Open educational resources, or OERs, are openly licensed digital and other resources including college textbooks, that are often available at little to no cost. In the present confluence of an economic downturn, remote instruction, and a clear need for more equitable student participation in dual and concurrent enrollment offerings, OERs present a potential game-changer to ensure the availability of quality digital textbooks at little to no cost to families, districts or postsecondary institutions. This webinar will present early findings from a current study funded by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) to examine current use of OERs in dual and concurrent enrollment courses, and best practices and lessons learned from states and dual enrollment partnerships pioneering these efforts.
Presenters:
Jenny Parks, Vice President, MHEC
Jennifer Zinth, Founder and Principal, Zinth Consulting, LLC
Jennifer Zinth is nationally recognized expert on dual and concurrent enrollment and other postsecondary transition strategies, STEM and computer science. As a consultant and previously in a leadership role at Education Commission of the States, she has worked with numerous state leaders, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropies to develop a wide range of policy supports, including in-state and cross-state convenings, 50-state policy compilations, state policy gap analyses, recommendation reports, customized memos, presentations, and legislative testimony. Ms. Zinth’s expertise in her topics of specialization includes state legislative, statutory and regulatory tracking and analysis; qualitative evaluation; policy evaluation; report development; and in-person and virtual meeting development and execution.