LAVC faculty and students discuss the benefits of Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) classes.
Funded by grants from the California Community College's Chancellor's Office (CCCCO), LAVC's ZTC Award Program seeks to establish several new ZTC degree pathways by 2027. Further, our program prioritizes strengthening our General Education ZTC pathway, which is critical to the sustainability of any ZTC degree.
We invite faculty across disciplines to apply for our ZTC Award Program. Faculty will be compensated for the professional development and curriculum development required to adopt, adapt, create, remix, and/or revise Open Educational Resources (OER) to replace their current texts.
On May 9th, 2025, the Statewide ZTC Summit will be held at College of the Canyons. Check out the ZTC TAP website for details, tentative agenda, and registration links.
Join us for the fifth annual Cal OER Conference, held virtually on August 6 – 8, 2025. This event is open to everyone, so please consider attending The theme for the 2025 conference is Beyond the Horizon: Challenges and Opportunities in Scaling Open Education.
Cal OER will focus on OER efforts and impact, broadly defined, across the state of California and especially across the state’s three public higher education systems, the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California.
Faculty may be compensated for attending ASCCC OERI Webinars and events. Please forward your registration to casonmg@lavc.edu.
Here are the latest opportunities from the ASCCC OER:
The ASCCC OERI is pleased to offer a facilitated version of our OER Accessibility Basics course in April. Participants in the course will learn the fundamentals of creating accessible content to assist with the development and/or curation of OER.
Facilitator support will be provided from April 10, 2025 until May 2, 2025. Weekly office hours on Thursdays and Fridays will support participants as they progress through the course and earn their completion badge. It is estimated that the course will take approximately 20 hours.
Enroll in Accessibility Basics Course
Wednesday, April 2, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Engaging Students in Geography with Open Educational Resources (OER): Meet the "Backyard Geographer", Jeremy Patrich
As described in a 2020 article, “Backyard Geographer” Professor Jeremy Patrich tries to liven things up for his students by incorporating his passions for geography, geology and Disney artifacts into YouTube videos that he hopes will help build interest and engagement in education. What resources has Jeremy developed that you can integrate into your teaching? Join us for a discussion of the development and use of OER for geography.
Register for Engaging Students in Geography with OER: Meet the "Backyard Geographer", Jeremy Patrich
Friday, April 4, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Psychology Open Educational Resources (OER): OpenStax and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Updates
Psychology faculty have long been pioneers in the adoption and usage of openly licensed resources and are continuing to innovate with OER. Recently, OpenStax published two new resources while faculty continue to incorporate IDEA into discipline OER. Join us to hear about the latest resources available and discuss what more we can do with OER and IDEA.
Register for the Psychology OER: OpenStax and IDEA Updates
Monday, April 7, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
How to Ethically Integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Sociology Courses
In this conversation, join us to discuss the growing landscape of AI and how it can be ethically integrated into sociology courses.
Register for How to Ethically Integrate AI into Sociology Courses
Thursday, April 10, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Converting Local Political Science (POLS) Courses to Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Using Open Educational Resource (OER)
While all but one of the specified courses in the POLS Transfer Model Curriculum have available OER, a variety of local political science courses that are found in the Associate Degree for Transfer and/or in local degrees do not. What local courses are commonly found in political science degrees, and what OER are available – or needed – to make these courses ZTC? Join us to discuss what is needed for all political science courses to be ZTC.
Register for Converting Local POLS Courses to ZTC Using OER
Friday, April 11, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Revolutionizing Language Teaching: Human-Artificial Intelligence (AI) Collaborations for Open Educational Resources (OER) Creation and Open Educational Practices
In this webinar, we will investigate how OER authors can co-create content with AI to produce texts that adapt to students’ proficiency levels and areas of interest. We will also look at how students can learn to leverage AI to find inspiration, get feedback on their writing, and create conversation partners. All these features will be presented while exploring a new innovative text “Vida Sana” designed by the presenter for a course in Spanish for Health Professions.
Register for Revolutionizing Language Teaching: Human-AI Collaborations for OER Creation and Open Educational Practices
Friday, April 11, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Integrating Indigenous Perspectives and Global Issues in Spanish Open Educational Resources (OER)
How can OER support the integration of Indigenous voices in higher education? This webinar explores the impact of an intercultural Spanish curriculum based on open educational resources, highlighting the potential of OER to elevate and integrate Indigenous epistemologies in higher education. The open nature of these resources is particularly important when engaging with Indigenous ways of knowing, ensuring that knowledge circulates freely without economic or institutional barriers, honoring its communal essence and safeguarding it from exclusive appropriation.
Register for Integrating Indigenous Perspectives and Global Issues in Spanish OER
Wednesday, April 23, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Integrating RNA-Seq Research into Biology for Majors Courses
This webinar will introduce faculty to an openly licensed curriculum that seamlessly integrates an RNA-seq research project into Biology for Majors courses. Participants will explore how to implement an authentic bioinformatics investigation using open educational resource tools to foster student engagement, scientific literacy, and hands-on experience in genomics. Designed for educators seeking to enhance their curriculum with research-driven learning, this session will provide practical strategies for incorporating real-world data analysis into undergraduate biology courses.
Register for Integrating RNA-Seq Research into Biology for Majors Courses
Wednesday, April 23, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Mathematics Support Courses and Open Educational Resources (OER)
Math faculty do their best to help students who may not be prepared for the math class that they enrolled in, but it can be challenging to meet the various needs of students with different levels of knowledge and skill. Join us in this conversation where we share what we are doing at our colleges using OER to support all math students. Bring your ideas, questions, and challenges.
Register for Mathematics Support Courses and OER
Wednesday, April 23, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Developing Open Educational Resources (OER) for Journalism Courses
Meet the faculty who are working on OER for courses in the Journalism Associate Degree for Transfer (AD-T). Journalism faculty Tara Cuslidge-Staiano and Erin Hiro will explain how they created their textbooks, A Guide to News Writing and Broccoli and Chocolate: A Beginner's Guide to Journalism, which may be used when teaching Introduction to Mass Communications (C-ID JOUR 110) and Student Media Practicum I (C-ID JOUR 130). Then, journalism faculty Rachel Leibrock will discuss the plan to create new resources for Introduction to Photojournalism (C-ID JOUR 160). The webinar will end with an invitation to create new OER for the remaining journalism courses.
Register for Developing OER for Journalism Courses
Tuesday, April 29, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Open Educational Resources (OER) for Kinesiology: Maximizing Impact
Join us for a focused conversation on the future of OER in kinesiology, homing in on curriculum areas we can meaningfully direct our efforts, and possible collaboration to maximize impact. We will also address a critical need: solutions for creating and sharing high-quality, accessible lab videos. Please join us - your input is vital as we shape our OER strategies.
Register for OER for Kinesiology: Maximizing Impact
Wednesday, April 16, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
LibreTexts’ ADAPT Homework Platform and the new Discuss-It
Discover how ADAPT, the LibreTexts homework platform, empowers instructors to create interactive, engaging, and customizable open educational resources assessments. This powerful tool supports student learning with auto-graded assignments, a repository of more than 225,000 questions, and seamless LTI/API integration with Canvas. In this webinar, we’ll also introduce Discuss-It, an innovative tool within ADAPT that fosters asynchronous student interaction through text, audio, and video discussions. Learn how these free tools can enhance student engagement, streamline course management, and create a more inclusive and collaborative online learning environment.
Register for LibreText’s ADAPT Homework Platform and the new Discuss-IT
Thursday, April 24, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Leveling Up Education: Using Open Educational Resources (OER) to Gamify Education
Discover how OER can be leveraged to design and develop engaging, free-to-play video games that enhance student learning. This session explores available OER assets, game development tools, and best practices for integrating interactive media into coursework. Learn how to create meaningful, accessible gaming experiences that empower students without financial barriers. Whether you're an educator, developer, or instructional designer, this presentation will provide practical strategies for making learning more immersive and equitable.
Register for Leveling Up Education: Using OER to Gamify Education
Our colleagues at East Los Angeles College have collaborated with the OERI and LibreTexts to offer hands-on professional development in open homework systems. This training opportunity is designed for those interested in remixing OER in the LibreTexts platform and creating openly-licensed assessments.
Attendees will be introduced to - and actively interact with - LibreTexts, the LibreTexts Remixer, and the ADAPT Open Homework System.
Registration is now open. A light breakfast will be served, and lunch will be provided. To defray costs, a registration fee of $25 will be charged. Space is limited.
Register for Saturday, May 17, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm OERI Regional at East Los Angeles College
