh, Ph.D, is the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Digital Learning at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Kylah Torre, Ph.D, is the Program Director of the Division of Digital Learning at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.